UISS Update – Summer 2023 Newsletter

UISS Supports Member Supply Chain Education, Networking and Professional Development

Breakthroughs 23…Connecting the Dots to Transform Patient Care

Premier’s Annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition started out a little different from past conferences. This year included continuum of care members along with the traditional acute care members in keeping with the theme, Connecting the Dots to Transform Patient Care.

This year’s event was held at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Premier’s President and CEO, Mike Alkire started things off with a keynote session entitled, The Future is Fusion, where he spoke about fusing different elements within healthcare’s broad continuum into a cohesive healthcare alliance that will transform patient care.

UISS again sponsored members to attend the conference by covering the costs related to airfare and hotel rooms. Fifteen (15) members from seven (7) different facilities attended the conference and were treated to three jam-packed days of exploring connections in the latest in technology, artificial intelligence, labor optimization, supplier innovation and more all offered throughout the conference in the general sessions or the many different CEU approved sessions available.

Attendees were captivated by best-selling author, James Clear, in his session, Fusion of Goals and Results, featuring Atomic Habits. Mr. Clear explored how breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions to unleash a major change. Actress, best-selling author and disability advocate, Selma Blair, gave her account of her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. You could hear a pin drop in the room as she told her story of her life with MS and direct impact on the MS community.

We were thrilled that several staff members from Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, NY were asked to present at the conference.

Mario Victoria, MD, Vice President for Medical Affairs & CMO, presented his findings on reducing congestive heart failure readmissions by engaging patients in their healthcare.
Lance Bombard, Decision Support Analyst & Kim Smith, Director of Nursing, offered insight into how Samaritan Medical Center used the Benchmarking Peer Group Builder in OperationsAdvisor to develop safe staffing grids and budgets.
Diane Loftus, PharmD, Director of Pharmacy, presented at the session, Value of Data in Multimodal Acute Pain Service: Prescription Strategies to Prevent Adverse Events.

These presentations, and many more, will be available for review on the Breakthroughs website after June 30.
There was so much more to do, including the Vendor Exhibits, the networking events, and the Nashville Night, to name a few. It was an outstanding three days! We are looking forward to what Breakthroughs24 will wow us with.

Supply Chain Advocacy

UISS recognizes the importance of taking lessons learned from the pandemic to improve the resiliency of the supply chain and is actively supporting Premier’s efforts in Washington to strengthen medical supply chains.

Last month UISS joined Premier, Premier Members and other stakeholders signing on to a letter to demonstrate broad support and urge Congress to include the Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability and Health Stockpile Accountability Act as part of the forthcoming Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA).

Details of the act are as follows and we encourage all IHA members to lend their voice in support of this act by sending the below form letter to their lawmakers.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers have reintroduced The Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act (H.R. 3577), a Premier-supported bill that would require the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to establish an automated supply chain tracking application that provides insight into critical medical supplies across the country. Introduced by Reps. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Lori Trahan (D-MA), the bill – for the first time – would establish real-time visibility into the quantity and location of critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals on U.S. soil, which was a major blind spot during the pandemic.

Premier’s President and CEO Mike Alkire was quoted in the Congressional press release announcing the legislation.

Specifically, the Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act would:

Establish an automated supply chain tracking application within ASPR that provides near real-time insight into the amount of critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals available in national and state stockpiles as well as manufacturer, distributor and hospital inventories. The system will overlay on top of existing vendor management inventory (VMI) systems, be vendor agnostic, and be triggered during an emergency response.
Establish clear guidelines and practices for standardized data collection in consultation with public and private sector partners.
Be voluntary for hospitals and enable automated reporting of information to minimize provider burden. This information would be shared back with participating hospitals.
Permit hospitals, manufacturers, distributors, and other private sector entities visibility to data relating to inventory and time estimates for when inventories may be replenished.
Eliminate manual reporting burden and errors by automating data feeds, as highlighted by the GAO.
Institute robust safeguards to protect confidential and proprietary information.
Ensure that federal data collection is used for monitoring and dynamic allocation. Data cannot be used for reallocating inventory from hospitals or other organizations, advantaging any institution over another, or undermining the competitive marketplace.
Conduct an annual exercise to test the effectiveness of the application and to report any deficiencies.
Provide funding for healthcare entities, such as rural, critical access, and community hospitals, to implement a VMI if needed.

Resources:

Other Supply Chain Advocacy Initiatives are taking center stage as well.

Senators Introduce Bill to Strengthen Medical Supply Chains and Incentivize Nearshoring

Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act (S. 2115). The bipartisan bill aims to improve supply chain resilience by giving the White House the ability to diversify and expand supply networks while simultaneously eliminating unneeded trade barriers. Specifically, the bill would authorize the president to “negotiate, enter into and enforce” a trusted trade agreement related to medical goods when such a deal would “contribute to the national security and public health of the United States.”

Premier issued a statement applauding Senators Carper and Tillis for their bipartisan leadership to heed the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and help strengthen our nation’s healthcare supply chain. Premier encourages members to reach out to their Senators to co-sponsor the bill.