2017 SUPPLY CHAIN DEPARTMENT OF THE YEAR


indicated Jessica Freitag, System Director, Supply Chain. “We have a culture of constant process improvement.”


Through their foundational efforts in solidifying operations under a COE model, Fairview’s Supply Chain team has delivered central- ized leadership and consistent service to its customers throughout the IDN – hospitals, clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, home care and corporate services. These efforts are rooted in teamwork, process and transactional efficiencies, effective contractual oversight, central- ized sterile processing services and dedicated supplier relationships that balance clinical issues with business issues to drive high-quality patient care.


Supply Chain relies on clinician supply chain ambassadors in se- lected areas and dedicated “supply chain clinical integration teams” focused on product decisions, and paired “accountable executives” with operational and physician leaders around service lines. Supply Chain’s internal framework forges successful relationships with their suppliers and group purchasing organization as they tap into these companies for consulting, data and technical acumen to reinforce their processes.


Because these strategies and tactics funnel into the organization’s aim to perform as a recognized “center of excellence,” HPN chose Fairview Health Services Supply Chain team as the 2017 Supply Chain Department of the Year.


Developing trust Supply Chain’s “culture of constant process improvement” strives to minimize surprise and uncertainty, according to Freitag. “We do try to standardize our approach to our work and our cus- tomers whenever possible,” she said. “We deployed Service Level Agreements across all sites so our customers know what to expect of us. It is good and preferable to be organized and have exceptional teamwork in your own department when you work with other de- partments as much as we do.” To become a “trusted partner and asset” to Fairview, Supply Chain has helped to reduce clinical labor expenses as part of an overall goal of reducing non-labor expenses.


“We have taken on more work without asking for FTEs when the


work was minimal to the area or we felt our work group could absorb it,” Freitag said. “I am referring to incremental additions as well as work previously done by others in the organization. I call it a ‘reduc- tion’ and not ‘maintenance’ because of the amount of work we’re talking about and because we have reduced work for clinicians and leaders across the organization so they can focus on their core duties.” Examples include adding equipment to the centralized mobile


medical equipment model managed by Supply Chain, absorbing additional customers with Inventory Specialist support, adding linen support to new areas and assuming responsibility for capital requisitioning, she noted. “There has been a significant give and take over the years where we identify efficiencies and instead of reducing staff we create capacity to do more to support our customers,” Freitag said. “We are always being asked to do more because we are good at what we do.” Of course, Born, Freitag and the entire Supply Chain team strive to “understand the tipping point between absorbing and over-loading.”


Team-oriented Following the results of an annual Towers Watson employee engage- ment survey last year, Supply Chain chose to focus on improving teamwork in a quest to raise further the fairly high score they received. Participating in a series of team-building projects that included a “buddy system” and “job shadowing,” Supply Chain learned ways to become more cohesive and function as a unified group. This has benefits within the department and strengthens relationships with


hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • July 2017 11


Wesli Waters, Gina O’Grady, Megan Leach, Shane Garrahan, Chanelle Logan during Clinical Integration Project Manager Team meeting reviewing Top Supply Chain Savings Projects.


Sandy Compton, Sofya Mikhelson, Jessica Freitag and Amber Newquist planning for the PUM upgrade for the PeopleSoft ERP


Anna Goldammer, Georgia Cochrane, Sofya Mikhelson, Jen Schnabel reviewing Cardiovascular contract portfolio


other departments. Ultimately, it supports the organization as it cares for its patients.


Supply Chain’s buddy program generated a particular success story with inventory specialists across different regions at Fairview. Tina Good, Supply Chain South Regional Manager, cited efforts by Inventory Specialists Jeff Kolhei at the Maple Grove campus in the North Region and David Overton at the Fairview Southdale campus in the South Region as particularly noteworthy.


“David and I have been working together at Southdale doing a major re-label and cycle counting,” Kolhei noted. “I’m helping with this project at another site and recognizing that there are so many extras to a central supply room, like purging and bin-to-bin transfers and the list can go on and on. One great bonus is that I have the chance to connect with all the Inventory Specialists at Southdale. They were just names on a paper before I was paired with David. Now I can truly


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Spine Savings Opportunity Team: Chanelle Logan, Shane Garrahan, Jolene Situma, Alex Daniels, Sofya Mikhelson, Whitney Turner, Alex Grant, Kelly Ratajczak


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