SKU’d


The Poll-It Bureau


The Joint Commission’s recently published study on how no industry consensus exists on what a “high-performing” healthcare delivery system means induces laborious


thoughts of a Christopher Nolan fi lm. Standards and standard defi nitions remain incognito.


Evaluating, adopting and implementing potential solutions to this leaves many with insomnia. Regulating, governing and discerning bodies remain incorrigibly incommunicado. It should leave us with some sense of indignation. Is there an exception? Only in your MMIS or ERP Supply Chain module fi eld codes . We really need an inception.


The Joint Commission’s review of a decade’s worth of literature (2005-2015 to be precise) found no consistent defi nition of the “high-performing” nebulous and non- descript epaulet when applied to such dimensions as cost, quality, access, equity and patient experience and safety or any combination. No evidence apparently shielded it from variability.


The Joint Commission deserves accolades for shining a black light on this white sheet of branding, marketing and promotional hubris — even if many of us suspected unbridled hyperbole with a Dwayne Johnson eyebrow raise. What’s the fi rst step in those 12-step programs? Admit you have a problem. But “high-performing” as a jingoistic appellation isn’t the only fuzzy ingredient in our fi zzy water.


In an industry that prides itself in pursuing the need for standards, the players could


strive to accept and adopt standard defi nitions and parameters in a variety of areas. To wit: Here are a few that have haunted readers of Healthcare Purchasing News for at least four decades (had to work in a shameless plug for HPN’s 40th


anniversary


this year). • Annual purchasing volume (APV) of group purchasing organizations (GPOs) • Descriptions and descriptive categories of product attributes for more effi cient comparison (branding differentiators can be customer service)


• Validated instructions for use (IFU) for effective sterile processing of devices • CPT and ICD-10 codes that allow very little or virtually no level of human inter- pretation rooted in subjectivity (thwarting the “gaming of the system” to maximize reimbursement)


• Key performance indicators • Functional job descriptions for Supply Chain professionals — even the ones hover- ing around vaporous strategic objectives


• Causal factors of a variety of hospital-acquired infections with reasonably detailed traceability factors


• Total cost of ownership • Value-based purchasing — centered on the application of insurance • Value analysis and management via evidence-based planning and outcomes Back in the Clintonian healthcare reforming 1990s, doctors bristled at the notion of clinical pathways as “cookbook medicine” because it left virtually no room for variability and the individuality of the patient. Noted. You should fi nd little moti- vation to dismantle the logic behind the need for standard defi nitions for fi nancial management and operations. Call it “cookbook management and operations” if you want, but that measure should lead to effectiveness and hopefully effi ciency down the road, which should trump complaints long-term. Which ones have we missed? Let me know at rickdanabarlow@hpnonline.com.


EDITORIAL Publisher/Executive Editor Kristine Russell krussell@hpnonline.com


Senior Editor Rick Dana Barlow rickdanabarlow@hpnonline.com


Contributing Editors


Managing Editor Valerie J. Dimond vdimond@hpnonline.com (941) 927-9345, ext. 202 Kara Nadeau


knadeau@hpnonline.com Susan Cantrell susan_cantrell@bellsouth.net


ADVERTISING SALES East Coast Blake and Michelle Holton (407) 971-6286


Midwest Donna Boatman-Riley (815) 393-4624


West Coast Blake and Michelle Holton (407) 971-6286


ADVERTISING & ART PRODUCTION Ad Contracts Manager Tiffany Coffman


(941) 927-9345, ext. 203 Graphic Design Tracy Arendt


MAILING LIST RENTALS Laura Moulton


(941) 927-9345, ext. 201 CORPORATE President Kristine Russell


Healthcare Purchasing News (ISSN: 1098-3716) is published monthly by KSR Publishing, Inc., 2477 Stickney Point Road, Suite 315B, Sarasota, FL 34231, Phone: (941) 927-9345, Fax: (941) 927-9588, www.hpnonline.com, Business hours: 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST.


EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Joe Colonna, Vice President, Supply Chain, Piedmont Healthcare, Atlanta, GA; Karen Conway, Executive Director, Industry Relations, GHX, Louisville, CO; Dee Donatelli, RN, CMRP, CVAHP, President and CEO, Mid-America Service Solutions, LLC; Mary Beth Lang, Executive Vice President, Cogni- tive Analytics Solutions, Pensiamo, Pittsburgh, PA; John Mateka, Business Director, McLeod Regional Distribution Center, McLeod Health, Florence, SC; Melanie Miller, RN, CVAHP, CNOR, CSPDM, Healthcare Value Analysis Consultant, Marina Del Rey, CA; Dennis Orthman, Associate Executive Director, Strategic Marketplace Initiative (SMI), Westborough, MA; Jean Sargent, CMRP, FAHRMM, FCS, Principal, Sargent Healthcare Strategies, Port Charlotte, FL; Rose Seavey, RN, BS, MBA, CNOR, ACSP, Seavey Healthcare Consulting Inc.; Richard W. Schule, MBA, BS, FAST, CST, FCS, CRCST, CHMMC, CIS, CHL, AGTS, Director, Clinical Education, STERIS Corporation; Robert Simpson, CMRP, President and CEO, LeeSar Regional Service Center and Cooperative Services of Florida, Fort Myers, FL; Barbara Strain, Director, Value Management, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA; Deborah Petretich Templeton, R Ph, MHA, Chief of Care Support Services, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA; Ray Taurasi, Principal, Healthcare CS Solutions; Brian Viele, RN, BSN, CCRN, Director, ICU/ BHU/Clinical Consultants/Inpatient Cardiopulmonary, Mid Coast Hospital, Brunswick, ME


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4 October 2017 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


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