Decem 6, 2024

Hello NAW Subscribers -

I hope you like this issue of National Accounts Weekly. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

John Pritchard

President of ANAE

Publisher of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting

Building goodwill between clinicians and supply chains

Physicians, surgeons and supply chain executives represent a different kind of circular economy that reinforces business, clinical and economic sustainability.

The round-robin process works something like this: Physicians and surgeons bring revenue into a healthcare organization – largely from payer reimbursement for procedures – but consume a tremendous number of resources in terms of costly devices, equipment and products. Supply chain executives, on the other hand, can rein in those costs through strategic sourcing, effective contracting, value analysis and facilitation and management consulting, but must equip and fortify physicians and surgeons to carry out their missions.

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CommonSpirit 'focusing heavily' on ambulatory development

CommonSpirit Health added eight ambulatory care sites across six states in the first quarter of 2025 (three months ended Sept. 30), CFO Dan Morissette said on the system’s Dec. 2 investor call and Becker’s. The additions come after the system added 56 ambulatory sites in fiscal 2024, which ended June 30.

The system’s efforts to improve operating performance include volume growth, with an emphasis on expanding ambulatory services, improving network integrity, and capacity optimization for perioperative and imaging services, according to Becker’s.

Another part of that plan is labor cost management through the deployment of standard department staffing models, as well as reduced contract labor expenses.

Catholic Health names new Supply Chain Officer

Catholic Health announced it has named Michael O’Malley its Senior Vice President and Supply Chain Officer. In this role, O’Malley will lead Catholic Health’s supply chain operations, including procurement, logistics and distribution.

O’Malley brings more than 20 years of experience in supply chain management to Catholic Health. Most recently, he served as Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he was appointed by the Governor to serve as the state’s first CPO. There, he built the foundation for a sustainable, best-in-class procurement organization, which included purchasing services for hospitals and health care facilities within the Commonwealth, managing an overall spend of $11B.

SMI announces 2024 Tom Hughes Collaboration Award recipients

SMI presented Concordance Healthcare Solutions and Rush University System for Health (RUSH) with the prestigious 2024 Tom Hughes Collaboration Award. The announcement and presentation of the award took place at the SMI Fall 2024 Forum in Austin, TX.

The SMI Tom Hughes Collaboration Award is in honor of the late Tom Hughes, SMI Executive Director from 2004 – 2021. This annual award, established in 2021, recognizes exceptional efforts of industry thought leaders collaborating to bring innovation, discovery, and improvements to the healthcare supply chain.

The Award Steering Committee chose SMI members Concordance Healthcare Solutions and RUSH for their collaborative partnership to transform patient care by reducing costs, improving efficiency, and making a positive impact on the healthcare supply chain. Rush and Concordance were able to achieve real-time insights into each of their supply chain processes, utilizing AI to increase resilience, and establishing higher transparency. This collaboration empowered supply chain teams to make rapid and informed, proactive decisions leading to a more agile, efficient and better prepared supply chain ecosystem.

Excelerant adds Rob Bahna to its team of consultants

Excelerant Consulting announced the addition of healthcare sales professional Rob Bahna as a Consultant. Bahna has more than three decades of experience in sales leadership and development of go-to-market strategies in sales, manufacturing and distribution. He has proven expertise in medical device product launches. Most recently, Bahna served as Regional Vice President of Sales at Nanosonics, Inc., and has held similar leadership positions at Resuscitation International, Sarnova/Tri-anim Health Services, and Sage Products.

Community Health Systems' Northwest Healthcare completes acquisition of urgent care centers in Arizona

Northwest Urgent Care, LLC, a Tucson, Arizona, subsidiary of Community Health Systems, Inc., has completed the acquisition of certain urgent care centers owned and operated by Carbon Health in Arizona.

Northwest Urgent Care, LLC is part of Northwest Healthcare’s integrated healthcare network serving Tucson and its surrounding communities. With this strategic acquisition, Northwest Healthcare now has more than 80 sites of care across the network.

Over the past five years, Northwest Healthcare has invested approximately $200 million in strategic growth and capital projects throughout the Greater Tucson Metro area, including two new hospitals – Northwest Medical Center Sahuarita and Northwest Medical Center Houghton. The Northwest Healthcare system provided medical care for more than 845,000 patient encounters in 2023.

GHX opens nominations for 2024 GHXcellence Awards

Global Healthcare Exchange opened the call for nominations for the 2024 GHXcellence Awards. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, January 31, 2025. Winners will be announced at the GHX Summit 2025, which will take place in Atlanta, GA, May 13-16, 2025.

The GHXcellence Award program recognizes leaders and visionaries committed to driving innovative advancements in the business of healthcare that reduce healthcare costs, enhance the quality of care and improve operational efficiency. Nominations can be submitted by or on behalf of any GHX-connected healthcare provider, supplier organization or individual.