Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1147537
48 Executive Briefing Sponsored by: H ospitals and integrated delivery networks rely on a wide range of medical devices to deliver safe and effective clinical care. The good news is that suppliers are continually launching new, innovative products to address patient needs. The challenge for supply chain leaders, however, is managing runaway costs for medical devices, while at the same time respecting physicians' product preferences. Becker's Hospital Review recently spoke with two leaders from HealthTrust Purchasing Group: Anne Preston, assistant vice president, clinical contracting services, and Kelsey Duggan, PhD, senior director, medical device management. They discussed how analytics, in combination with physician education and alignment, are leading to more strategic and economical approaches to medical device procurement for healthcare organizations. Note: Response have been edited for length and clarity. Question: How can organizations use data to reduce unnecessary spend on medical devices and high-value implants? Anne Preston: HealthTrust Purchasing Group uses data analytics in innovative ways to inform new medical device purchasing strategies. The first step is gathering purchase history data from the client's purchase orders or invoices. We then run this data through our cleansing process, clinically categorize components at the SKU level, and analyze it for savings potential. Benchmarking the organization's data is key when developing strategies. We have access to thousands of implant data points that provide the intel needed to enhance savings. We can look at benchmarking from multiple perspectives, such as best-in-class , average and worst pricing, as well as by geography, number of beds, number of facilities and more. Based on that analysis, HealthTrust presents a savings target and strategy recommendations to the IDN's leaders and to the supply chain team. Our team leverages clinical expertise, leadership & physician alignment, and market dynamic. We work collaboratively with the leadership team to develop a customized medical device purchasing strategy. We never make any decisions in a vacuum. Our granular data analysis enables meaningful discussions with healthcare organizations, physicians and also the suppliers that HealthTrust negotiates with on behalf of our clients. Kelsey Duggan: Once the client's contracts are renegotiated and fair pricing is in play, HealthTrust partners with our members to develop customized, interactive analytics tools to illustrate the new medical device landscape at their facilities. The medical device purchasing data is enriched with additional information from EHRs. This may include patient demographic and procedural data, as well as any available information related to discharge, length of stay and readmissions. These tools then serve as the foundation for physician engagement and alignment conversations. Combining purchasing and clinical information results in a more complete physician profile. Our goal is to identify procedures where high-value medical devices have been used, and then present information to physicians in a meaningful way. By incorporating patient and procedural information, we can have more accurate and fair discussions around variation in practice patterns related to medical device utilization. Our approach is never prescriptive to surgeons; it's about transparency and partnership in making the best decisions for both patients and the organization. Q: How do you achieve organizational alignment, including physician support? KD: HealthTrust spends significant time on the front end to ensure the data shared with physicians is as accurate as possible. Our first conversation with surgeons is typically to educate them about HealthTrust's process for acquiring, cleaning and enriching the data. We want physicians to trust the data and to trust us. In subsequent conversations with physicians, transparent data reviews serve as the foundation for discussions related to implant utilization, financial and clinical variation, and best practices from evidence, research-based supplementary data. HealthTrust's role is not to ask physicians to change their behaviors, but to help educate them about the financial impact of the medical devices they are currently using compared to their peers, and what other options are available. Physicians lead the conversation around what technologies they view as evolutionary versus revolutionary, How to generate supply chain savings through physician collaboration & supplier engagement: 2 medical device management experts answer 4 Questions