HealthTrust’s performance improvement formula for success
In a landscape filled with uncertainties—economic challenges, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages—healthcare providers are navigating multiple obstacles in their daily pursuit of providing quality patient care. If that is not complex enough, they are also charged with creating value within their organizations. “Successful leaders appreciate expertise from a trusted partner who understands their unique needs and is working alongside them to optimize organizational performance,” says John Young, M.D., MBA, FACHE, HealthTrust’s Chief Medical Officer. “And, that’s really the essence of maximizing an organization’s membership experience with HealthTrust.”
As part of the executive leadership team at HealthTrust Performance Group, Dr. Young shares that he is often asked to speak at industry conferences, member events and meetings with both current members as well as prospects. When asked what sets HealthTrust apart from its competition he explains, “We combine our operator expertise with the power of an aligned purchasing model to solve the challenges healthcare systems face. We define this operator expertise as HealthTrust’s advantage.”
As a provider-owned and -operated GPO, HealthTrust has expanded into a total performance improvement organization. With that has come enhanced services to help providers meet their biggest challenges. “We share the same goals as our members and develop solutions with a different perspective than others in the industry. Our ‘operator advantage’ helps us deliver proven results to members across the country, regardless of their size, affiliation or ownership structure,” shares Dr. Young.
The advantage drives real value
Many of the subject matter experts working at HealthTrust come from real-world operator and provider settings. They approach the issues that members face from varying perspectives to generate improvements across expense management, labor, purchased services, pharmacy, medical devices and overall clinical and operational performance. Dr. Young indicates this important competitive advantage means that, “We innately understand and anticipate the challenges members face so we can deliver true value and a measurable impact.”
As an example, HealthTrust’s product standardization initiative for one of its member hospitals successfully engaged clinicians and offered more than contracting. By embedding a team of clinical and supply chain experts alongside members to address operational inefficiencies, millions of dollars in cost savings have been realized without compromising quality patient care. This included everything from large-scale operational adjustments to small but impactful changes, such as swapping 10 cc osteobiologic syringes with 3 cc syringes in specialized ORs. The change led to nearly $2 million in annualized savings for the member.
Informing routine & complex decision-making
Because it is a provider and shares the same goals as its members, HealthTrust is focused on the mission of each health system by delivering the utmost value and supporting operational excellence. This spans all aspects of the business, regardless of where the need exists—from inventory management and standardization initiatives to optimizing pharmacy operations and establishing value analysis processes across service lines. “This work is validated with clinical research, evidence and data,” says Dr. Young. “And, we consistently engage our Physician Advisors and technology partners to ensure members have the evidence, research, data and benchmarks to make informed decisions.”
A core tenet of executing HealthTrust’s operator advantage includes decision-making that is informed by experts who understand the operational and clinical requirements to effectively manage a healthcare facility. All contracting decisions put patients at the center and are guided by HealthTrust clinical leaders and member-led Advisory Boards. This ensures there is alignment and accountability in contracting for the highest quality of products at industry-leading prices from HealthTrust’s supplier partners. And, all members have the opportunity to contribute feedback to product discussions through the HealthTrust Huddle online community.
Mitigating gaps
Beyond the broader complexities in the industry, healthcare providers also encounter numerous operational challenges—from managing a wide variety of product stock-keeping units (SKUs) within a category, to determining proper staffing needs and plans.
As is the case in a number of disciplines within healthcare, there is also a major gap in subject matter expertise across the supply chain. “Currently, we are seeing leaders in materials management across health systems retire, with a lack of skilled talent available to succeed them. Valuable information ordinarily passed down to successors during a transition gets lost, widening the knowledge gap,” says Dr. Young. This particular gap hinders providers’ ability to efficiently manage and distribute critical resources, which can lead to delays in patient care and increased operational costs.
HealthTrust demonstrates its operator advantage through a range of subject matter experts who support all areas of performance across hospital operations—from cost management, physician engagement and custom contracting to supply chain optimization, labor management and systemwide supply chain clinical integration. This, combined with HealthTrust’s proprietary database of demonstrated best practices, provides the expertise that enables healthcare providers to efficiently manage day-to-day operational and industry challenges so staff can stay focused on patients.
In looking toward the future, Dr. Young says, “HealthTrust has had the privilege of partnering and supporting members across the country for the last 25 years in meaningful ways. We will continue to strive each day to deliver superior value and work alongside members to help make their organizations’ missions of delivering quality patient care possible.”
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