Many healthcare executives (38 percent) selected group purchasing organizations as the partner that integrated delivery networks best collaborate with to improve performance and reduce cost, according to a recent IDN Summit survey report. This marks an industry shift from 2012, when the majority of survey respondents said suppliers were the best supply chain partner.
The Integrated Delivery Network Summit Market Research survey was conducted among 200 senior healthcare supply chain executives in September.
The survey collected executives' opinions on the barriers to successful partnerships between IDNs and suppliers as well as what they are looking for in a collaborative relationship. Survey highlights are shown below.
- After GPOs, 26 percent of respondents chose distributers as most collaborative partners for IDNs, and 17 percent selected research and education partners.
- Only 55 percent of respondents believe suppliers fully understand the challenges of their organization and work to attain mutually agreed upon goals, and 70 percent say there is just "sometimes" a trust and willingness to collaborate between healthcare providers and suppliers.
- In choosing a supply chain partner, price notwithstanding, the great majority of respondents (78 percent) said the impact on clinical outcomes is the most important attribute, followed by the impact on patient satisfaction scores (52 percent of respondents).
- Seventy-three percent of executives indicated the quality of information shared is the biggest barrier for their organizations to achieve greater collaboration with suppliers.