St. Louis-based Ascension, the largest private nonprofit health system in the U.S., entered into a global supply chain joint venture with Ramsay Health Care Limited, a private hospital operator based in Sydney, Australia.
Here are eight things to know.
1. The newly formed company will bring together the purchasing power of Ascension and Ramsay Health, which operates more than 230 healthcare facilities across four continents.
2. A major goal of the joint venture is to bring down supply costs across Ascension's hospitals to make healthcare more affordable for its patients, according to Anthony Tersigni, president and CEO of Ascension.
3. "As we looked for partners to help us improve the quality and reduce the costs of the millions of items our caregivers use to provide compassionate, personalized care, we were tremendously impressed by Ramsay Health Care, whose values and mission align closely with our own," said Mr. Tersigni.
4. The purchasing group has already begun exploring more efficient alternatives to traditional supply chain, including creating a new technology platform for ordering, tracking, logistics and fulfillment.
5. Ramsay CEO and Group Managing Director Craig McNally said the global purchasing group will seek products internationally that still deliver the "high level of service and clinical outcomes that our patients have come to expect." He added that the venture will allow the duo to share best practices and industry knowledge to improve care quality while simultaneously reducing costs.
6. The new healthcare buying group will be jointly owned by Ascension and Ramsay Health.
7. Two Ascension subsidiaries, Ascension Holdings International and The Resource Group, Ascension's strategic sourcing arm, will work with Ramsay's International Procurement Office to operationalize the company.
8. "We believe that over the next few years, we will create opportunities to both improve financial and operating performance within our respective organizations, as well as providing an alternative supply chain source for independent providers in North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe," said John Doyle, executive vice president of Ascension and president and CEO of Ascension Holdings International.