Neil Olderman, partner at law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath and president of consulting firm Innovative Health Strategies said in the next 10 years, ASCs can expect to see device maker role changes in operating suites, device makers treating ASCs as clients and for supply chain to shift its focus toward being accountable for patient outcomes.
Mr. Olderman counsels hospital and health system clients on group purchasing arrangements and capital equipment acquisitions, as well as clinical and purchased services agreements. Mr. Olderman shared his supply chain expertise with Becker's ASC Review, including three trends to watch for in the next 10 years.
Providers focus on personalization.
Bundled payments will push ASCs to focus on supply chain efficiencies, as well as providing personalized care to patients.
"The need to manage the patient's successful outcome will force ASCs to drive the need for greater collaboration among providers and obtain better data and deeper insights into what works for patients best,” Mr. Olderman said. “Again, as in other instances within healthcare, we expect to see a cottage industry emerge around improving outcomes and the patient experience in the outpatient surgery setting."
Group purchasing organizations follow IBM's footsteps.
IBM could serve as a potential model for GPOs catering to ASCs.
"We anticipate that GPOs will continue to increase the quantity and quality of the consulting services that they offer to their members — similar to the transition that IBM made, starting in the 1990s, from a company that made most of its money from relatively low-margin hardware to high-margin services," Mr. Olderman said. "While obtaining a low price for products and services will always be a key component of a GPO's service to its members, we believe GPOs will try to differentiate themselves from each other, strengthen their retention of existing members, and take business from other GPOs by using consulting offerings to leverage the vast amount of real-time data they have available."
Security takes the forefront.
Moving forward, security in the age of the “internet of things” will be crucial for an ASC’s supply chain team.
"As the 'internet of things' becomes more prevalent, security is going to become a more significant component of supply-chain decision making," Mr. Olderman said. "There are any number of examples of medical device products that have been hacked in the past few years. As internet connectivity among medical devices becomes more prevalent, an ASC's supply chain team is going to need to coordinate with IT to make sure that products being purchased are secure and that the ASC's IT systems are adequately protected from hacking through medical devices."
To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Rachel Popa at rpopa@beckershealthcare.com.
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