VHA recognizes Chester County Hospital's Cost Reduction Efforts with Leadership Award
(West Chester, PA) - The Chester County Hospital and Health System was one of just eight healthcare organizations nationwide to earn the Veterans Health Administration's Leadership Award for Supply Chain Management Excellence. It was recognized for its work to improve operational efficiency and cut costs from the supply chain while maintaining quality patient care. The winners of the 2011 VHA Leadership Award for Supply Chain Management Excellence were recently honored at VHA's Annual Leadership Conference in San Diego, CA.
Chester County Hospital set and achieved the goal of identifying and implementing supply expense reductions in excess of $1.3 million. Priority areas were selected based on the highest dollar expenditures. Cardiovascular Services and Pharmacy accounted for 72% of the savings from the cost reduction initiative, which did not affect employee headcount. The agreed-upon savings were removed from individual departments' budgets, contracts were re-negotiated for better rates, and the vendor mix was revisited and revamped.
This successful project was initiated by Chester County Hospital President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Barber. Because of the critical roles that they played in the initiative, Jan Markham, Materials Management Director; Karen Novielli, Pharmacy Director; Sharon Delaney, Director of Cardiology; and Mary Coniglio, Cardiovascular Service Line Director, accepted the award from Curt Nonomaque, President and CEO of VHA, at the national conference.
Barber says, "Engaged physician champions were an important component to successfully driving these savings. The physicians were aligned with Chester County Hospital management on this project and were committed to realizing the savings." Specifically, Nasrin Golshan, MD (Infectious Diseases); John Roberts, MD (Internal Medicine); Christina Ellis, MD (Obstetrics/Gynecology); and Donald Emery, MD (Critical Care) provided leadership with regard to the pharmacy savings. Cardiologists Richard Hui, MD; Hope Helfeld, DO; Joseph Lewis, MD; Timothy Boyek, MD; and Vascular Surgeon Sean Ryan, MD were key contributors in the cardiovascular area.
"By prioritizing supply chain excellence, these healthcare organizations are maximizing their resources, which is increasingly important in light of ongoing industry economic pressures," says Scott Downing, VHA Executive Vice President. "These award winners are setting the right example for other hospitals in learning how to do more with less while maintaining high-quality care."
The Leadership Awards for Supply Chain Management Excellence were given to member organizations that demonstrated high levels of performance in at least one of four areas:
- Sourcing and resource management
- Distribution, logistics and inventory management
- Supply chain innovation and creativity
- Supplier diversity
VHA Inc. serves more than 1,350 not-for-profit hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute healthcare providers nationwide.
Related Information from Chester County Hospital: