Who Are The Top 25 Healthcare Supply Chains?
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Top organizations reduce supply chain inefficiencies and improve quality of healthcare.
Gartner Inc. has released the results of its 2014 Supply Chain Top 25 ranking, identifying organizations across the value chain that focus on reducing supply chain inefficiencies and improving quality of healthcare, according to a press release. Gartner states these leaders continue to optimize their capabilities while also adapting to changes driven by population health models.
“The Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25 for 2014 reflects the metaphorical middle part of a marathon journey to build patient-driven supply networks,” said Eric O'Daffer, research VP at Gartner. “The participants know the route, but the excitement of the starting line has worn off and a few aches and pains have set in. Each company knows the real pain is coming later in the race, and that the only path is forward – there is no going back.”
Gartner adds, “The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 is about leadership. Every year we identify the companies that best exemplify the demand-driven ideal for today's supply chain and document their best practices, which can help all companies move closer to their goals.”
The top spot went to Cardinal Health for the fourth consecutive year, and it has the widest breadth among healthcare companies. The press release states Cardinal Health is “a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retail pharmacy, and a connector at many points in between. Cardinal continues its heritage of customer collaboration, especially in medical products distribution by further integrating the acquisition of home healthcare company AssuraMed and in 2014 getting deeper into medical devices through the $320 million acquisition of AccessClosure.”
Rounding out the top ten spots were Mayo Foundation, Intermountain Healthcare, Owens & Minor, CVS Caremark, Mercy, Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Walgreens. Also in the Top 25 were Ascension Health (12),Advocate Health Care (13), Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (14), Cleveland Clinic (16), UMPC (17), Geisinger Health System (18), Providence Health & Services (22), and Banner Health (24).
Brent Johnson, VP for the Supply Chain Organization and Support Services for third-ranked Intermountain, said in a statement, “Being ranked third is an honor. Thank you to our team for its tremendous efforts towards better supply and care processes that support better patient outcomes, which is our ultimate priority.”
The Gartner response stated, “Intermountain represents one of the closest things to a literal ‘City on a Hill’ in the world of healthcare providers. Intermountain's unified view of population health as the revenue model of the future for the organization effectively galvanizes the supply chain response in coordination with clinical and financial as well as its owned insurance company, SelectHealth.”
“Discipline to stay the course and incrementally build capabilities are the hallmarks of companies on this year's ranking,” said O'Daffer. “Companies near the top differentiate themselves by realizing that core capabilities are necessary but not sufficient, so they look for innovation. Organizations that retain talent and keep a focus on how supply chain supports their organization's mission and aligns with the business strategy are the ones that are able to sustain excellence in their supply chain.”
According to O'Daffer, to be ranked among the Top 25 ranking takes strong quantitative performance supported by the recognition of peers and analysts. But while consistency and capabilities resonate, it is innovation that catapults companies to the top of the list.
The full report is available here.