As a regional partner of Coastal Community Health Systems along the coast of North Florida and South Georgia, Baptist Health knows the importance of relationships. With the largest network of physician offices in Northeast Florida, five hospitals and a volunteer board of more than 85 community leaders, the nonprofit organization is deemed the “Most Preferred” healthcare provider by local residents in the National Research Corporation annual study.
For more than 15 years, Baptist Health and Owens & Minor have worked together to ensure only high-quality products and proven solutions are used in the health leader’s facilities. During this time, Baptist Health has relied on Owens & Minor for complete supply chain support and expertise, from point-of-order to point- of-care. In 2019, the power of their teamwork was reaffirmed.
STRENGTHENING EXISTING TIES
In 2018, Baptist Health’s supply chain experienced a wave of new leadership of its regional alliance called Coastal Community Health. The vice president of supply chain and the director of value analysis arrived—bringing with them a new focus and drive to achieve supply chain excellence within its facilities.
“We wanted to make this transition as seamless as possible for them. We sat down right away to reassure them that Owens & Minor was a valuable collaborator, committed to their success—and to outline how we can collaborate to help them advance their goals,” said Don Howard, Vice President of Commercial Services, Owens & Minor.
Howard and his team viewed the situation as an opportunity to foster a stronger affiliation. They took a proactive approach by facilitating conversations with new leadership and detailing the solid relationship between Owens & Minor and Baptist Health.
WORKING TOGETHER AS NEW CHALLENGES ARISE
As Owens & Minor navigated changes within Baptist Health’s supply chain leadership, the healthcare network experienced another challenge: During the implementation phase of their new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, challenges arose with the translation of units of measure when placing orders.
Owens & Minor worked with Baptist Health to overcome these issues which required a lot of manual effort and additional time to address. “We were correcting units of measure, troubleshooting electronic orders—just making sure physicians and patients had what they needed,” said Erin Carriero, account manager at Owens & Minor. “Everyone was lending a hand to help.”
To further aid in a smoother process, Owens & Minor worked with Baptist Health to create a Credits, Returns and Issues Report (CRIR) to mutually improve the process. If a product is picked in error, supply chain staff use the CRIR to streamline the returns process and avoid duplicate paperwork to return the product to Owens & Minor. “It’s been so helpful to have a process in place in case any issues arise,” said Ted Rosch, Director, Supply Chain
Operations, Coastal Community Health. “The report is very detailed and helps both Baptist Health and Owens & Minor streamline and mutually improve the process.”
SUPPORTING OUTCOMES WITH STRONG DATA
Owens & Minor works with Baptist Health to manage sensitive products for patient care. For example, Owens & Minor keeps a safety stock of dialysis fluid at its warehouse. Every three months, Baptist Health validates the quantity they require, and the warehouse tracks the amount actually used.
Based on these metrics, as well as product expirations, Owens & Minor ensures the health system has a well-maintained safety stock of dialysis fluid when their patients need it most.
COMMITMENT TO FURTHER GROWTH
Given Owens & Minor’s proactive, customer-centric approach with the healthcare leader’s supply chain, Baptist Health established another multi-year commitment with them.
“We worked together to determine what terms work best for both sides,” said Rick Tresmond, Vice President, Supply Chain, Coastal Community Health. “It really is a commitment to grow together.”
Their collaboration is now stronger than ever. Baptist Health is a low unit of measure customer, helping to reduce supply chain costs and waste by having an optimal level of inventory delivered to the PAR location to support patient care. Owens & Minor is on-site every day providing Baptist Health immediate supply chain support.
“With nearly two decades of collaboration between us, we didn’t want to take the relationship for granted,” said Howard. “We engaged with Baptist Health early on so we could both evolve together.”
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