Supply Chain Management

Improving Patient Care Through the Supply Chain

We serve together in the spirit of the Gospel, to heal body, mind and spirit, to improve the health of our communities, and to steward the resources entrusted to us. - Mission of Trinity Health

Our resources allow us to provide the best possible care to our patients, and an important way we do this is through our Supply Chain Management department. It oversees how our facilities purchase, deliver, store, distribute and use products, as well as manage capital construction projects. Everything from bandages to the latest surgical tools is part of a massive pipeline of equipment and supplies that can represent up to 25 percent of a health system’s budget. At Trinity Health, we look for ways to improve financial performance, so that the savings can be put toward our healing ministry. This happens through:

• Source Operations Steering Team (SOST): A task force made up of executives and staff members from our facilities across Trinity Health, all with strong purchasing, operations, clinical or medical backgrounds. They work together to determine the best business relationships for Trinity Health, and ways to secure the best products at the lowest possible costs.
• Supply Chain Information System (SCIS): A supply chain management computer system currently being rolled out across Trinity Health, and scheduled to be in all of our facilities by 2008. We are already realizing the benefits of this initiative.
• Right Product, Right Place, Right Time, Right Price: This is the primary assertion that drives our supply chain decisions. Since 2001, Trinity Health has saved more than $188 million, due to its supply chain efforts. Annual savings go straight to the bottom line, and are being used to support our Mission and our healing ministry in very important ways.
• Capital Project Management (CPM): Provides oversight of scope, schedule and budget management for capital construction projects greater than $15 million across our Unified Enterprise Ministry (UEM) through consistent organization, process, and tracking structures that reinforce “cost informing design.”
• Supply Chain Operations: This includes Shared Procurement Services out of Farmington Hills, Michigan. Inventory Control methods are used to minimize waste across our UEM. Several Operations Councils also share demonstrated best practices in order to reduce cost and streamline the entire supply-chain.
• Contract Maximization Activities: This includes Contract Compliance, product standardization, and contract management activities.

Trinity Health maintains that a direct line exists between supply chain management and our ability to provide quality patient care. With this guiding principle, our Supply Chain Management department will continue to find ways to drive down supply costs, in order to provide the highest standards of patient care and service.

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