The thin line

During Bellwether League’s Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Forum on October 1, a variety of speakers lobbed a series of thought-provoking observations that should make executives and other professionals within the industry … wonder.

Joe Colonna, Vice President, Supply Chain, Piedmont Health System, mentioned that making a difference in supply chain can be measured by nobody calling you with basic questions or complaining about something. (For any tuning in late, Healthcare Purchasing News named Piedmont Health its 2018 Supply Chain Department of the Year back in August.)

More striking was the barb interjected by moderator Nate Mickish, Vice President, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, Texas Health Resources, that sometimes it’s “better to be completely invisible.”

Ideally, that makes perfect sense based on expectations of convenience and service, no matter how lofty, unrealistic or unreasonable. Things have to be where they need to be when they need to be (and at the “right” cost) or you’re not doing your job. Perhaps it’s nothing short of having a Star Trek replicator nearby or a magic wand dipped liberally in pixie dust.

Few said it as well as the retired Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management, Texas Health Resources, John Gaida who was inducted into the Bellwether Class of 2018 later that night: “Doing a good job in supply chain management is like wetting your pants in a dark suit,” he quipped during his acceptance speech. “You get a warm feeling, but no one notices.”

At the same time, there’s a fine line, a thin line woven through what seems like a corporate cultural clash. On the one hand you want to ensure everyone – all of your customers – are satisfied with your performance, and there’s few better evaluations of that than a blank, squeaky clean complaint list. On the other hand, you want to ensure that everyone – all of your customers – respects and values you and your Supply Chain department. And regularly seeks you out for your expertise.

Can a happy medium exist between invisibility and tangibility? Translucence with a dash of radiance, accented by some twinkly backlighting?

You betcha! Think of it as skating those polished steel blades along the line on your way to a hat trick.

The “invisibility” side covers the absolute basics, the fundamentals that remain foundational to the profession. That includes sourcing, negotiating, contracting, stocking, maneuvering and disposing of products within or below budget. The “tangibility” side covers where the profession needs to head – and seems to be well on its way. That includes advising, consulting and facilitating clinical and administrative customers on shared service operations strategies and tactics that ensures the viability of the healthcare organization and its mission to care for patients.

This doesn’t mean that Supply Chain pros shouldn’t be seen as the valuable resource they are as product and process experts. It’s always good for customers to find what they need with minimal-to-no effort while expressing gratitude to the smiling Supply Chain pro leaving the scene just in time. The C-suite and department heads also must recognize and acknowledge the holistic expertise that Supply Chain contributes to the healthcare organization.

Retired Supply Chain executive Brent Johnson (Bellwether Class of 2014), he of Intermountain and Intalere fame, expressed his passion for Supply Chain by rightly calling it an “honorable profession” that helps to giving care to people that need it.

We should expect no less and do no less, no matter how wavy the thin line wiggles.