By now critics and fans alike have dissected every character nuance, line of dialogue and movie frame in the latest offering of the Star Wars franchise nine ways to Sunday (cliché intended).
Alongside miles of ink inside of mass media and online message boards perhaps the most definitive analysis can be found in Forbes Magazine’s enlightening commentary of the film here (https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2017/12/20/one-reason-the-last-jedi-is-a-masterpiece-it-shatters-our-star-wars-nostalgia/#7c1d0baf1d4b).
Before he sold his brainchild/franchise to Disney, George Lucas envisioned, launched, developed and produced an iconic brand in 1977 (the same year HPN debuted!) based on the simple premise of a cinematic space opera. Yes, Gene Roddenberry launched his “Star Trek” franchise in 1966 as a space-faring wagon train to the stars mirroring the migration of Americans westward in the 19th century, but “Star Wars” represented the epic – and orthodox – struggle between good and evil.
If anything, the latest installment of the franchise seems to represent a paean to post-modern societal relativism. The “Force” until now required a delicate balance between clearly distinguishable good (Jedi) and evil (Sith) sides. Going forward, good and evil have been relegated to the fringes in favor of a wide swath of gray.
What does this have to do with Supply Chain? It merely serves as an analogy to the department’s historic nom de guerre.
More than a century ago in a healthcare industry far, far away, the professionals who bought products and services for hospitals simply were known as purchasing agents. Group purchasing in its infancy was known as cooperative buying.
Through the years, the commercial relationship between the “Purchasing” department and its suppliers mimicked the adage applied to stock market transactions: Buy low; sell high. Purchasing agents clashed with supplier sales reps as the former pulled to buy as little as possible at the lowest possible price and the latter pushed to sell as much as possible at the highest possible price.
Over time, however, Purchasing’s role changed – some might argue, improved. As facilities grew, Purchasing’s accountability and responsibilities increased to the point that the C-suite executives no longer could appease cronies and justify dumping unqualified friends, relatives and “useful” business contacts into a department that just “bought stuff.”
By the 1960s, purchasing became one of the key functions within the “Materials Management” department that also included inventory, receiving, storeroom/warehouse management, distribution, traffic/transportation, mail room, print shop and to a certain degree, value analysis via professional connections with clinical customers.
During the healthcare reform-addled 1990s that ignited parallel consolidation waves among providers and suppliers, the healthcare industry segment adopted “Resource Management” as a forced-fashionable and politically correct option to promote its usefulness amid layoffs.
Multiple facilities tucked inside integrated delivery networks meant those executives running consolidated “Materials/Resource Management” departments saw their scopes broadening and required tasks piling up.
By the turn of the century, Materials/Resource Management execs embraced long-term strategic planning, business consulting, facilitation and mediation with clinical customers and strategic alliances with suppliers. “Gainsharing” or “risk-sharing” arrangements supplanted adversarial relationships. They also demonstrated more visible concern about the development and progression of products from raw materials through efficient usage to effective disposal.
The title “Supply Chain Management” seemed to befit this progressive role.
So where does the Star Wars allusion fit?
As HPN embarks on its fifth decade it’s time to call for a title change that reflects our readers’ – and this industry’s – growing importance in healthcare through clinical, financial and operational performance.
The title should encompass the business, consultative, economic, facilitative and functional links this group must create, develop, manage and nourish between suppliers, clinicians and all the administrators and supporting services in between, including Information Technology, Revenue Integrity and Payer executives.
Star Wars and PAR Wars are all about “sharing.” It’s time for “Shared Services” to stick.
Rick Dana Barlow | Senior Editor
Rick Dana Barlow is Senior Editor for Healthcare Purchasing News, an Endeavor Business Media publication. He can be reached at [email protected].
