Top supply chain stories of 2015 to help healthcare providers run better

Price transparency, on-demand inventory and tighter financial controls are making the supply chain a much more important area for driving a healthcare provider's bottom line. We've been covering the latest trends, innovations and leaders as they navigate the new healthcare financial models and examine how inventory and supply chain are changing. Here are some of the best stories of 2015.

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As hospitals continue to look for ways to cut costs, a team at Stanford Medicine is looking at how facilities can shave dollars off medical device purchases. Full story.

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The growth of specialty drugs, and the pressures pharma mergers place on supply chain operations are just a few trends experts at McKesson Pharmacy Optimization expect to shape hospital pharmacy operations in 2016, according to a new report. Full story.

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Pharmacy benefit company Express Scripts is partnering with Imprimis Pharmaceuticals to offer $1 a pill alternative to Daraprim, a drug owned by Martin Shkreli's company, Turing Pharmaceutical. Full story.

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Computer Programs and Systems, which provides healthcare information solutions to rural and community hospitals, will buy technology vendor firm Healthland Holding and its affiliates for $250 million, the company announced. Full story.

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Turing Pharmaceuticals will slash the price hospitals pay for Daraprim by 50 percent following backlash over owner Martin Shkreli's decision to hike the price of the AIDS drug by 5,000 percent. Full story.

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The combined supply chain company VHA-UHC has changed its name to Vizient following the merger earlier this year by the two firms. Full story.

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Healthcare services company MedAssets will be sold to Pamplona Capital Management in a $2.7 billion deal that will boost its revenue cycle business and result in its group purchasing organization being sold off, the companies recently announced. Full story.

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Healthcare providers consider the rising cost of pharmaceuticals and ongoing drug shortages among their most pressing challenges, according to a recent survey published by healthcare alliance Premier. Full story.

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Proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules for the disposal of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals will prevent hospitals and other healthcare facilities from flushing drugs down the toilet or drain. Full story.

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For hospitals, the question of whether it is cheaper in the long run to repair a device or replace it continues to be hard to answer, according to experts, though many facilities are trying to come up with standards. Full story.

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As hospitals go on a buying spree for physician practices, ambulatory centers and other outpatient facilities, supply chain giant Henry Schein is raking it in amid all off this consolidation. Full story.

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The FDA has cleared Eko Core, a digital stethoscope designed by medical devices startup Eko Devices. Company founders call Eko Core "a next-generation" stethoscope – billed as the only one on the market to wirelessly stream heart sounds to a HIPAA-compliant smartphone app. It is also the first to integrate heart sounds directly into the patient's EHR. Full story.

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Just one word: Plastics. From bed pans and basins to catheters and syringes, hospital supply chain managers know just how important plastic products are to the business. And lucky for them, the drop in petroleum prices is creating much-needed cost savings for savvy organizations. Full story.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently opened a new round of bidding for its Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies Competitive Bidding Program, which allows suppliers to negotiate new pricing levels Medicare pays for medical supplies. Full story.

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Tenet Healthcare, one of the largest for-profit healthcare providers in the United States, said it has signed a five-year deal to use the Healthtrust platform to manage its supply chain contracts. Full story.

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The arrival of reinvented hospital gowns is creating quite the stir at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in Minnesota after a the system decided to ditch the hated, backside-baring gowns for a newer model. Full story.

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When Amy Floria was promoted to chief financial officer at IU Health Goshen in 2008, she had already booked nine years of experience managing finances for the Indiana health system. Full story.

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Though antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' aren't new, their rise in U.S. healthcare institutions is leading hospitals to stock up on supplies to combat them. Full story.

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Rebounding from a tough couple of years due to lack of availability of generic drugs, many healthcare facilities are weighing their options. Full story.

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While rural hospitals face significant challenges, for one region at least, supply chain isn't one of them. Kansas Hospital Association's buying power comes through its supply chain subsidiary, Associated Purchasing Services. Full story.

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A number of market forces are making it even more complicated to manage a hospital supply chain today. Declines in inpatient volume, reimbursement and changes in the boundary between payers and providers - not to mention the perpetual cost hikes in supplies and pharmaceuticals - all eat into hospital margins, which affects spending pools. Full story.

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The move from fee-for-service to value-based payment will require a complete change of strategy for health systems, but according to a new survey, it’s going to take an investment in technology as well. Full story.

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Intermountain Healthcare of Salt Lake City, Utah said it will take full ownership of Amerinet, one of the nation’s largest healthcare group purchasing companies. Intermountain already owns half of St. Louis, Missouri-based Amerinet. Under the new agreement, it would acquire the remaining half owned by Administrative Resources, Inc. Full story.

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Lean Six Sigma is thriving in healthcare, a distinct change from two decades ago, when the performance improvement methodologies were first introduced to the industry. Full story.

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With so many organizations making up your accountable care organization, the need for a collaborative approach to supply chain purchasing is leading organizations to lean on analytics tools and new chains of communication to keep costs in check. Full story.

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As hospitals and other healthcare facilities face tighter profit margins tied to care costs and cuts in reimbursement rates, more organizations are turning to just-in-time inventory management to keep supplies lean and costs low. But the approach comes with risks. Full story.

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Everybody’s used to doctors and nurses at hospitals, but the newest healthcare staffer is a bit more … robotic. At the new UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay robots assist with surgery. Robots also charm patients and visitors at Boston Children’s Hospital and zap harmful bacteria in Sarasota, Pittsburgh and elsewhere. Full story.

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Spending on healthcare providers’ drug supply is becoming more complicated as generics flood the market, a trend that makes it more important for finance and purchasing execs to understand the changes. Full story.

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When it comes to purchasing medical equipment, hospitals are wise to bring the finance team into discussions with the supply team. That is, if they want to make a smart financial decision, of course. Full story.

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Top healthcare supply company Henry Schein will be added to the S&P 500. Full story.

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The Cleveland Clinic has partnered with Theranos to use the startup’s diagnostic technology that can take a drop of blood from the finger and screen for a spectrum of conditions and diseases at half the price of Medicare. Full story.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising hospitals not to cancel procedures requiring duodenoscopes and said there is no evidence that the lack of federal clearance on one of the scopes tied to recent “superbug” cases in California contributed to the infections. Full story.

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Catamaran Corp., an Illinois-based provider of pharmacy benefit management services and technology said it would acquire Healthcare Solutions for $405 million in cash. Full story.

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Supply chain management company VHA said it will merge with UHC, creating a single healthcare services company that ranks it among the largest in the nation. Full story.

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Who said change is a bad thing? When it comes to supply chain purchasing, healthcare has become the picture of efficiency. Full story.

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Expensive colonoscopies that cost a patient over $1,000 on average could soon be replaced by simpler and much cheaper tests as non-invasive screening options become more available and more sophisticated. Full story.

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You can lease, but don’t buy. That seems to be best advice for hospitals and health systems without piles of cash on hand, since they are better served leasing specialized or technical equipment rather than purchasing it. Full story.

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Despite years of focusing on driving out excess operational costs, hospitals are still finding hidden waste in their recurring expenses. Such hidden costs can throw a wrench into planning efforts, but if approached correctly, waste need not remain hidden. Full story.

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