August 26, 2022 – Steve Reilly is the Senior Director, Supply Chain at Universal Health Services. Read an excerpt from The Journal of Healthcare Contracting’s “10 People to Watch in Healthcare Contracting” below.
What are the most important attributes of successful supply chain teams today?
Culture, teamwork and resiliency stand out as the most important attributes for successful supply chain teams today. The pandemic, supply shortages and inflation have created an extremely difficult environment. The culture of resiliency we have built across our supply chain team has allowed us to keep pushing through and bouncing back from setbacks and challenges. Having a team that works hard and supports each other has made a huge difference. One additional critical factor is UHS senior executive level support for the supply chain function. We have continually been given the necessary resources to enhance, improve and ensure that we are effectively supporting our customers.
What project or initiative are you looking forward to working on?
Our teams are really looking forward to refocusing our efforts on strategic product standardization. The ongoing supply shortages have made standardization and backorder management an ongoing challenge. Our team is focused on aligning with manufacturers and distributors to create transparency across the supply chain. Standardization brings many benefits to hospitals and suppliers from a quality, cost and operational efficiency standpoint. It will be exciting to further this ongoing strategic work.
What changes brought about by the pandemic are here to stay in the supply chain?
Our Supply Chain team has emerged from the pandemic stronger and well positioned for long-term success. The pandemic has forced our team members to be more creative to find solutions to problems. A focus on aggressively managing backorders and communication of supply issues will continue. In addition, many hospitals will continue to maintain their own distribution capabilities for PPE supplies in the potential event of another pandemic.
To see the rest of our 10 People to Watch in Healthcare Contracting list, click here.