Ed Hisscock

Ed Hisscock
Senior vice president, supply chain management
Trinity Health
Livonia, Michigan

About Ed Hisscock:
Born in Port Huron, Michigan, a lakeside city that shares a border with Sarnia, Ontario, Ed Hisscock was raised in Lupton, Michigan, population just over 300.

He has more than 25 years in supply chain and IT disciplines with companies that included both healthcare suppliers and providers. He began his healthcare career fixing lab equipment for the Scientific Products division of American Hospital Supply (later, Baxter Healthcare). Approximately five years after Baxter’s acquisition of American in 1986, he was offered the opportunity to help develop Baxter’s just-in-time program, ValueLink, in southeast Michigan.

Over the course of his career, he founded two healthcare companies and personally served over 100 provider organizations in the U.S. and Europe, focused on strategic sourcing, value analysis, information technology and strategic cost management solutions.

He is a frequent industry public speaker and serves as a guest lecturer at Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He holds bachelor degrees in electronics engineering and behavioral science, and a master’s degree in supply chain management.

At Trinity Health, he is he senior vice president of supply chain management. Prior to this assignment, from 2015 to 2018, he served as vice president of strategic sourcing and supply chain informatics for Trinity Health.

About Trinity Health:
Trinity Health serves diverse communities that include more than 30 million people across 22 states. The IDN includes 92 hospitals, as well as 109 continuing care locations, which include PACE programs, senior living facilities, and home care and hospice services.

Most challenging/rewarding project in the past 12-18 months:
“The most challenging work on our plate lately has been changing our relationships with our supply base. These relationships are traditionally transactional, and it will be in everyone’s best interest if we shift that to something more collaborative – and lean. For instance, there are tremendous opportunities to drive costs out of our suppliers’ Selling General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses. Industry sector benchmarks suggest there could be as much as 15% to 20% waste in the way we currently do business in this area.

“At Trinity Health, we have found a few willing suppliers to participate in kaizen events,” that is, events in which every step of a process is examined and assessed for waste. By consolidating purchase orders, shipments and invoices, Trinity Health and a key supplier have achieved substantial cost-savings.

Looking forward to:
Hisscock says he is looking forward to advancing supply chain capabilities related to clinical informatics. “Trinity Health’s clinical informatics team is working with supply chain on a bill-of-materials, so we can understand what products are used on which patients for which procedures. As our studies become more robust, we can give our clinicians richer data. For example, we can provide them with data about what other clinicians in the Trinity Health network are doing. If a physician in one facility is using fewer products but experiencing better outcomes, we can share that information with all.

“This work will help us align with clinicians across Trinity Health’s 22 states and give us a chance to contribute to transforming health and improving outcomes by further reducing clinical variations. And the timing couldn’t be better, as we are launching a common EMR across the entire enterprise.”

How are you better at practicing your profession today than you were 5-10 years ago?
“I stay on top of my own continuous improvement by remaining constantly curious and completely engaged. I went back to school to become an expert in my field. I stayed involved with that institution as a guest lecturer, and I make sure I am always open to learning from the bright and capable people I serve with at Trinity Health. I try to experience the healthcare supply chain from as many perspectives as I can.”

What are the challenges or opportunities facing the next generation of supply chain executives?
“I advise the next generation of supply chain professionals to challenge themselves to bigger ideas related to trade relationship efficiencies and waste, business continuity risks, and ways to promote change – specifically, standardization. They will be accountable for finding new ways to lean out our relationships with suppliers and intermediaries, as well. This will require education in supply chain fundamentals, inventory, finance, lean and procurement.”

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