Rush University Medical Center was recently named to the Gartner Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25 for 2021. Considered the top honor in the supply chain profession, the list “identifies, celebrates and profiles health systems that are effectively navigating the post-pandemic landscape through excellence in supply chain management,” according to Gartner Inc., a global technology and research consulting company.
To create its ranking, Gartner combined quantitative measures of organizational performance and qualitative assessment of value chain leadership and demonstrated supply chain performance to create a composite score for each organization. According to Gartner, the following three traits distinguished the health systems included in the top 25 list:
- Increased resilience that enabled the top systems to respond effectively to disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the availability of personal protective equipment. For example, supply chain leaders at Rush University Medical Center have been working with clinicians to find acceptable substitutes for back-ordered supplies such as surgical gloves and tubing used for intravenous lines. The Medical Center also has systems to monitor supply levels in real time and anticipate shortages well in advance.
- Improving collaboration to work more closely with medical equipment manufacturers in order to obtain essential supplies such as ventilators. Rush is known for its collaboration with manufacturers to address challenges and create creative solutions. In one such collaboration, the Rush supply chain and clinical teams worked with Johnson & Johnson to develop an innovative and award-winning suture program to ensure suture is readily available while reducing waste.
- Honing environmental, social, and governance practices, such as expanding diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and forming partnerships to improve health equity. Rush is nationally known as a leader in this area.
