SMI Releases Two New Free Industry Resources

Scituate, MA (July 24, 2013):  The Strategic Marketplace Initiative (SMI), a non-profit, member-driven organization today released two new resources created to help shape the future of the healthcare supply chain industry.  An executive briefing entitled, “Supply Chain Technology Maturity Model” and a Perfect Department Index (PDI) Toolkit are now available at no charge on the SMI website at:  www.smisupplychain.com.   Both resources represent the culmination of work over the past twelve months by two SMI Initiative teams comprised of executive members from healthcare providers, manufacturers, distributors, technology companies, and collaborators.

The first team of SMI members embarked on an initiative to create an understanding that fully integrated technologies can significantly contribute to improved operational efficiencies, quality patient outcomes, and enhanced financial performance.  The results culminated in the executive briefing entitled, “Supply Chain Technology Maturity Model” which explores various stages of technology development and key characteristics.  SMI Team Leader Keith Lohkamp and Product Director at Infor said, “This SMI team has provided the industry with a greater understanding of where and how technology can help organizations improve their supply chain.  We created this executive briefing to provide a vision for healthcare organizations as they progress from an operational to an optimal technology platform.”

A second team of SMI members created a PDI Toolkit based on the Perfect Department Index (PDI). The Perfect Department Index (PDI) is a scientific methodology used to quantify and measure a department’s journey toward supply chain’s ultimate goal, the perfect department, going from requisition to payment without human intervention.  This PDI Toolkit, consisting of a user manual and PDI scorecard, explores a key set of metrics designed to help organizations eliminate waste, streamline processes and control costs.  SMI Team Leader Philip Pettigrew and Director of Materials Management at Denver Health & Hospital Authority said, “Through the efforts of this SMI team, the industry now has a standard set of supply chain metrics that can be used to achieve greater efficiency and identify areas of improvement at the department level in a hospital or an IDN.”

SMI’s Executive Director Tom Hughes said, “It is SMI’s mission to produce solutions to real problems within the industry for the benefit of the entire healthcare supply chain. These two resources promote best practice adoption and trust between trading partners, which is so greatly needed for the future of the healthcare supply chain.”

Both the “Supply Chain Technology Maturity Model” Executive Briefing and the Perfect Department Index (PDI) Toolkit are available for download, at no cost on the SMI website at: http://www.smisupplychain.com.  Details from both the executive briefing and the toolkit are being presented by SMI team leaders and staff at the AHRMM13 Conference, July 28 – 31st in San Diego, CA.