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CHICAGO, April 2, 2007 − The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) has partnered with the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University (ASU) to establish the Healthcare Supply Chain Benchmarking and Performance Improvements Metrics, an initiative that aims to advance and improve healthcare supply chain performance analysis over the next two years.
 
Through the partnership, AHRMM and ASU will develop an online benchmarking and performance improvement tool using well established research method techniques that have been successfully applied to improving supply chain performance in other industries.  This tool will allow hospitals and providers to compare their performance with organizations of similar size and operation. The Healthcare Supply Chain Benchmarking and Performance Improvements Metrics is in the first phase of development.

“Despite past success with benchmarking, healthcare organizations still need a consistent, actionable, and credible measure to ensure accurate comparisons and reporting of financial and other supply chain measures,” said Deborah Sprindzunas, AHRMM’s executive director. “By identifying and developing effective indicators of supply chain performance as well as metrics for evaluating partner performance, AHRMM and ASU’s new tool will lead the way toward consistent, transferable performance analysis.”

During the first phase the research team plans to engage industry experts in the identification, evaluation, and selection of target metrics for the healthcare field.  The second phase involves development of a data capture and online benchmarking tool for use by practicing supply chain managers.  The third phase moves this project to initial data collection and model validation activities where a sample of targeted organizations will provide data for validating the metric definitions and testing the use of the benchmarking and analysis tool.  During the final phase, full scale data collection commences. 

“The Healthcare Supply Chain Benchmarking and Performance Improvements Metrics will not only enable organizations to determine the best performer, it will also determine best known practices and capabilities that have yet to be adopted by the majority of the industry,” explained Vicki Smith-Daniels, Professor of Supply Chain Management, W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. Associations representing various healthcare professions will be invited to participate in benchmarking and performance improvement analysis on a frequent basis, allowing for longitudinal analysis of supply chain performance improvement in the field of healthcare.

For more information on the AHRMM and ASU benchmarking project, please visit www.ahrmm.org.

About AHRMM
The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM) is the leading national association for executives in the healthcare resource and materials management profession. A personal membership group of the American Hospital Association, AHRMM serves more than 3,900 active members. Founded in 1962, AHRMM prepares its members to contribute to the field and advance the profession through leadership, education, resources and networking. For more information, please visit www.ahrmm.org.

About W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU
W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is one of the largest business schools in the United States, with more than 190 faculty members, 1,400 graduate students, and more than 2,700 upper-division undergraduate students. The school is internationally recognized for its leadership in supply chain management and services marketing and is highly regarded for its faculty’s research productivity. The school’s seven research centers serve as a link between business communities and the areas of marketing, entrepreneurship, information technology and supply chain management. For more information please visit wpcarey.asu.edu and http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/.