Western Provincial Supply Chain Collaborative Successes

HSSBC was created in 2008. In 2009 BC and Alberta created an informal alliance for supply chain best practices, and in 2010 Saskatchewan and Manitoba joined in, and later that year the group became pan-Canadian. The model is self governing and the report is that success has been achieved in the past year.

Susan Antosh, the President and CEO of Saskatchewan Association of Health Organisations
Doug Kent, VP of Supply Chain for HSSBC

SAHO is now procuring 50% of all goods and services through a centralized process for the province of Saskatchewan. As of March of this year, 7% of all goods and services are procured in conjunction with the other Western Provinces.

HSSBC has standardized with the other western provinces on the use of an external partner, HealthPro to assist in the management of the vast amount of purchasing and supply chain management required. The volume of work was simply too much so external help was needed to gain efficiencies.

After two years with this strategy the savings are noted to be $150M.

HSSBC stated that clinicians are brought into the collaboration and decision making around supply chain and contract awarding to ensure that patient value is a top priority in the awarding process.

All three western provinces are given the ability to work on behalf of each other, share as many plans as possible, and gain efficiencies as a group. Sharing more than procurement, but logistics as well is a key goal for the near future.

Doug's update on the Pan Canadian collaboration informed us that in September of 2010 all provinces and territories asked HSSBC to evaluate the feasibility of a pan Canadian option for purchasing and logistics. Three models are being evaluated today. Having one agency take a lead on different purchases and negotiations, collaboration with GPOs, or having the GPOs run the whole process with governance by the collaborative are the three models in play. We should expect an update by next year on the model of choice.

The impact on the marketplace to date is considered to not have destroyed the competitive nature of the marketplace, that said, it is acknowledged that there are winners and losers, but that the process is fair, accountable, and transparent.

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Location:Kelowna, BC