Steward HealthCare August 2019 by Business Chief USA

Managing supply chain strategies amidst a digital transformation

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Michael Prokopis,Vice President of Supply Chain at Steward Health Care, discusses the supply chain strategies his firm is leveraging amidst digital transformation in the healthcare sector

s the largest private, tax paying, physician-led healthcare network in the US, Steward Health Care boasts an extensive

portfolio of 38 hospitals in the US and Malta. Having experienced a significant transformation in its offering over the past few years, the hospital 04

prioritises the importance of first-class care to its patients. With procurement becoming increasingly influential to the way Steward Health Care operates, the firm created a shared services model which evaluates how the facilities are acquired. Michael Prokopis, Vice President of Supply Chain at Steward Health Care, discusses his company’s journey to transform its supply chain. “In shared services model, we have a number of different teams all working together,” he says. “We have a contracting department as well as a data team that helps us to understand the value metrics as well as reporting out to the facilities and observing how they’re doing on the KPIs. We have a procurement group which processes requisitions and turns them into purchase orders. We also have a value analysis wrapper, which allows us to

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evaluate from a clinical perspective

and we’re in the process of undergoing

how every single product that

that transformation now. What’s

we introduce into the supply chain

critically important from there

and deliver to our clinicians helps

is how you take that information

us decide whether it’s better than

and begin to use it, in order to get

something we’re already using.”

better consumption information at

Having taken steps to embrace

the point of care and understand

digitalisation over the past couple

what your inventory positions are.

of years, Steward Health Care

We’re also creating a mission control

is currently operating two ERPs

capability that will allow us to predict

and is well underway in its digital

our ability to deliver care in advance.

transformation journey. “We’re

It’s not enough that we schedule

on a digital path,” affirms Prokopis.

a patient for an operating room

“We know we’ve got to get to one

procedure two or three weeks out.

enterprise resource planning capability,

We also then have to understand

“We fundamentally believe innovation is the core” — Michael Prokopis, Vice President of Supply Chain at Steward Health Care

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what the nature of supply is and

how we can predict the back order

we can get the supply at the point

by watching and monitoring. You have

of care when we need it.”

to ask yourself what you are going

With a determination to lead the field

to do about it, and how you can do

and remain innovative in the healthcare

it in advance in order to counter

sector, Steward Health Care remains

the problem from happening.”

agile as it responds to the latest trends

Prokopis believes what really

in the supply chain space. “The back

differentiates Steward Health Care

orders are always a problem. We have

from its rivals is value analysis.

to ask ourselves how we make sure,

“If you look at other hospital organisa-

with the highest level of prediction,

tions, they have a grassroots approach

we can deliver the things that we’re

where there might be a value analysis

promising to our customers,” says

team that supports every hospital,”

Prokopis. “It’s really about deciding

he explains. “Most will also have w w w.ste wa rd . org

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an executive steering committee,

Health Care hospitals dramatically

what makes ours different is that

increase from 10 to 38, the company

we also have a product category

considers innovation a key pillar to its

team serving as the inflection point

future growth and pivotal to success.

to understand what’s happening

“We fundamentally believe innovation

in the facilities and generate lots of

is the core,” explains Prokopis. “Due

grassroot ideas that are evaluated

to the way we’ve expanded, we’re

and monitored for broad standardiza-

moving at the speed of light. I like

tion across our nine-state footprint.”

to joke that we’re a car moving down

Due to the firm’s significant transfor-

the road at 100mph and we’re not only

mation over the past two years which

changing the tires, but we’re also going

has seen the number of Steward

to swap out the engine and the

transmission at the same time.

more sustainable and drive more value

We have to do things differently

for patients. “One of the things that

in order to find those value pockets

we say is that every dollar we save

and continue to drive towards quality

in the supply chain is not a dollar that

of care. It’s not just about consolidating

rolls to the bottom line – it’s actually

standards or bulk buys. We’re constant-

a dollar that we can now reinvest into

ly pushing ourselves to see if there’s

our care,” he says. “There’s a long list

a way for us to improve, reimagine

of things to buy and do and renew

and rethink the way that we’re working

to stay on the cutting edge. I tell

in our hospitals, and most importantly,

my team all the time that our fiduciary

delivering care for our patients.”

responsibility as a supply chain is that

Operating with a firm customer-cen-

we’re a services organisation. We have

tric approach, Prokopis is constantly

service level agreements that we have

evaluating how his firm can become

to not only achieve but exceed! I come

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Michael Prokopis, Vice President of Supply Chain A leader with a uniquely business-minded approach to healthcare, Michael Prokopis is the Vice President of Supply Chain at Steward Health Care. Overseeing the $1.5 Billion supply chain capabilities of more than 30 hospitals comes naturally to an executive with more than twenty years’ worth of experience in strategy, planning, and optimization. Michael has master’s degrees from MIT and Dartmouth and lives in Dallas, TX.

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“ It’s important to pick strategic partners with whom you go through the process of demand planning up to five years in advance and you’re sharing information so that both of you can improve the supply chain” — Michael Prokopis, Vice President of Supply Chain at Steward Health Care

in other industries with just as much unpredictability.” With the importance of establishing and maintaining successful partnerships vital to all businesses’ success, Steward Health Care utilises a variety of tools to help analyse a range of different data in order to predict patient volume to allow staff to be treated accordingly. Prokopis explains what he looks for when seeking to formulate a successful strategic relationship. “At the end of the day, a good partner is the one that says, ‘If we do this or if we try that, we have the opportunity to move this KPI or metric’. We’re always looking

from a different mindset than tradition-

for ‘strategic’ partners; we hope

al healthcare and provide an outside

someone’s going to come to us and

perspective on what I think a supply

say, ‘Here’s some ideas that we haven’t

chain should look like. I tell my boss

implemented or maybe you haven’t

all the time that we don’t need to

contemplated. Let’s see if we can

reinvent the supply chain…we just

figure out how to do this together’.

need to correctly implement. It’s

Those are the kinds of things that

important to pick strategic partners

are extremely important to do. To me,

with whom you go through the process

a partner is someone who really wants

of demand planning up to five years in

to work with you, that generates new

advance and you’re sharing informa-

ways of doing things and thinks outside

tion so that both of you can improve

the box to see if we can approach the

the supply chain; that is what happens

problem from a different perspective.” w w w.ste wa rd . org

S T E W A R D H E A LT H C A R E

23,000+ Employees worldwide

2010

Year founded

Hospitals in the US and Malta 15

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S T E W A R D H E A LT H C A R E

Looking to the future, Prokopis has a clear vision of how his company can continue to grow over the next few years. He believes the key to future success is to constantly monitor the supply chain. “We’ve just opened two facilities in April. One was an acquisition and the other was a facility that had been shut down that we reopened the doors for,” he notes. “At the end of the day, you take the supply chain that you’re developing and look for an opportunity to firstly convert a hospital that was doing

“ To me, a partner is someone who really wants to work with you, that generates new ways of doing things and thinks outside the box”

things differently, and secondly provide an opportunity where you’re literally starting from scratch. You have to ask yourself how you make sure that when the first patient walks in the door, they’re going to get exactly what they need in the time that they need it in. That’s the key.”

— Michael Prokopis, Vice President of Supply Chain at Steward Health Care

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Steward Health Care T +1 469 341 8890 www.steward.org