TRHMC Joins 16 Hospitals in PA to Form Supply Network

Friday, June 11, 2010

The Reading Hospital and Medical Center (TRHMC) and 16 other hospitals in Pennsylvania have agreed to work together to reduce their supply expenses and improve operational performance.  All of the hospitals are members of VHA Inc., the national health care network. 

VHA will help the new Purchasing Coalition of Pennsylvania organize and focus its supply chain activities.  The new partnership represents $1 billion in combined annual supply purchases.  The network will work with VHA and act as a single entity in order to drive savings and supply chain efficiency. 

The coalition will leverage VHA’s contracting support and supply chain management expertise to obtain better pricing on aggregated purchases.   The network will be governed by supply executives from the participating members. This committee will develop the strategies, guidelines, and processes that will ensure the group can reach their savings objectives. The network members have agreed to abide by the following guiding principles: 

• A defined decision making process
• Volume aggregated contracting strategies
• Member commitment
• Sustained contract compliance

VHA’s supply networks typically save participating hospitals between 7% and 10% annually on their supply purchases.