The University of Kansas Health System and Medline partner to enhance supply chain strategy

Medline has entered in a prime vendor partnership with The University of Kansas Health System. As the system’s primary supplier, Medline will exclusively distribute an extensive portfolio of essential medical supplies and solutions across the health system’s five acute care hospital facilities. After being with a previous distributor for three years, the two organizations will now collaborate to identify new strategies for enhancing supply chain procurement and logistics operations, patient outcomes, and clinical efficiencies.

“Supply chain distribution is highly complex, especially for an academic health system. It is crucial for us to partner with a distributor that can align with our strategic vision, providing us with end-to-end solutions,” said Janie Ott, vice president of supply chain at The University of Kansas Health System.

Under the terms of the agreement, The University of Kansas Health System will leverage Medline’s supply chain optimization and logistical expertise to support resiliency efforts for the region by establishing self-distribution capabilities for the health system and its affiliates. Medline will also be providing additional resources to enable the health system to easily monitor key metrics such as item utilization, contract compliance, price accuracy and spending by product categories through Medline’s advanced analytics platforms.

“In addition to the financial benefits, they bring a level of expertise and stability that will help us continue to enhance our supply chain processes,” said Doug Gaston, senior vice president and chief financial officer at The University of Kansas Health System.

The partnership will also provide members of the health system’s rural healthcare affiliate program, Strategic Healthcare Solutions (SHS), with a best-in-class distribution service that enables access to Medline’s extensive portfolio of essential medical supplies, logistics services and solutions. Medline will partner with participating SHS members, providing services from initial contract alignment and price assurance analysis to product standardization to ensure a smooth, timely, and accurate distributor transition.

“At our foundation, Medline teams go to great lengths, working tirelessly for our partners, to truly understand a system’s obstacles and provide the strategic support needed in navigating supply chain operations and clinical outcomes,” says Marc Phillips, senior vice president of corporate sales at Medline. “We are thrilled to become an extension of The University of Kansas Health System team and partnering to enhance their vision and support of advanced healthcare in Kansas through the SHS affiliate program.”

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