In this episode we talk with Jamie Kowalski. Jamie’s career as a Supply Chain Management executive in community and tertiary hospitals began in 1972.
He began his consulting career in 1980, founding Kowalski-Dickow Associates, Inc. (KDA), a leading hospital supply chain management-consulting firm. He has satisfied over 1700 hospital clients and over 180 IDNs. He has also consulted with dozens of supply chain related service provider companies, including Fortune 15 and Fortune 100 companies.
He later served in senior executive roles with Owens & Minor, Inc., McKesson Provider Technologies and Aramark Supply Chain Management Services.
Jamie is a Co-Founder and the first Board Chairman of The Bellwether League, Inc., the not-for-profit Hall of Fame for the Healthcare Supply Chain leaders.
He was selected for the George R. Gossett Leadership Award by the Association of Healthcare Resource and Materials Management, in 2011.
Jamie authored four and co-authored three more books on healthcare supply chain management, over 80 articles, and has spoken at over 125 national and international conferences on healthcare supply chain management.
Jamie earned BS in Management and MBA degrees from Marquette University.
He earned Fellow status in the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management.
In this episode we talk to John Strong.
John is a 40 year veteran of the healthcare industry with leadership experience in healthcare providers, suppliers and service providers, and group purchasing organizations. On October 4, 2011 the Bellwether League (Health Care Supply Chain Hall of Fame) inducted John for “his outstanding contributions over the years to healthcare supply chain management, development, innovation and leadership.” He combines talents that include health care administration, entrepreneurship, national accounts contracting, group purchasing, the roles of President, CEO and board member, and healthcare industry consultant. John has developed and implemented programs that have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in value for his employers and clients.
In addition to his consulting practice, John served on the adjunct faculty of the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee for three years.
John presently serves as president of Greenhealth Management, a subsidiary of Practice Greenhealth. It operates Greenhealth Exchange, a Delaware public benefit company (“B” Corp). Greenhealth Exchange is focused on developing specifications and aggregating green, sustainable purchasing volume to accelerate the adoption of better and more sustainable products in the health care industry.
John retired from Nexera, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association, where he was Senior Vice President of Management Services. This division provides outsourced services to clients including Supply Chain Procurement, Distribution, Central Processing, Linen, Receiving, Environmental Services, Facility Management, Clinical Engineering and Food Services.
John served as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Consorta, a $5 billion dollar group purchasing organization serving more than 350 hospitals for more than ten years.
Prior to Consorta, John served in a number of senior executive positions at Premier, Inc., a leading national healthcare alliance. In his final role as Chief Operating Officer of the group purchasing program he was responsible for medical surgical, operating supply and pharmacy group purchasing and clinical programs, alternate site services and international programs. He was a key architect of Premier’s contracting programs, member service and marketing operations for the group purchasing program, increasing purchasing volume to more than eight fold.
John’s experience also includes consulting as a Senior Vice President with Concepts in Healthcare, Inc., an Ashland, Massachusetts consulting firm.
John received his Master’s Degree in Business Administration with Distinction, with an emphasis on Human Resource Management from DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with a comprehensive major in Management from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is married, and has two post-college age children.
In this episode we talk with Todd Ebert, President and CEO of the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA).
Todd Ebert is a nationally recognized supply chain leader, a group purchasing industry expert, and a registered pharmacist with more than 30 years of healthcare experience.
Ebert joined HSCA in 2015 from Amerinet, Inc., a national healthcare solutions organization and HSCA member, where he had served as President and CEO since 2007. After joining Amerinet from Intermountain Healthcare in 1991, Ebert served in a series of leadership roles including Vice President of Amerinet's pharmacy program; President of Amerinet’s private-label company, Amerinet Choice, LLC; Executive Vice President for Contracting Operations and Purchasing Program Development Units; President of Operations; and as President and Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to Amerinet, Ebert gained extensive experience in several other sectors of the healthcare industry. He is a former vice president and general manager of a specialty healthcare product logistics company; a director of hospital and retail pharmacy; and has owned and operated a nursing home clinical pharmaceutical consulting company. Internationally, Ebert has provided pharmaceutical consulting to foreign government officials and healthcare providers.
Ebert is a former Chair of HSCA and is the immediate past Chair of the Healthcare Industry Supply Chain Institute (HISCI). He is often requested as a guest speaker for industry events on subjects ranging from pharmacy to group purchasing trends.
Ebert holds bachelor’s degrees in pharmacy and business management from the University of Utah and a Master of Science degree in pharmacy administration. He is a registered pharmacist.
On this episode we talk to Rand Ballard who leads strategic accounts; enterprise solution sales; and sales and client management for Vizient™.
Previously, Ballard served as MedAssets senior executive vice president and in the office of the chief executive since 2008 and as chief customer officer since 2006. He also served in the roles of chief operating officer, president of MedAssets supply chain systems and leader of the company’s sales team.
Prior to joining MedAssets, Ballard was vice president, health systems supplier economics and distribution for Cardinal Health care.
He earned a master’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University with a triple major in finance, operations and marketing. He was a deans' list undergraduate at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and earned a bachelor’s degree with concentration in nuclear physics, nuclear engineering and business law.
An avid community partner, Ballard has served as chairman of the board of the Meals on Wheels Association of America Foundation, vice president of Hire Heroes USA and vice president of The Health Careers Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships and low-interest loans to non-traditional students pursuing a degree in the health care field.
On this episode we talk with Gary Fennessy. Mr. Fennessy is the Vice President of Corporate Supply Chain with administrative oversight and strategy development for Supply Chain across the Northwestern Medicine network.
Prior to his current responsibilities, Mr. Fennessy served in various executive management positions within hospital operations and the finance division at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Mr. Fennessy received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education from Western Illinois University (1977) and his Masters of Business Administration from DePaul University (1984). He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on various community board committees that include his role as a Finance Chair and Board Member of the UCAN.
In this episode we talk to Dennis Orthman.
Orthman is the Senior Director with the Strategic Marketplace Initiative, supporting SMI executive teams in the development of innovative solutions to industry challenges. Orthman has over 30 years of healthcare supply chain experience, beginning his career as a hospital buyer and progressing through respected management, consulting, and executive positions.
Orthman worked at Boston City Hospital, the Caritas Christi Health System in Boston, and served as Director of Contracting for Partners Healthcare System. Dennis has also worked as a Senior Consultant with Concepts in Healthcare and with BD Healthcare Consulting & Services, assisting IDN clients in creating hospital-vendor partnerships and delivering innovative supply chain programs.
An MBA graduate from Suffolk University in Massachusetts, Orthman is also a graduate of the Georgetown University Healthcare Leadership Institute. Orthman is an active member of AHRMM, serves on the GS1 Healthcare US Leadership Team, has been published in numerous industry trade journals, and has presented on progressive supply chain topics at both the national and local conferences.
In this episode we talk with Matt Palcich Senior Manager, CSC Inventory & Distribution Services, Providence Health & Services.
Matt is responsible for leading the development of a system wide inventory program that optimizes accountability and control through strategic planning and direct management of all medical product inventory within the Consolidated Service Center ~25m on hand inventory with 180m annual throughput.
On this episode we talk to Brent Petty. Brent is Executive Industry Consultant for Healthcare, at Lexmark International, Inc. Brent joined Lexmark in 2015 after serving 12 years as System Vice President, Supply Chain for Wellmont Health System, Kingsport TN.
Brent in addition to his Lexmark responsibility currently has the distinct honor in being the 2015 Chairman of the Board of the Association for Healthcare Resource Materials Management. (AHRMM).
Petty earned his professional designation as a Certified Materials Resource Professional (CMRP) through the AHA Certification Center, a division of the American Hospital Association.
In this first episode of Healthcare Supply Chain Radio we talk to Dr. Eugene Schneller. Dr Schneller is an experienced academic leader, researcher, and administrator with extensive experience at the university, college, and departmental levels. Having held appointments in very diverse settings (business, liberal arts, medicine, and public health), Dr. Schneller has a knowledge and appreciation of a wide range of disciplines, academic and business cultures, and approaches to academic problem solving.
As Associate Dean of the College of Business at Arizona State University (ASU), he was responsible for operations of one of the largest colleges of business in the United States. He has also worked extensively in the areas of research and organizational development as Director of the William Seidman Research Institute at ASU. He also served as Counselor for Health Professions Education under ASU President, Lattie Coor. He was the first director of the Division of Health Administration and Policy in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Dr. Schneller is currently a Professor of Health Care Supply Chain Management in the W. P. Carey School of Business, Department of Supply Chain Management; building an innovative program in health sector management in collaboration with the Department of Supply Chain Management. He has developed the Health Sector Supply Chain Initiative at ASU, which involves a major research thrust, the Health Sector Supply Chain Research Consortium (HSRC-ASU). In 2007, in recognition of his stream of research and educational development, he was named a Dean’s Council of 100 Distinguished Scholar. HSRC-ASU has been internationally recognized for its design – bringing together competitors from across the health industry to solve common problems.
He has studied public and private health care procurement in both the United States and abroad with a focus on design, integrity, efficiency and effectiveness.