Infection Control Today
August 6, 2012
By Brian White, President of Stryker Sustainability Solutions
As a healthcare professional, you are keenly aware of the need to keep patients healthy. It’s a need that motivates you and drives you to continuously improve in your profession. Now it’s time we, as an industry, use that same kind of passion toward improving the healthcare system.
It’s time we advocate for true sustainability—both fiscal and environmental—for our hospitals and healthcare system. Working together, we can achieve this needed change. As device suppliers, we must act more as allies and bring solutions that truly benefit you and your hospitals. After all, the obligation to provide quality care and reduce the environmental footprint of healthcare delivery is on all of us.
Healthcare System: Today
The relationship between hospitals and suppliers is evolving in response to a more challenging economy. Reimbursement rates are continuously declining. According to the purchasing alliance Premier, healthcare providers can expect cuts in reimbursement payments of up to 15 percent to 20 percent by 2017. Similarly, participation in group purchasing organizations (GPOs) is up, and more than 50 percent of U.S. hospitals now belong to integrated delivery networks (IDNs) that share savings and improve bargaining power. Many hospital executives use these cost-reduction measures as a critical part of their business plans…