Jerry Ontko

📈 U.S. Healthcare Supply Chain Costs Up 8.9% Before Tariffs Providers are concerned about whether or not they have contract protections in place against supply chain rate hikes due to tariffs. Providers should monitor price variance (at least) monthly on supplies, equipment, and medications. https://lnkd.in/gnMfdxbE via Healthcare Finance News interview with Ralph Keiser of ArcheHealth

6

1 Comment

After tariffs and the Baxter IV shortage, everyone in healthcare supply chain was talking about “supply chain resilience.” Now I hear it a lot less, and that worries me. When something bad happens, like COVID, a shortage, or a major supplier going down, everyone is locked in with daily calls and escalations. Then there are the calls of “we can’t let this happen again.” Then things normalize… and we move on. The issue is that resilience has never been more important than it is right now. There's more disruption risk, more consolidation, and less margin for error. So when things are calm, are we actually making the supply chain more resilient, or just hoping the next disruption isn’t worse? We're working with health systems focused on making their supply chain more resilient by using data to see problems coming versus reacting after the fact. At HANDLE® Global, we use AI to flag supplier resilience risk so hospitals can factor it into sourcing decisions before a contract is signed. I can tell based on Google Adwords trends that many of you are thinking about supply chain resilience, but what are we doing about it? If this is something that has slipped off your radar but you want to make sure your organization stays resilient, DM me and I'd be happy to share how other health systems are thinking about it.

16

2 Comments

New Blog: The Weak Link in Healthcare Supply Chain Management One of the most persistent—and misunderstood—barriers to performance in healthcare supply chains? Item categorization. And not because teams aren’t trying. It’s because most are chasing a one-size-fits-all solution that doesn’t exist. In this post, I explore: ✏️ Why categorization efforts often fail ✏️ What can we learn from how pharmacy handles layered classification ✏️ How to align diverse needs with a more strategic approach If you're still fighting to make your item master work for everyone, this is for you. 📖 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gQtw-6wm #healthcare #supplychain #operations #erp #consulting #data #ValuFoundry ValuFoundry

54

8 Comments

Supply chain resilience in healthcare is more important than ever—automation, predictive insights, and supplier collaboration are key strategies. #healthcaresupplychain #BeckersHospitalReview

19

2 Comments

💥 Blunt truth for healthcare supply chain professionals: Tenure is not career insurance. Relationships are not bulletproof. Busy days and endless meetings are not proof of strategic value. The landscape is changing faster than most roles can adapt. AI is taking over transactional tasks. Governance is evolving. Executive expectations have shifted and they now demand margin fluency and capable leaders who can deliver results yesterday, not someday. Ask yourself: if your role were posted tomorrow, would you get it? Would you be hired for what you’ve done… or for what you can actually do? Because here’s the painful truth: many professionals are about to find out the hard way. Roles they thought were secure are being re-evaluated. Skills that used to suffice are no longer enough. People who coast on history and tenure? They’re quietly becoming replaceable. This is the conversation most leaders avoid… but it’s exactly the one you cannot ignore. Join us live on Zoom this Tuesday, February 24th at 3:30 PM PST. Reserve your seat. Learn what truly makes you indispensable! 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/gVQX9cX3 Your experience got you in the door. Your capability keeps you in the room. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Your career depends on this.

2

1 Comment

🏭 One of Chicago’s great under-the-radar entrepreneurship stories sits quietly on the North Side Built over generations as a family-run business, now transitioning from family-owned → PE-controlled → soon-to-be public, Medline Industries, LP is entering its most fascinating chapter yet. 📈 Historically, Medline’s superpower was service and hustle — a sales and logistics machine known for helping hospitals manage costs and distribution. 🚚💪 But what’s emerging now is a very different Medline — one that wants to become an AI-powered infrastructure company for healthcare supply chains. 🤖🔗 ✅ Partnered with Microsoft to modernize its cloud, data, and automation backbone 🤝 Joined forces with Northwestern Medicine & Providence to build an AI “control tower” to detect risk and mitigate supply disruption before it hits That’s meaningful — because let’s be honest: 📧📊 Most healthcare supply chains still run on people, email, and Excel. Meanwhile… NVIDIA ⚙️, Palantir Technologies 🛰️, and a wave of savvy startups 🚀 are already leveraging APIs, computer vision, and machine learning to automate logistics in other industries... Healthcare has been slow to adopt — but that also means it remains one of the most target-rich environments for transformation. 🎯 Supply chain is no longer a back-office function - it’s strategic infrastructure. So as Medline steps toward an IPO, the real question becomes: Will it stay a great distributor or evolve into a true technology orchestrator for health system operations? 🧠⚡ Either way, I’m watching closely. 👀 Chicago may be sitting on one of the most important — and still undertold — transformation stories in healthcare. https://lnkd.in/gia2e724

19

Innovation is happening in #Detroit --> "In partnership with BAMF Health, Michigan Innovation Headquarters, Ferris State University, and Wayne State University via its TechTown Detroit entrepreneurship hub, among others, the project seeks to become a premier hub for advancing precision technology, 💥 personalized medicine 💥 , and biotech." https://lnkd.in/gpxn6Qsy

17

Leading health systems and hospitals for over 30 years has given me a deep appreciation for the vital role that support services play in enabling care teams to deliver extraordinary care and service. One such service is medical courier, which directly impacts patient care. When specimens or supplies arrive late or compromised, the consequences can include delayed diagnoses, canceled procedures, and wasted clinical time. With health systems facing ongoing financial pressures, it's essential to rethink last-mile logistics. I explore four reasons why this is crucial in my article for Becker’s Hospital Review: https://lnkd.in/gctNq4PC

129

3 Comments

American Hospital Association's recent Cost of Caring report outlines the key trends impacting hospital financial stability in 2025. The increasing cost of physical assets, such as medical equipment, is cited as a concern, as is the impact of tariffs on healthcare supply chains. #healthcaresupplychain #tariffs https://lnkd.in/gJ2mAD93

9

1 Comment

This blog by Connor Frey explains why lead time matters—not in logistics jargon, but in practical terms that connect transportation decisions to customer expectations, cost, and service reliability. It helps readers understand the tradeoffs behind speed, inventory, and mode choice so they can design smarter, more resilient ways to move products from A to B. https://lnkd.in/gzgKqrP6

13