Speaker 0: This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Bob Taylor, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer at RWJBarnabas Health. Bob, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.

Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Laura. I appreciate the opportunity.

Speaker 0: Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation because I know supply chain is a very dynamic space. And especially right now, there's a lot of things happening, within the supply chain function. And so I'm looking forward to learning a little bit more about what you're doing at RWJBarnabas Health as well as how you're thinking about the future. But before we dive in, can you introduce yourself and just tell us a little bit more about the health system?

Speaker 1: Sure. Absolutely. So Bob Taylor. I have been at RWJBarnabas Health now for approaching ten years in total. And in the industry, kind of a shocking number for me, but I've on my thirty ninth year of health care supply chain and I've worked in a variety of different settings and and locations as far as for profit, not for profit, academic medicine, over the course of my total career.

RWJBarnabas Health is the leading health care system in the state of New Jersey. It's a New Jersey is the most densely packed state in the country based on the number of people per square mile and our new VAJBarnabas Health hospitals are located in the northern half of the state, which is the most densely packed portion of the state. So we are in a a very crowded market as far as the number of people and it's a very competitive market with other large health systems that are also in the space in the Northern New Jersey market. At the moment, we are 12 acute care hospitals. We have a specialty children's hospital, a behavioral health hospital, about 400 physician practice locations, and a very sizable joint venture, portfolio with many providers across the state of New Jersey.

And we are in the process and it has been announced, so it's not confidential of acquiring our thirteenth acute care hospital in the state of New Jersey, which could be, twenty twenty seven when that transaction closes.

Speaker 0: Wow. That's a a ton of, you know, building and growing that you've been able to do over the last few years and and still for the future. So that's exciting to hear, and I know you have a really great patient population and community that, you know, you are serving in New Jersey. And so, when you think about the last year or so, could you tell me about the most important initiative that you led? What did you do and what were the results?

Speaker 1: So we've actually had several. I always like to qualify that when I say I may have led an initiative, it's always important to realize that the person at the front doesn't necessarily have, sole and exclusive responsibility nor should they take sole and exclusive, accountability for the results. So we've had a couple of very big initiatives this year that we've worked on in collaboration with the rest of the organization. We have this is in the first year. We have assumed a much more full responsibility for contracting in the IT space and that's been a great partnership with our IT, business partners where we bring the rigor and the contracting diligence that supply chain generally brings to the rest of the organization for supplies and services and equipment.

And we have brought that and partnered with IT to put that same rigor in place. And results of this just in the in the past twelve months have been in excess of $10,000,000 worth of savings that we've been able to facilitate and help realize for the organization through a much more rigorous and strategic, process of going through the contracting steps. We've also implemented and executed, similar rigor in a lot of our capital investments. So we have standardized many of our capital categories, capital equipment categories across the organization where if we are going to go to the market, we're gonna get a piece of imaging equipment. We have entered into very long term contracts with strategic vendors and suppliers to make sure that we are standardizing our equipment portfolio and we're doing that in exchange for the greatest value that the suppliers are able to offer for that extended and broad commitment.

And we are up to probably about 50 different categories of capital equipment that we've developed standards and standards range from, vendor specific all the way down to model specific and configuration specific. In some cases, where we have worked with clinicians to develop a standard, for example, for beds and stretchers for the organization in exchange for favorable pricing. And I think the third very large initiative that is still ongoing, it's not completed, but we went through an RFP process and partnered with our group purchasing organization to look at how we might wanna engage with one of the companies in the space to manage support services. So specifically the management of food service, environmental services, and patient transportation, and that was a very long process that culminated in a decision and a preliminary award in December. Now we're going through the implementation process to standardize all of those services into a single relationship with a single industry provider.

So I think some of those are some of the biggest notable projects that, either help lead or was at the forefront of bringing forward for the organization.

Speaker 0: I love that. And it's so apparent that having, you know, those processes in place and and really taking the right kind of rigor into not only the contracts that you're working with, but also any other capital investments have made a big difference, for how, you know, you're able to create savings for the health system overall and then create better processes and procedures. I think, you know, when you're looking at those two things, and as you mentioned at the beginning, you know, all of them are are team and group efforts. How do you really begin the process of start planning and then, you know, actually go to implementation of standardizing these types of things? What do you have to figure out with your broader executive team and what discussions are important to have at that level before actually, jumping in and making some of these changes?

Speaker 1: The first thing I think we've learned over time is we have to be very, very connected to the business partners and the business owners. So supply chain is a serves a very key role for the organization, but I think the most effective supply chain is the one that is partnered with the business owners who are ultimately the experts. They're the folks that know the most about either the technology, the software, the solution, whatever it is that we may be looking to acquire. And they're also the ones that once the decision has been made and a contract has been executed, we'll be using the equipment software or supply for the ultimate purpose of improving patient care. So I think the partnership is really what has become one of the most important things.

It's just making sure that supply chain does not go out contract in a a solo a silo or without the engagement of the business owners. We partner with the business owners to make sure that we're bringing the best terms, conditions, value, and pricing that meets the requirements of the business owners that have helped operate the health care system.

Speaker 0: Yeah. That's helpful to understand and, you know, what a great point, when you're thinking about the organization on the whole. Now looking ahead, what are some of the biggest priorities as well as headwinds that you're focused on for 2026?

Speaker 1: So I think from priorities and headwinds, I did mention that we will have a thirteenth hospital coming into the system probably very late this year. We'll begin a lot of the planning process. We still have to get through some of the legal preamble work that has to be conducted for that to be an approved transaction. I think the other priorities and this is becoming a little bit more interesting, I think, for the supply chain is to become more proactive. So a lot of this is now looking to out and not necessarily reacting to either supplier proposals or reacting to past events, but really trying to be proactive and look at forward events.

So an example would be there's been a lot of press lately, a lot of information in the news. Everybody's aware about tariffs coming into place and coupled with that are the increase in the build out of, data centers mostly for artificial intelligence, which is now creating a strain on the supply chain for those particular assets. So now we're starting to have conversations about what does the future look like, what are our anticipated needs, And do we need to be a little bit more proactive and forward looking about making those acquisitions now to support our technology needs, for example, in light of the expectation of tightening in the market both in availability and then increases in price just because of the normal supply and demand reaction. So I think that that's gonna be one of the bigger areas of focus. And then I think the other one and probably everybody looks at this is artificial intelligence.

It's it's a buzzword. I think we have a lot of automation that we have deployed. I don't know if I would always categorize it as artificial intelligence. Sometimes it's just spot automation, But I think looking for how can artificial intelligence be applied meaningful or in a meaningful way for supply chain to drive efficiency and value for the organization. So I think those are some of the bigger things we'll focus on this year.

Speaker 0: Absolutely. I think that makes a lot

Speaker 1: of sense.

Speaker 0: I mean, you'll fascinating to hear about that, discussion around, you know, the supply chain on the technology side and how you're trying to grow, the technology business, but also seeing potentially some of those shortages come up, for the materials you need in in that space, for example, with the data centers or other, technologies. Can you just for a moment, talk a little bit more about that? What are some of the, materials or supplies that you're focused most on? You know, what are some of the the areas that you think you'll be, potentially purchasing more of this year as you're anticipating, you know, potential shortages or tariffs for the future?

Speaker 1: So I think some of it, is still an evolving agenda for us. We did make some commitments in the imaging space, in order to head off and forego future price increases with our imaging partner. We're looking to expand that with a second imaging partner in a different space where we can make some longer term commitments with a little bit more specificity and a little bit more of upfront commitment that may span several years in order to negotiate more favorable terms and pricing. A lot of this is I think generated by looking at just what's in the news and taking advantage of whether it's Wall Street Journal or some of the some of the other publications that are out there that provide insight that can now be gleaned in order to determine how that's gonna impact us so that we can be in front of it rather than reacting to it as an organization. So I think those are some some of the the best things we can be doing looking forward.

Speaker 0: Got it. That's helpful to understand. Thank you so much for explaining a little bit deeper there. Now what do you think the hardest thing you'll have to do in the coming year will be?

Speaker 1: So I think health care is interesting because, health care is never an easy year and the agendas may change a little bit from year to year, but I think we continue as the supply chain to look for ways to drive value for the organization. And I do use the word value as opposed to savings because savings is a a very thin arc. It's important, but it's not the totality of what we do. So the partnership with the clinicians in order to make better choices as in the aggregate for the care of the patients, partner with the business owners, and I think the the continuation of needing to drive that value for the organization while we have some of the other, activities that take place such as the acquisition and the m and a activity that's pending is gonna be some of the harder things that we have to do this year. It it does not get easier in this industry.

Every year, it tends to get a little bit more challenging and the headwinds and the economic headwinds that we talk about for health care are also experienced by our key providers. So we have a lot of our external business partners have similar headwinds, and trying to find ways to create value collectively leads towards, a more strategic approach in those relationships.

Speaker 0: That makes a lot of sense, and I I think it's so helpful to have those strong relationships and be able to withstand, any kind of changes or, policy shifts that come our way. And I think especially, for a team like yours on the supply chain side, you know, I can imagine over the last several years, they've really grown to learn that nimbleness, flexibility, and resilience. How do you see those coming through in your leadership style? Is there anything that you're planning to do differently as you're heading into this next

Speaker 1: year? The supply chain here has grown pretty substantially over the past ten years. So I think we would look to figure out how can we continue to grow the team and drive value. Those two things come together because in order for us to grow the team, we have to have a return to the organization for that financial commitment. So I think those would be some of the things that we look for over the course of the year.

I think we're always looking for ways how we can better partner with the business owners across the organization. Like many organizations as well, we focus on patient satisfaction. We look at employee satisfaction because those are key indicators for us and for what's going to drive improved quality, improved outcomes, and retention of our staff. So I think this is a pretty broad balance and a balanced scorecard type of an approach of where we need to focus all of our leadership activity. It's not just in a single area.

Speaker 0: Got it. And that is helpful and definitely makes a lot of sense. Now before we wrap up here, I wanted to talk about growth. Where do you see some of the best opportunities for growth within the supply chain? I know you've mentioned continuing to grow, in terms of your teams and how you add value.

What does that look like for you in the next couple of years?

Speaker 1: I think growth in the supply chain, in many cases, predicated on, growth across the organization. So I think we continue to look for how we can leverage and aggregate all of the volume across the health system, the vendor relationships along with the internal business relationships and look for those ways where value is created And it's not just gonna be created through approved pricing. That's obviously one of the most tangible things that we look at, but it's also improving business processes, clinical care, and in some cases that may mean deeper partnerships with existing suppliers and in some cases that may mean new relationships with new suppliers. And I think that's what we'll work through over probably a never ending basis to try to advance the supply chain specifically here at RWJBarnabas.

Speaker 0: Fantastic. Bam, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been a really fascinating conversation, and I look forward to connecting with you again soon. And I know that you'll be speaking at our annual meeting in April, and I'm excited to see you in person there. I think there'll be just so much to talk about it and many teams to continue to dig deeper into and, talk through.

So I'm looking forward to that and, really just being able to to learn more from what you're doing at RWJ Bar Mitz Health.

Speaker 1: Very good. And I very much appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and share a little bit about what we're doing.