Success Stories

Lancaster General Hospital (LGH) has long been a leader in quality patient care. Throughout its 117-year history, the hospital has prided itself on offering patients compassionate and personalized service, while also constantly striving for improvement. LGH’s long list of accomplishments demonstrates this commitment to excellence.

For 10 of the previous 12 years, LGH was named one of America’s Top 100 Hospitals based on clinical outcomes. As one of Pennsylvania’s busiest hospitals, LGH performs 650,000 outpatient procedures a year in its two main facilities. And as a centerpiece of the community, the 530-bed acute care hospital is a major employer with 7,400 local residents on the payroll.

LGH has echoed the same commitment to quality and spirit of community on the financial side as well. In 2007 alone, LGH reinvested $75 million towards capital improvements and equipment, while simultaneously making generous contributions to the community it serves.

Despite its impressive resume, even LGH couldn’t ignore the recent economic downturn and the rising price of healthcare. Hospital leadership wanted to find ways to cut costs, without sacrificing the quality of patient care.

Determined to take a proactive approach to their fiscal future—rather than simply triaging through tough economic times—LGH was eager to identify new efficiencies and opportunities for increased savings. The first step: taking stock of LGH’s overall financial health.

After considering several partners for the job, LGH chose Owens & Minor—the only candidate that could offer both consulting services and distribution. This two-pronged approach promised to yield a comprehensive, enterprise-wide supply chain solution.

After leading a comprehensive value analysis that included working side-by-side with hospital staff, Owens & Minor found the hospital was spending $206 million on an annual basis. The firm implemented WISDOM Gold, an industry-leading technology service designed to analyze spending for healthcare facilities. This powerful tool, combined with on-site value analysis teams, enabled Owens & Minor to identify millions in savings opportunities for the hospital.

• Owens & Minor recommended more than $12.5 million in savings based on its analysis. During its initial 10-month contract with LGH, Owens & Minor helped the hospital implement $10 million, or more than 80 percent, of those recommended cost-cutting measures.
• Owens & Minor identified $903,000 in incremental savings in areas such as contract pricing accuracy and contract tier opportunities
• In just five months of using PANDAC—the industry’s only comprehensive inventory management program for wound closure supplies—LGH identified $125,000 in perioperative savings via inventory reductions.
• LGH extended Owens & Minor’s contract for an additional five years in 2009. The strong partners will continue to weather the economic downturn by finding cost savings—without sacrificing patient care.