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IMPROVING HEALTHCARE SUPPLY CHAIN EFFECTIVENESS

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—responsible for operating one of the world’s largest healthcare systems and among the largest acquisition agencies in the federal government—was under intense congressional and GAO pressure to improve healthcare management for our nation’s veterans and transform its strategic direction. Facing a very short response time, the VA Office of Acquisition and Materiel Management asked LMI to examine its strategic and organizational challenges. We interviewed key VA executives—customers, stakeholders, and managers of the department’s logistics and acquisition services—to gather information on how this work was actually performed.

Our analysis revealed a disparity in performance expectations among the business lines and a concentration on short-term materiel management. VA officials are now implementing our recommendations for a 5-year plan that emphasizes business performance and renames the organization the “Office of Acquisition and Logistics”; an organizational restructuring that focuses on three distinct business lines—logistics, acquisition, and financial services; creation of centers of excellence for training with an emphasis on customer service; and a total commitment to integrated end-to-end supply chain management.