Supply Chain

Duke, LifePoint see regional opportunities

Rather than focusing on new construction, health systems are renovating or expanding, according to a survey conducted by Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering.

Healthcare providers considering a reprocessing program for certain supply chain items have access to a new online tool to determine the potential cost savings and reduction in waste.

Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, an Indianapolis-based healthcare-focused law firm, has launched a blog providing comprehensive information on all matters relevant to healthcare real estate law, including real estate development, construction, finance, property tax exemptions and general transaction issues.

Medical devices company, Theragenics Corporation, confirmed Thursday that it has rejected a takeover bid from German company, Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (EUZ), or from the Berlin-based company's subsidiary, IBt Bebig.

Premier Purchasing Partners, based in Charlotte, N.C., has announced a new agreement for waste management products and services with Trinova Medical Waste Solutions of Corona, Calif.

Some of the country's most prominent healthcare systems, including the Geisinger Health System, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, the Mayo Clinic and the Sisters of Mercy Health System, have joined together to adopt GS1 standards for their supply chains.

The Health Industry Group Purchasing Association has called Medtronic's cancellation of some of its largest group purchasing organization contracts "nothing short of an attack on America's hospitals."

Cardinal Health has joined the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership, a program in which the EPA and industry leaders work together to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.

Overall U.S. healthcare prices increased marginally from December 2010 to January 2011, rising 0.1 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.