Revitalized HDMA Foundation Announces
New Focus on Healthcare Supply Chain Research and Education
The Healthcare Distribution Management Association Research and Education Foundation (HDMA Foundation) announced a revitalized mission as HDMA’s research and education partner at the 2005 HDMA Annual Leadership Forum. The HDMA Foundation will conduct research and analyses to help further secure the healthcare supply chain, improve business efficiencies and demonstrate the value of distribution to business partners and the public.
“The HDMA Foundation will provide innovative research and education needed to address the critical challenges facing the healthcare industry,” said HDMA Foundation president John M. Gray. “The HDMA Board of Directors has approved a $1 million gift from the HDMA Reserve Fund to launch this new beginning for the HDMA Foundation as it builds a sustainable model. It is my hope that this seed grant will be matched with additional funds from HDMA members and supply chain partners in the year ahead.”
The HDMA Foundation will develop leading-edge research focused on issues that affect the healthcare supply chain, including data management, anti-counterfeiting strategies, product returns and the impact of mail-order pharmacy. The result of this research will be information that facilitates continuous business process improvements in the areas of patient safety and supply chain security. This research will tie together many necessary business elements that can be used to:
■ Guide business planning to overcome current and future supply chain challenges
■ Plan for corporate development and growth
■ Streamline business practices
■ Better understand the needs of business partners
■ Achieve metrics for industry-wide business efficiencies
■ Develop strategies for the distribution of new, specialty or biotech products
The HDMA Foundation Board of Directors will provide strategic guidance and will oversee Foundation research projects. The current Foundation Board is led by Jon Borschow, HDMA Foundation chairman of the board and president, of Borschow Drug.
Foundation Board Directors are Robert W. Belknap, executive director, Trade Relations, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Patrick J. Blake, president, Customer Operations, McKesson Corporation; Terrance P. Haas, president, AmerisourceBergen Drug Company; Richard H. June, vice president, NA Pharmaceuticals, Proctor & Gamble Company; Michael C. Kaufmann, executive vice president, Supply Chain Services, Cardinal Health Inc.; Cynthia A. LaConte, president, DDN Pharmaceutical Logistics; Tammy L. McIntire, president, Apotex Corp.; Luis Valcarcel, director, Trade Accounts, U.S. Pharmaceutical Trade Sales, Strategic Business Group, North American Pharmaceutical Centers of Excellence, a Division of Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical; and Keith Wypyszynski, senior vice president, Trade Development, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare.
“The HDMA Foundation will serve HDMA, its members and the public by providing a blueprint for the critical elements of a more secure supply chain,” continued Gray. “I am confident that the Foundation, under the continued leadership of Foundation Board chairman Jon Borschow, will develop business solutions that further enhance the safety and efficiency of healthcare delivery.”