MMC’s Large-Scale Hips & Knees Procurement Delivers Maximum Value for Canadian Hospitals
New agreement harnesses the latest in arthroplasty innovations to help decrease surgical wait times and improve patient outcomes
Mohawk Medbuy (MMC) has just spearheaded one of Canada’s most extensive orthopaedic procurements to date – with innovation and improved patient outcomes at the centre of the process.
Arthroplasty (hip and knee replacement procedures) is one of the largest and most complex health care categories in terms of procurement. Patients can face long wait times for procedures, and arthroplasty technology – including robotic-assisted surgeries – changes quickly.
As a national, not-for-profit, health care shared services organization, Mohawk Medbuy is uniquely positioned to drive value, support innovation and help hospitals optimize patient outcomes. For this crucial category, MMC conducted a large-scale, multi-year procurement that involved over 90 evaluators from 60 Canadian hospitals in Ontario, New Brunswick and PEI.
“MMC has a long history of using value-based procurement to achieve positive outcomes for health care – and this initiative is a great example,” said Tony DiEmanuele, President and CEO of Mohawk Medbuy. “This was a complex procurement that required collaboration and consensus-building with stakeholders across hospitals and suppliers – from surgeons to CFOs. The resulting award allows our Member hospitals to harness the latest arthroplasty technology to help tackle growing surgical waitlists and ensure Canada continues to be on the cutting edge of patient care.”
Clinical and patient care factors are central to Mohawk Medbuy’s procurements, as are lifecycle costs to derive maximum value for hospitals. St. Joseph’s Health Centre (SJHC) and St. Michael’s Hospital are good examples. The two Unity Health Toronto sites will be introducing robotic systems from Zimmer Biomet that are now available through this new agreement.
“By utilizing robotic assisted surgery, we’re leveraging the latest innovations in hip and knee implants to deliver the best possible patient outcomes,” said Laurie Thomas, Senior Clinical Director of Surgery, SJHC Critical Care, Ambulatory Care Clinics, Orthopedic/Mobility Programs, Bariatric Centre of Excellence and IPAC at Unity Health Toronto.
MMC’s agreement also allows Unity Health to now standardize surgical tray sets for arthroplasty procedures across their sites, increasing efficiency and improving patient access. The network can also now optimize their tray set design. By using fewer trays – and ones that are lighter – it reduces the workload on its Medical Device Reprocessing Departments at both of the network’s acute care sites. “This allows more procedures in a day, which means shorter wait times for these life-changing surgeries,” adds Thomas.