Breaking the Sacred Cow: Challenging Long-held Traditions in Healthcare
“I’ll have a side of fries and a strawberry shake with that sacred cow burger.”
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sacred cow as: someone or something that has been accepted or respected for a long time and that people are afraid or unwilling to criticize or question. Just do a Google search on “Sacred Cows in Nursing” and see how many results pop up.
Healthcare, long rooted in tradition, is ripe for disruption. From the days of Florence Nightingale onward, practices were passed down without much challenge—decisions were made based on "how it's always been done," not always on the latest evidence or best practices. While evidence-based medicine has reshaped clinical care, procurement and purchasing departments have clung to outdated models that limit flexibility and ignore opportunities for savings.
“We do it this way because it's the way it's always been done.”
The healthcare industry is now at a crossroads. With technology and evidence-based practices reshaping clinical care, it's time for the same approach in procurement. Traditional practices, like reliance on Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), need to be reevaluated in light of new, more efficient models. It's time to break free from the "sacred cows" of procurement and embrace innovative, data-driven strategies to reduce costs and improve patient care.
Research findings should drive change—just as they guide clinical decisions. By applying evidence-based thinking to procurement, hospitals can move away from old habits and unlock new opportunities for cost savings and efficiency.
The Shift to Evidence-Based Practices
Using research to guide clinical decision-making marks a shift from relying on opinion and past practices to making decisions based on science and evidence.
While clinical practices are increasingly evidence-driven, hospital supply chains still cling to outdated models, missing opportunities for modernization. Many hospitals still depend on Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), which limit flexibility and can prevent access to better pricing options directly from manufacturers.
In contrast, industries like retail have embraced e-commerce to streamline procurement, offering transparency and better pricing. Healthcare can benefit from adopting similar, evidence-based procurement strategies, improving both cost efficiency and quality.
The future of healthcare supply chains lies in data-driven decision-making. By leveraging direct purchasing and digital solutions, hospitals can enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve care quality—aligning their supply chain practices with the evidence-based models already transforming clinical care.
Online Shopping in Healthcare
If you ask hospital buyers if they have ever purchased anything from Amazon or any other online retailer, most would admit that they had.
According to Walker Sands Communications, 95% of consumers have purchased something from Amazon.com in the past year.
We purchase things online because not only can we get the best price, we can thoroughly research it and get instant customer service.
Vendors have online stores because they have less overhead to maintain, so they can pass the savings to the consumer. Sounds like an ideal way to reduce the costs of many clinical preference items.
Why is it that they can purchase online personally and not carry over the practice professionally? Probably because “We do this this way, because this is how it’s always been done” or “We adhere to all GPO contracts. Even if we can save money by purchasing the exact same item at a better price, we can’t go off contract to do so.”
This is not only illogical but is another sacred cow that should be grilled medium rare.
The B2B Boom
Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce has exploded exponentially since 2014.
Forrester Research Inc. forecasts that B2B e-commerce sales in the United States will reach $780 billion this year – more than twice the most recent figure of $304.91 billion in U.S. retail e-commerce sales released by the U.S. Department of Commerce for 2014. It’s on course to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.7% until it reaches $1.13 trillion in 2020.
Surveys of procurement professionals confirm that B2B purchasing behavior is changing to become more and more like that of B2C purchasing. In fact, 49% of major B2B buyers surveyed by Accenture prefer to use B2C websites to make their purchases, and 52% plan to execute more than half their purchases on e-commerce pure-player platforms in the next three years.
This sounds like pretty good evidence that online procurement is where modern business is going, with plenty of additional research to back up these findings.
What percentages of hospitals are presently purchasing clinical preference items online? If we are committed to using evidence-based findings to change clinical practices, shouldn’t we do the same with supply chain-based practices?
Forward-thinking administrators will move toward integrating evidence-based practices across the entire enterprise. With today’s emphasis on delivering quality healthcare at lower prices, shouldn’t hospital supply chain managers be making decisions based on evidence?
Changing the Healthcare Game
John Dawoodjee, founder of Advanced Endoscopy Devices (AED), saw an opportunity to transform how endoscopic devices could be delivered to hospitals and surgery centers. As an OEM manufacturer of minimally invasive surgical instruments, he knew first-hand how hospitals were drastically overpaying for his devices.
His customers had to support their large organizations with cadres of salespeople, and as a result, had to charge high prices for all of their products. He believed that if he could provide hospitals with direct access from the manufacturer, they could significantly reduce their instrument procurement costs while maintaining the same quality. After all, they are buying the same instruments. Without a large sales and marketing organization to support, he could pass these cost savings directly to the hospital.
“By cutting out the middlemen, we can pass the savings directly to the hospitals while maintaining the same high-quality standards.”
John recognized that the healthcare industry was held back by inefficient distribution models. The traditional supply chain relied on layers of middlemen—distributors, reps, and other intermediaries—each adding their own markup to the final price. By cutting out these unnecessary steps, AED could create a direct line from manufacturer to hospital, offering a transparent and streamlined approach to purchasing. This not only provided cost savings but also enabled hospitals to make more informed decisions about the instruments they were purchasing.
Transforming Healthcare Procurement
The healthcare industry is transforming, with hospitals shifting toward evidence-based practices for clinical decision-making. Yet, procurement practices have been slow to adopt similar data-driven strategies. Hospitals still rely heavily on traditional models, such as Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), which limit flexibility and fail to leverage the potential cost savings available through direct manufacturer purchasing. By embracing digital procurement, hospitals can access transparent pricing, reduce middlemen, and streamline purchasing, just as industries like retail have done to optimize their supply chains.
Endoscopy Superstore is leading the charge by offering hospitals direct access to manufacturers, cutting out unnecessary markups and middlemen. With full price transparency, hospitals can make more informed decisions and save significantly on clinical preference items without sacrificing quality. This direct-to-hospital model not only reduces procurement costs but also aligns with the evidence-based practices that are transforming clinical care. The shift to e-commerce platforms for purchasing medical supplies is not just about cost savings—it's about improving overall healthcare delivery by adopting the same data-driven principles that are reshaping patient care.
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