Message from the Director

Message from the Director

As Director of the Center for Innovation in Healthcare Logistics (CIHL) I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our website. It is no secret that the cost of healthcare is a national issue. Healthcare costs continue to rise at an alarming rate, exceeding $2.6 trillion in 2010, nearly ten times the $256 billion spent in 1980, and they are projected to be as high as 4.8 trillion by 2021. (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, 2012) As the population in the United States continues to age, healthcare spending will continue to grow and could reach more than 20% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2021. This sort of growth is unsustainable. Contributors to the increasing costs of healthcare in the United States are the many inefficient delivery systems and processes that currently plague the healthcare system. These inefficiencies not only impact cost, but have a significant effect on patient safety and the quality of care.

CIHL was founded in the spring of 2007 under the leadership of Dr. Ron Rardin. The center was originally assembled to address a portion of the challenges that impact the cost effective delivery of healthcare. Specifically, the center was formed to leverage the University of Arkansas’ well-known excellence in the area of logistics and distribution as well as the expertise of its founding strategic partners: Wal-Mart, BlueCross BlueShield, and VHA, Inc. Today, CIHL has grown into an industry-university partnership that is leading a nationwide effort to identify and foster system-wide adoption of groundbreaking healthcare supply chain and logistics innovations designed to reduce costs and improve the delivery of care. CIHL has become a leader in the field through its extensive collaboration with a variety of industry partners including providers and healthcare supply chain leaders; objective engineering analysis of challenges and innovations; avoiding single-site investigations in favor of scalable projects with system-wide impact; and commitment to broad dissemination of research findings from its investigations.

CIHL is seeking to broaden and strengthen its research perspectives by bringing a growing spectrum of healthcare industry leaders representing manufacturers, group purchasers, distributors, providers, and suppliers to the table as advisors and participants in its research. We would welcome your organization’s participation as a sponsor or collaborator. We strive to support the development of scalable transformational strategies designed to improve the delivery of healthcare. Our research model relies on leveraging the knowledge and experience of healthcare practitioners and leaders. This helps us ensure that our efforts are easily transferable to the healthcare sector. For more information visit the Getting Involved part of our webpage. I encourage you to explore the website and see the talented team of academics and industrial collaborators we have assembled, the projects we have completed, as well as those in which we are currently engaged.

Warmest Regards,

Ed