Gartner's annual Top 25 in healthcare supply chains again puts Cardinal Health at No. 1

Cardinal is top wholesaler in the ranking, while Mayo Foundation is the top integrated delivery network, CVS Carmark the top retail pharmacy, and Becton Dickinson the top medical products supplier

The 2012 Top 25 in Healthcare Supply Chains is an attempt by Gartner (Stamford, CT) to assess value in the delivery of healthcare products, and healthcare itself, to customers and patients. It’s a bit of a mashup—the operating parameters of an IDN are obviously different from a manufacturer—but Gartner normalizes the data by comparing return on assets, inventory turns, and a combination of peer and Gartner analyst opinions.

Gartner evaluates supply chain performance by a number of criteria: data standardization and interconnectivity; collaboration; process standardization; market and supplier segmentation; and supply chain metrics. “The leaders on our ranking have a great opportunity to define the future framework of the healthcare and life sciences value chain. This framework includes many fundamental capabilities, including the ability to correlate supply chain cost and service data, patient outcomes and quality intelligence, and reimbursement patterns,” said Barry Blake, senior research analyst, in a press release.

The 25, with their composite score, are:

1.

Cardinal Health

8.59

2.

Mayo Foundation

7.66

3

BD

7.18

4

Intermountain Healthcare

6.79

5

Owens & Minor

6.52

6

Abbott

6.38

7

Johnson and Johnson

6.02

8

Novartis

5.58

9

Mercy (MO)

5.58

10

Geisinger Health Systems

5.52

11

McKesson

5.23

12

Amerisource-Bergen

5.20

13

Pfizer

5.05

14

UMPC Health System

4.75

15

Cleveland Clinic

4.69

16

Boston Scientific

4.66

17

CVS Caremark

4.66

18

AstraZeneca

4.44

19

Bristol-Myers Squibb

4.37

20

Baxter

4.08

21

Walgreens

4.02

22

Amgen

3.91

23

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System

3.87

24

Advocate Healthcare

3.80

25

Kaiser Permanente

3.76