PrefTech OR: A Recommendation for Hospitals
In 2018, I attended the AHRMM Annual Conference in Chicago. A very bright young man sat down at lunch with me to introduce himself and his company. This was my first connection with Matt Boehm and the company he heads, PrefTech. PrefTech makes software that is all about transforming the management of preference cards in hospitals, cleaning preference cards up and making them do real work for the hospital. It turns out that these little pieces of paper are intricately connected to the supply chain as well as the OR, and when properly managed, they can improve supply chain performance and OR outcomes in a number of ways.
I found Matt’s story intriguing and compelling. Hospitals have taken for granted the difficulties that mismanaged preference cards generate for so long, but issues with supply chain are finally bringing the conversation around preference cards to the forefront. I investigated more and visited with Matthew many other times to get to know more about PrefTech. I like Matthew, and I like PrefTech. It’s a small company with a great beginning, and it’s growing very fast.
Here’s why I like PrefTech:
- It started with Memorial Hermann, a real customer in the industry. Leaders at Memorial Hermann observed the need for a better way to manage preference cards and developed the original solution internally.
- Automating preference cards in the OR is a huge need in the healthcare industry and provides substantial benefits – it is often an overlooked opportunity, but it has big paybacks.
- PrefTech has developed data-driven automation that takes the guesswork and manual labor out of preference card management.
- The benefits of PrefTech are tangible: they improve OR efficiency and save hospitals money.
- The benefits go beyond financial outcomes; surgeons and clinicians love how PrefTech saves them time and improves visibility into the cost of procedures.
After five years of knowing PrefTech, I would say the real test of how good they are is how much they have grown. They now have many customers and many people giving testimonies of the benefits they have brought to hospitals across the country. I can strongly recommend PrefTech to any hospital that is looking to improve its bottom line, satisfy its clinical staff, and make supply chain decisions that are driven by real data.
About the Author
Brent Johnson has been one of the most successful and recognized supply chain leaders in healthcare in the last 15 years. He has over 30 years of experience developing supply chain strategies for major companies in three industries.
Brent was Vice President of Supply Chain from 2005 to 2016 at Intermountain Healthcare, creating an industry “Top 25 Gartner” Supply Chain Organization (#1 in 2016 & 2015). Before retiring, Brent served one year as the President and CEO of Amerinet/Intalere when Intermountain Healthcare completed the purchase of Amerinet.
Brent has been recognized by many healthcare supply chain industry awards, including: AHRMM named Brent the recipient of the 2015 George R Gossett Leadership award, in 2014 was inducted into the Bellwether League for Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership. He has also served on the following Boards: AHRMM, Amerinet and Strategic Marketplace Initiative (SMI).
He has an MBA from the University of Utah. He resides in Centerville, UT and has four children and nineteen grandchildren.
