Shared materials management and warehousing: a feasibility study.

In response to significant changes in the political, competitive, and economic environment of Massachusetts, five independent hospitals sought ways to strengthen their capabilities to deal with these new challenges through collaboration. These hospitals, located in suburban Boston, prepared and submitted a proposal to the Blue Cross/Massachusetts Hospital Association Fund for Cooperative Innovation, requesting participative funding to conduct a "Shared Materials Management and Warehousing Feasibility Study". The objective was to determine the feasibility of several independent hospitals, operating in the same geographic area, sharing materials management and related functions. The hospitals were: Framingham Union, Glover Memorial, Leonard Morse, Newton-Wellesley, and Marlborough.