Benchmarking and supplier networking--best practice approaches.

This article examines the approach adopted by a health service to benchmark outside the health industry and to network with its own suppliers in its quest for best practice. The Maryborough District Health Service was selected for funding under the Commonwealth Government's Best Practice in the Health Sector Program. This rural health service is setting a fine example of how generic benchmarking can be used to increase efficiency and improve outcomes in an environment of change, increasing demands, and contracting resources. The organisation has networked with its suppliers with a view to ensuring that, as a customer, it has access to the best quality goods and services. The objective is to improve the services and quality of patient care provided by the health service and to minimise its cost structures.