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2023 Collegiate Capstone student presenter from the University of Arkansas' supply chain program earns PhD

SCHAUMBURG, IL (May 31, 2024) — Bellwether League Foundation salutes Rajib Dutta for successfully defending his PhD dissertation earlier this month that identifies some of the financial stress healthcare providers currently experience and offers relevant and useful observations and recommendations on how to strive for fiscal relief and stability.

Rajib DuttaDutta defended his dissertation, titled, "Three Essays Examining Technology Adoption and the Role of Physicians in Improving Efficiency, Quality, and Reducing Risk in Healthcare Supply Chains," at the J.B. Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR. He presented his initial findings during the 16h Annual Bellwether League Foundation Induction & Recognition Event (BLFIRE16) last October.

Dutta will present further details and conclusions at BLFIRE17 on Monday, October 7, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

David Dobrzykowski, Director of Walton College Healthcare Initiatives and Dutta's dissertation chair praised his student's efforts and outcome. "Rajib's dissertation investigates the pivotal role of supply chain management in hospital operations, where supplies constitute up to 40 percent of total hospital operating costs," he said. "His groundbreaking results showed that by improving the coordination of supplies with patient needs and integrating products, processes. and information while complying with government regulations, hospitals can achieve effective and efficient care delivery."

Dutta's dissertation comprises three essays, each providing empirical analyses through various theoretical frameworks and archival data. Using systems theory, the first essay demonstrates how the adoption of advanced Health Information Technology (HIT), such as Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), significantly improves supply chain efficiency by reducing inventory while improving patient care quality.

The second essay, informed by coercive isomorphism and complex adaptive system frameworks, explores the influence of government pressures on hospitals' HIT adoption practices. It also addresses the impacts of HIT bundles on hospital performance and the operational risks posed by data breaches in the current HIT landscape.

The third essay, leveraging cognitive load theory, examines how manufacturer variation and physicians' procedural focus affect waste and cost performance in surgical operating rooms. Collectively, these essays offer actionable insights critical for driving supply chain efficiency, reducing risks, and improving quality in hospitals, thereby advancing both theory and practice.

Barbara Strain, Bellwether Class of 2021, and Chairman, BLF's Board of Directors, expressed appreciation for Dutta's insights. "Two of Rajib's essays have been recognized with the Bellwether League Foundation's Collegiate Capstone Project for 2023 and 2024, underscoring the significant contribution of Dutta's research to the field," she stated. Dutta's 2023 Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Forum presentation can be found here.

Through its Philanthropy and Professional Development teams, BLF selected Dutta's submission for the organization's 2023 Collegiate Capstone project, which invites college/university students to research a challenge or situation and present relevant and viable recommended solutions with their academic faculty advisor and awards them a grant for their efforts and achievements. For more information, visit https://www.bellwetherleague.org/scholarships.php.

Rajib Dutta's academic journey includes a PhD in Molecular Medicine and Health Informatics from the University of Toledo and a Medical Degree from University of Calcutta in India. Before embarking on his latest PhD, he was a primary care physician in India, and a scientist at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH. Dutta will join the Faculty at the Farmer School of Business at Miami (OH) University as a tenure-track assistant professor of supply chain and operations management in August 2024.

About Bellwether League Foundation

Bellwether League Foundation (BLF) offers programs that educate, endow and evaluate professionals in healthcare supply chain performance excellence via the Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Hall of Fame and its growing philanthropic efforts.

The Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Hall of Fame evaluates and validates professionals submitted for consideration in its three award programs: Bellwether Honorees, Future Famers and Ammer Honorees. The Hall of Fame also offers educational and professional development content via the Bellwether Leadership Forum and its "Leaders & Luminaries" multimedia of online and printed content.

The Hall of Fame selects deceased, retired and currently active professionals with a minimum of 25 years of exemplary service and leadership performance in supply chain operations that meet its criteria to be recognized publicly as Bellwether Class Honorees.

Future Famers represent supply chain professionals early in their healthcare careers who do not yet qualify for Bellwether consideration but have contributed meaningfully to the profession and industry.

Honorees who receive the "Dean S. Ammer Award for Healthcare Supply Chain Performance Excellence" represent noteworthy executives and professionals in the middle of their careers who, through their innovative leadership and influential project management experience, best exemplify the practice and spirit of healthcare supply chain performance excellence.

To date, the Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Hall of Fame has honored 143 innovators, leaders and pioneers in healthcare supply chain management in seven distinct categories: Provider-Based Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing, Distribution, Group Purchasing, Consulting Services, Academia and Media. The Hall of Fame also has recognized 42 Future Famers and four Ammer Honorees.

BLF's philanthropy efforts support capstone educational and developmental projects, grants and scholarships to college-bound high school students who plan to study supply chain curricula, current collegiate students who major in supply chain-related careers and professionals who pursue continuing education through associations and universities.

BLF salutes its six sustaining sponsors at the Founding/Platinum level — GHX, HealthTrust, Owens & Minor, Premier, Vizient and Wingfoot Media — and more than 19 additional sustaining sponsors at the Gold, Silver and Bronze levels, a generous group that represents manufacturers, distributors, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), integrated delivery networks (IDNs), consulting firms, associations and media outlets.

Launched in late July 2007 by a group of influential veterans in the healthcare supply chain industry, Bellwether League Foundation began as a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation that upgraded to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in January 2021.

For further inquiries or interview requests, please contact:

David Dobrzykowski, PhD, University of Arkansas, ddobrzykowski@walton.uark.edu

Rajib Dutta, PhD, Miami University (Ohio), duttar@miamioh.edu