Medline will partner with Northwestern Medicine and Providence to develop Mpower, Medline’s supply chain system powered by Microsoft’s Azure artificial intelligence (AI) and built on Microsoft 365.
“Having forward-thinking providers join our AI supply chain collaboration with Microsoft is very powerful,” said Marc Phillips, Medline senior vice president of supply solutions, in a Sept. 15 press release. “These health-care providers see the future of streamlined information and workflow through Mpower greatly benefiting their patients, staff and communities. They are committed to creating a supply chain that is reliable and resilient, and they want a seamless solution that is simple for their teams to use.”
The new system will feature an “AI digital control tower” that will manage product substitutions, approvals and communications. “The platform is built on Microsoft 365 and is designed to be intuitive and accessible for all health systems,” Medline’s announcement said. “This transformative, predictive solution is built specifically for the health-care supply chain.”
Providence and Northwestern Medicine “dedicated supply chain, technical and clinical leadership to drive Mpower development and implementation through their respective networks, offering them the opportunity to tackle the industry’s most pressing supply chain issues,” Medline said in explaining the collaboration.
“Today’s dependency on the global marketplace is characterized by higher levels of complexity and turbulence coming from both external and internal supply network disruptions,” said Dave Walker, Providence senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. “To reduce this risk, legacy linear supply chains, once optimized for cost and stability, need to be replaced with supply chain ecosystems that incorporate event readiness, efficient responsiveness and effective recovery. Our partnership with Medline and Microsoft will forge the next level of supply chain resilience capability.”
“Being part of this collaboration with Medline and Microsoft aligns with our philosophy and who we are fundamentally,” added Tabitha Welsh, Northwestern Medicine director of supply chain. “We are responsive, agile innovators at Northwestern, especially when looking at ways to enhance and scale quality of care and becoming more efficient.”
“AI is transforming health-care supply chain management by simplifying procurement and lightening the operational load,” said Larry Jones, Microsoft corporate vice president, health and life sciences. “Mpower combines Microsoft 365 and Azure AI with Medline’s resilient supply chain expertise to help ensure essential supplies are within reach, allowing caregivers to concentrate on what truly matters: their patients. We’re excited to see what our shared customers Northwestern Medicine and Providence are able to achieve with this powerful tool.”
Mpower is due to launch in early 2026.
