Medline said Northwestern Medicine and Providence will collaborate with the company to help develop Mpower, an artificial intelligence supply chain platform built on Microsoft 365 and powered by Azure AI.
The Northfield, Illinois-based company designed Mpower to act as a digital control tower for healthcare providers by streamlining product substitutions, approvals, and communications. Medline first announced its collaboration with Microsoft in 2024 to improve supply chain resiliency and reduce disruptions.
“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. “These healthcare 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.”
Larry Jones, Microsoft corporate vice president for health and life sciences, said: “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.”
Medline said it selected Northwestern Medicine and Providence for their industry leadership and long-standing partnerships with the company. Both providers committed supply chain, technical, and clinical teams to guide Mpower’s development and implementation.
“Being part of this collaboration with Medline and Microsoft aligns with our philosophy and who we are fundamentally,” said 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.”
Providence chief supply chain officer Dave Walker said the project will help health systems move away from “legacy linear supply chains, once optimized for cost and stability,” toward ecosystems that are prepared for disruption.
Once launched, Mpower will be available at no cost to Medline Prime Vendor customers currently using Mpower Foundations, the company’s cloud-based risk-profiling and prediction platform.
