Healthcare Supply Chain-From Patients to Providers

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems around the world have been overwhelmed. Hospitals and Healthcare facilities have experienced shortages of both technical supplies, safety gear, and medicinal drugs.

During the pandemic, the ill-preparedness of several countries and hospitals around the world was laid bare. Supply chain shortages such as these are not confined to the pandemic. Healthcare around the world has been subject to supply chain shortages for decades now.

Regarding both technical machinery and medication, there have been shortages from time to time. A study in 2019 showed that the significant effects of these shortages on patients have been economic, clinical, and humanistic.

In some cases, the worst effects of these shortages have even included fatalities.

What are the Main Challenges Which Cause Supply Chain Shortages in Healthcare?

During COVID-19, it was laid bare why supply chain shortages happen so often due to the slow response to the pandemic.

These causes include:

·      Bottlenecks occurred at ports as well as at truck stops and stations. These held up deliveries to specific areas that held up necessary medications and supplies to the world.

·      During surges in demand for medications or supplies, there are often too many supplies to transport and not enough drivers to do so. Due to millions of COVID-19 infections and deaths across 2020, as well as quarantines and lockdowns, there was a severe labor shortage when it came to freight transport.

·      Several countries instituted export and import bans from different regions around the world. These international barriers led to a dearth in the supply of pharmaceuticals, personal protective clothing, and medical instruments. As a result, there was a vast supply shortage in medical facilities.

·      Panic buying and stockpiling of different materials resulted in shortages in the pharmaceutical supply chain. As a result, patients or individuals in the medical facilities couldn't avail the medications on time.

·      There was also a lack of overall resiliency in the healthcare supply chain. Companies that pursued cost-focused strategies during the pandemic also created redundancy in the market.

·      Several medical facilities, institutions, and even several countries relied on limited suppliers to meet their demand. As a result, there were long-standing delays.

·      Several federal, state, and local agencies were misaligned. As a result, healthcare organizations took a fragmented approach to order and fulfillment. This resulted in a perplexing response to the pandemic and led to supply chain shortages.

With all these problems hovering, solutions have to bridge the gap in the supply chain. According to the latest studies, there are multiple tools we can apply to alleviate this situation.

Proposed Solutions to Healthcare Supply Chain Shortages

Centralize Forecast Data

It's crucial to have all the data out there in a single centralized database to forecast shortages. That's the first step to resolve the scarcity of medical supplies. If we predict and analyze the forthcoming issue, it will be easier to compute the cost of inventory, time, and transportation. Hence combining data from multiple systems across the world can help us put it all together.

Putting Data in the Hands of Critical Stakeholders

It's a good idea to look beyond the transactional data and include the insights across different supplier networks. That way, the supply chain shortages could be addressed at a more fundamental level. Visibility could be extended beyond the manufacturer's walls, and we could see into government entities and other suppliers.

This would allow us to take a closer look at the problem of supply chain shortage and alleviate this problem further.

Collaboration for Optimization of Healthcare Delivery Needs

The best response to the healthcare supply chain shortages is to encourage further collaboration. Leveraging transparency can lead to greater collaboration amongst the industry and thus lead to a much bigger picture view, resulting in a more resilient supply chain. Hence, the supply chain can cater to and optimize the delivery of drugs to each patient.

The advantage of this collective insight is that companies and healthcare facilities can respond much better to emergencies like pandemics. For example, ventilators and remote monitors could've been delivered much earlier and much swifter to countries that needed them. A greater quantity of syringes could be given for vaccinations in several countries.

In the near future, the repercussions of COVID-19 will need immediate attention. Clear foresight through the sharing of information could help alleviate these supply chain shortages. Using these proposed solutions for healthcare supply chain shortages of medicines will make a difference in improving patients' lives.

PS: Image Credit: Dogtown Media