From the August 2020 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
This led to the establishment of Stanford’s Supply Resiliency Program to invest in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, warehousing, logistics, procurement support, an innovations task force, increased focus on clinical integration, and other strategies. And yes, they require financial commitment.
“These types of bold decisions are required, even during a time when the economics may not [comply],” said Chawla.
Health tech: the good and the bad
There’s no doubt that healthcare technology is a game-changer for improving care and efficiencies and cost-cutting. Analytics, automation, connected devices and communication technologies are a few of the must-have tools for success, but gaps still exist.
“Presently, the use of technologies is limited as the information available upstream on supply disruptions — from raw materials, to manufacturing, to exports — remains ambiguous at best,” said Chawla. “Healthcare organizations may have an understanding of inventory burn rates and can take this information to volume data to determine some level of predictive modeling. However, linking this type of information to disruption, being able to comprehend the magnitude, and then complete advance planning and preparation remains a challenge. We must solve and address the gaps that will allow for visibility in the supply chain, linking raw materials resiliency to utilization, to demand forecasting.”
Stanford uses a customized analytics software program by Tableau to capture consumption to volume, but the key is linking the information to disruption and the inventory pipeline during a crisis situation.
“This would allow for greater emergency management planning and ultimately creating a visible end-to-end understanding of supply and demand,” said Chawla.
Looking ahead, she says supply chain could see a shift in global sourcing and logistics, procurement diversification versus standardization, just-in-time management, changing roles among distributors, GPOs, 3PL’s, consolidated service centers, and more.
“There will likely be new market entrants and exploitation of the way we lead our industry,” she said. “In all of this, our work does need to be measured, thoughtfully planned, and expeditiously designed and executed. This will require resiliency, transparency, leadership, and collaboration. The pressure and reliance of supply chain to succeed have never been higher. It is essential that as leaders, we take care of ourselves, one another and our teams as we continue through this journey to continuously improve.”
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