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Effective Supply Chain Management within Healthcare

Kayla Yun

University of Wisconsin-Parkside

HCA740: Lesson 6

Dr. Gordon

October 14, 2021

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Successful supply chain management consists of much more than just cost reduction.

Obtaining resources, managing supplies, and delivering products and services to healthcare

providers and patients are all part of healthcare supply chain management (LaPointe, 2019).

Physical items and information regarding medical products and services often pass through a

variety of independent parties, including manufacturers, insurance companies, hospitals,

providers, group purchasing organizations, and various regulatory bodies, in order to complete

the process (LaPointe, 2019). Managing the supply chain in healthcare is more than just ensuring

that providers have adequate resources; it is also about managing connections with suppliers and

consumers to offer better patient value at a lower cost to the supply chain overall (LaPointe,

2019). For hospitals, the issue is to connect the supply chain with the care delivery system

(LaPointe, 2019).

The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a significant issue in supply chain

management, and that is global pandemic preparation. It has exposed major flaws in the already

complicated and fragmented healthcare supply chain (Mirchandani, 2020). Supply chain

challenges, such as disruptions in the delivery of goods at any point in the distribution process,

may have a significant impact on healthcare (Okeagu et al., 2021). When COVID-19 was

introduced, the demand for various products, including personal protective equipment (PPE),

rapidly exceeded the supply and caused changes in the supply chain (Okeagu et al., 2021). With

the present system of supply chain techniques, there is minimal to no redundancy, and the

efficiency is very high (Okeagu et al., 2021). As a result, low-cost goods such as personal

protective equipment and medicines may be produced (Okeagu et al., 2021). Unfortunately, this

approach is only effective when demand is predictable, which is not always the case (Okeagu et
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al., 2021). As a result of departures from the streamlining process, gaps become visible and

supply chain problems surface (Okeagu et al., 2021).

A rise in hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) is another example of an issue that may

arise in any healthcare setting and has a major effect on supply chain management. Patients

undergoing operations are at risk of acquiring serious hospital-acquired infections, as shown by

longer hospital stays and more frequent readmissions, as well as greater use of hospital resources

which contribute to higher costs and lower profits. Within the limitations we face today, supply

chain management is essential to maximizing quality and performance while ensuring that

decisions are made in the best interests of the organization and the patient. In an ideal world,

hospital resources available in both the internal and external supply chains should be used to

their full potential, improving safety and benefiting patients. Not only are lives saved when a

certain number of infections are avoided, but funds are saved as well. Any investment will have a

financial cost, but patient outcomes and income will rise, and the long-term benefits will be

worth it in the end.

When it comes to infection control, the kinds of items utilized are equally as essential as

the methods followed by supply chain professionals. In order to mitigate the occurrence of

hospital infection rates, upon arrival for any surgical procedure, patients are usually cleansed

with an antiseptic solution to cleanse the designated area before surgery. This is able to serve as

an effective method to reduce the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections. Although this

increases the number of goods that must be supplied by supply chain experts, the outcomes

greatly contribute to a reduction in infection rates. Supply chain professionals also contribute to

the reduction of infections by buying all the materials required for preparing and placing

intravenous catheters.
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For certain illnesses, particular methods in delivering treatment are more essential than

the items used in avoiding infections. It is more essential to concentrate on methods like

handwashing and only using catheters when they are required and removing them when they are

not. Supply chain management is responsible for ensuring that the hospital has every product

necessary to prevent the spread of infection. By analyzing infection monitoring data and

associated methods, supply chain professionals are able to determine which goods are evidence-

based. Greater results are achieved this way, making the products more cost-effective in the long

run. To improve coordination between product selection and clinical requirements, supply chain

management personnel usually establish a value-based purchasing and infection control

committee. Their job is to oversee all areas of patient safety, usage, effectiveness, and value-

based buying reimbursement. All products used in infection control are analyzed by the kind of

products used, their needs, procedures, and evidence. In regard to a supply chain, there is a need

to concentrate on the long-term savings of infection prevention purchases, rather than the

immediate expenses. This is only possible by adopting a long-term perspective. Ultimately, this

is a representation of the use of effective supply chain management in the healthcare delivery

system, while minimizing risk and ensuring high-quality treatment for patients.
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References

LaPointe, J. (2019, March 14). Exploring the role of Supply Chain Management in Healthcare.

RevCycleIntelligence. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from

https://revcycleintelligence.com/news/exploring-the-role-of-supply-chain-management-in-

healthcare.

Mirchandani P. (2020). Health Care Supply Chains: COVID-19 Challenges and Pressing

Actions. Annals of internal medicine, 173(4), 300–301. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-1326

Okeagu, C. N., Reed, D. S., Sun, L., Colontonio, M. M., Rezayev, A., Ghaffar, Y. A., Kaye, R.

J., Liu, H., Cornett, E. M., Fox, C. J., Urman, R. D., & Kaye, A. D. (2021). Principles of

supply chain management in the time of crisis. Best practice & research. Clinical

anaesthesiology, 35(3), 369–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpa.2020.11.007