In light of National Healthcare Supply Chain Week running from Oct. 2 to Oct. 8., Global Healthcare Exchange, a Louisville, Colo.-based healthcare supply chain management company, highlighted five factors that influence supply chain innovation and advance healthcare outcomes.
Here are the five key factors identified by GHX.
- A complex compliance environment. Suppliers and healthcare providers must comply with an ever-increasing amount of regulations and federal guidelines. An automated supply chain system ensures they remain compliant with every rule and regulation while still maintaining a cost-effective, accurate system.
- The new role of the supply chain executive. Many hospital supply chains are moving toward a "clinically-integrated" approach where supply chain professionals and clinicians meet regularly to swap ideas, compare products and make informed decisions. Supply chain professionals are gaining clinician trust by demonstrating the supply chain's impact on patient care.
- An active merger and acquisition climate: With mergers and acquisitions growing in popularity, the supply chain can be a useful tool to align two disparate systems, along with data, to minimize — or eliminate — any disruptions during the transition.
- Data's strategic role: While organized, accurate data can help identify areas within the supply chain that can improve cost, quality and outcomes, it also allows suppliers and providers to take a more strategic approach to various clinical and financial functions like recall tracking, value analysis activities and patient billing.
- The supply chain and population health. The growing population of chronic disease patients highlights the need for a more patient-centered supply chain model that focuses on providing care when and where a patient needs it, which is not always in a hospital setting.
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