Ensuring greater resiliency in the supply chain and improving demand forecasting have emerged as top priorities for the U.S. healthcare industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights are based on responses from executives at more than 200 leading provider and supplier organizations as part of an online survey conducted by Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), highlighted the need for more transparency across the entire healthcare supply chain, as well as closer coordination between supply chain and clinical teams to help lower costs while improving patient outcomes.
As the healthcare industry moves toward a post-pandemic world, survey results indicate an emphasis on finding ways to adapt the supply chain to not only reduce vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19, but also mitigate overall risk. The survey revealed the greatest challenges presented by COVID-19, which included:
· Inability to source personal productive equipment (PPE) supplies (37%)
· Bidding wars and price gouging (15%)
· Finding and vetting non-traditional suppliers (14%)
· Securing quality/authentic products (12%)
When asked how the supply chain will shift to anticipate and alleviate these problems in the future, participants identified several areas of focus:
· More prioritization of products produced in the U.S. (59%)
· More inventory and demand planning data sharing between providers and suppliers (57%)
· Less reliance on IT/more safety stock (52%)
· More investment in inventory visibility across individual health systems (49%)
· Closer coordination between clinical and supply chain teams (41%)
· More investment in demand planning and sensing (31%)
