Three trends driving healthcare supply chain ‘reinvention’

For healthcare leaders, making a deep impact on supply chain costs will demand more than choices around what to cut. It will necessitate an agile response in an inflationary environment. But achieving significant and sustainable savings will require organizations to creatively rethink their approach to containing supply chain costs. Forward-thinking health systems have already “picked” much of the low-hanging fruit for decreasing costs of products, equipment and inventory. Now, they must consider how to brace for more cost increases as McKinsey predicts non-labor expenses in healthcare including for supplies will rise by up to $110 billion by 2027, with the increases likely to become permanent. Inflation is a big driver: McKinsey expects the largest jump in healthcare expenses to take place between 2022 and 2023 due to inflation, then continue through 2027 at a lower rate of growth.