Exploring the Role of Supply Chain Management in Healthcare

Healthcare supply chain management leaders are looking to become more efficient and resilient as they continue to face significant supply chain disruptions. Cutting healthcare costs has become a mantra for many hospitals and physician practices, especially as payers start to tie claims reimbursement amounts to quality and cost performance. Many organizations have looked to the billing and services portion of the revenue cycle for budget decreases, but others have started to examine healthcare supply chain management. The supply chain generally refers to the resources needed to deliver goods or services to a consumer. Therefore, healthcare supply chain management involves obtaining resources, managing supplies, and delivering goods and services to providers and patients. To complete the process, physical goods and information about medical products and services usually go through a number of independent stakeholders, including manufacturers, insurance companies, hospitals, providers, group purchasing organizations, and several regulatory agencies. In healthcare, managing the supply chain is typically a very complex and fragmented process.

Medigy Insights

Healthcare supply chain management involves obtaining and managing resources and delivering goods and services to providers and patients. Challenges in this process include complexity, transparency, and data management. To overcome these challenges, healthcare organizations can adopt new technologies, prioritize transparency and data management, and establish partnerships with suppliers. Data analytics can also help identify potential cost-saving opportunities in inventory management.