Supply Chain Resiliency and a Shift to Value Based Care: Why Premier is Investing in Data and Technology

Supply chain shortages and slowdowns continue to dominate the news cycle, a set of issues that the healthcare system has been dealing with since the start of Covid-19. From personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supply shortages, to drug, resource and staffing limitations, healthcare delivery organizations have been hit with challenges from all sides, and have increasingly relied on new approaches and industry partnerships to make it through. 

Across the healthcare supply chain, industry stakeholders and patients have had a tough past 18 months and many face a long road to recovery ahead. From a lack of timely, consumable data and poor visibility into what’s driving supply chain failures, to a lack of information sharing and interoperability, the majority of healthcare supply chain obstacles were “hiding” in plain sight long before the pandemic.

For instance (and exacerbated since the pandemic’s onset), drug shortages and a “sick” pharmaceutical supply chain have increasingly plagued the healthcare system. A report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health details some of the contributing factors to pharmaceutical supply chain challenges both domestically and abroad during Covid-19. These include challenges from having a limited understanding of local and demand-driven drug shortages (i.e., lack of data/visibility and lack of information exchange/interoperability the common thread).