Action-oriented healthcare supply chain leaders might be ready to dive into process improvements and new technology—but now is an excellent time to take a step back and start with questions.
By interrogating your approach to technology, resilience, and even social responsibility, you'll find an easier (and likely shorter) path to an effective, efficient and sustainable supply chain. To get started, here are 10 questions that will power a more reflective and higher-yield plan of action.
#1 Do we have the visibility we need?
The success of your strategy will live and die by visibility. Without end-to-end visibility of every supply chain node, you'll be at risk of falling prey to past weaknesses even as you face future unknown threats.
True visibility starts with analytics that can not only paint a picture of “what if" scenarios but also look into the near future so you and your team can develop effective responses. This includes visibility into all operating assets and supplies to support great decision-making.
#2 Does our approach to agility fuel growth?
If growth is your goal, agility is a requirement. The healthcare supply chain has been proven vulnerable to public health threats, climate change, and labor issues. Supply chain agility requires mastery of anticipation, comprehending change, and being able to reconfigure and regroup as needed.
Many organizations attempt to achieve those by creating multiple forecasts and choosing one to follow. The better answer is to use analytics to understand what's driving change and then build a forecast based on those drivers. This allows leaders to prioritize as needed.
#3 Are we invested in connectedness?
How many technologies are you using right now to manage your supply chain? Are they functioning on a common data platform? Do you have to manually manipulate data? The answers to these questions paint a picture of your connectedness—and whether or not you'll be able to withstand future supply chain threats like the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it.
Your data should be shared and accessible, supporting end-to-end visibility and connectedness across all systems. By replacing legacy tools with a focus on centralization, you can build insight into external risk factors, support real-time updates, and tap into the kind of business intelligence tools that enable reporting and incident management, and data aggregation.
#4 Are we being socially responsible and ethical?
Your stakeholders range from patients and caregivers to supply chain staff, clinicians, and suppliers. This means that healthcare leaders who acknowledge the importance of ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility will be ahead of most when tackling supply chain challenges in the future. A focus on priorities like stewardship, sustainable sourcing, social determinants of health, and the clinician experience in the context of your supply chain decision will serve you well.
#5 Are we exploring multi-sourcing?
The American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) reports that only 31% of companies have developed alternate supply sources for 70% or more of their tier 1 suppliers.
Multisourcing, or “multiple sourcing" involves contracting with a mix of suppliers to do business as an alternative to single sourcing. You can achieve this on your own, or by working with a partner that practices multisourcing to reduce your risk in the event of supply chain disruptions.
#6 Are we investing in new technology?
Technology is a powerful and essential complement to a strong supply chain strategy. Advanced technologies can help healthcare providers build insight into point-of-use inventory and decrease product expirations. But beyond this, newer technology supports improved forecasting and demand planning.
Other options include automation, such as robotic process automation (RPA) bots to monitor arrival times and support transparency for customers into inbound products. When used with a solid supply chain strategy, modern supply chain technology can be a key driver of improved quality, enhanced efficiency, and even a stronger safety culture.
Earlier this year, Cardinal Health invested in the Kinaxis® RapidResponse® platform to standardize medical planning within one platform and improve supplier management, risk management, and inventory capabilities.
#7 What does our resilience strategy look like?
If you don't have a plan specifically for building resilience in your supply chain, now is an ideal time to start.
Paul Farnin, Director of Supply Chain Solutions at Cardinal Health, explains why resilience strategy is vital for health care supply chain leaders to discuss.
“Resilience is key to a sustainable and effective supply chain, but many organizations might need to take a step back first, asking whether their supply chain has strategic importance. For too many healthcare providers, the supply chain is effectively something to react to when there's a crisis or warning signs, instead of it being a central driver of strategic initiatives.”
You're likely sitting on multiple opportunities to develop resilience and get ahead of healthcare supply chain challenges. A strong resilience strategy will focus on identifying inefficiencies through evaluation of inventory management and logistics processes while also taking a realistic look at coming threats to the healthcare supply chain. For example, you might implement an operating room (OR) surgical kit program that leverages data analytics and OR supply chain specialists to improve efficiency and insulate yourself against future uncertainty.
#8 Are we working to improve collaboration across departments?
Does your supply chain data have a silo issue? Are departments able to fluidly communicate with each other in terms of expiries, stockouts, exceptions, physician preferences, and patient distribution?
Since traditionally, the healthcare supply chain has defaulted toward a narrow scope, there's a strong chance you've got significant opportunities to improve collaboration and information sharing across your departments. By breaking down long-standing silos, you can free up the information that powers your resilience and sustainability goals.
#9 Are we invested in predicting risk?
The blow of the COVID-19 pandemic was a shock to many—but there are more (and different) challenges coming down the line. Predictive risk management is critical for getting in front of natural disasters, geopolitical disruption, and supply shortages. For many organizations, this might run in contrast to a reactive culture.
While your prior approach to risk might have birthed the people who stepped up to save the healthcare supply chain in recent years, that same perspective could work against establishing a culture of risk prevention—a value set that will be necessary as resources are increasingly strained and the cost of a reactive culture becomes untenable.
#10 What does our configurability look like?
Configurability answers the question of “can we make it happen"?
As you build out the ability to predict future needs, your processes, resources, and people will need to adapt—something they might or might not be capable of right now. If your supply chain isn't in a position to rapidly reconfigure and respond to the needs of your care community, clinicians, and other stakeholders, you're sitting in front of some significant potential supply chain wins.
These are a lot of questions to ask, but there is a simple way to start. Before your team dedicates significant time and resources, we want to offer you a clinical assessment comprising case pick observation, procedure setup, turnover activities, and staff interviews to identify hidden efficiencies and cost-saving opportunities. Start here to learn more about supply chain insights, and take some time to explore the healthcare supply chain of the future here.