Supply Chain

If hospitals are required to record unique device identifiers (UDIs) in electronic health records, there will be a need for supply chain involvement. But what that involvement should look like--and when--is still unknown.

An increasing number of healthcare organizations are turning to demand forecasting, crunching numbers to help them determine potential device usage, patient demand and even to decide whether or not to build new facilities.

Two giants in the medical products business have agreed to consolidate services that bring supplies to physician offices.

After several years of modest increases, U.S. spending on medications is projected to shoot up by 12 percent this year, pushing the nation's drug bill to between $375 billion and $385 billion.

Shares of medical device maker Medtronic Inc. surged Tuesday after the Minneapolis-based company said it would go ahead with its planned $49.2 billion merger with Covidien.

There's a great deal at stake in hospital sourcing and the management of medical supplies. A focus on lowering costs by standardized purchasing of drugs or devices can't come at the expense of compromising high-quality care.

Opportunities still exist within the healthcare supply chain for improvement and greater efficiency of operations. Lately, price alignment strategies appear to be at the forefront as the newest hope for cost containment.

Though supply chain professionals are keenly aware of the importance of quality and cost, their clinical counterparts may not be as familiar with an organized movement to link these two components with patient outcomes.

As cost control initiatives take on increasing weight at hospitals and health systems, organizations must focus more intently on stemming the costs of medical device procurement.

There’s a great deal at stake in hospital sourcing and the management of medical supplies. A focus on lowering costs by standardized purchasing of drugs or devices can’t come at the expense of compromising high-quality care.