Supply Chain

Materials managers in healthcare are undergoing a metamorphosis, and this situation presents both opportunities and trials.

In its annual Diagnostic Imaging Watch, released in June, the healthcare supply contracting firm Novation reported that, after a three-year decline in sales of capital diagnostic imaging equipment, hospitals and imaging centers appear to be resuming the acquisition process.

Assuming there is no new legislation to the contrary in the next few months, Accountable Care Organizations will begin operating nationwide in January 2012.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should replace its 35-year-old 510(k) clearance process for medical devices, says a new report issued by the Institute of Medicine.

In a deal that greatly accelerates its move into the Medicare supplement market, Aetna announced in June an agreement to buy Genworth Financial's Medicare supplement business, Continental Life Insurance, for $290 million.

With patent expirations looming for some of the world's top-selling brand name drugs, the outlook for the global pharmaceutical industry is negative, said Moody's in its annual Industry Outlook report, released in June.

Supply chain executives at the recent Premier Breakthroughs conference in Nashville agreed that physicians are getting more involved and enthusiastic about supply chain decisions.

Massachusetts-based medical device company, Boston Scientific, plans on investing $150 million in China over the next five years in order to expand its presence in one of the fastest-growing medical device markets.

Advances in gene therapy and stem cell research are leading to double-digit annual sales growth in the orthopedic biomaterials market, according to the healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information.

A home care advocacy organization says the Office of Inspector General's recent report about the unnecessary provision of powered wheelchairs to Medicare beneficiaries is misleading and that the real problem is a flawed documentation process.