Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion & Editorial
June 06, 2020 01:00 AM

Letters: It’s time for a national hospital supply chain czar

Modern Healthcare
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images

    The COVID-19 crisis has brought into sharp relief the heroics of our healthcare providers. It has also laid bare the many weaknesses of our healthcare supply chain that made their heroism necessary in the first place.

    None of these faults is as glaring as the breakdown of the supply chain to deliver adequate supplies to ensure the health and safety of providers and patients. The industrywide shortage of personal protective equipment has forced many providers to choose between caring for patients and their own safety. But cracks in the supply chain run far deeper than PPE.

    The root of the problem is a lack of industrywide coordination. Many hospitals have largely had to source supplies on their own. The free-for-all prompted stockpiling that worsens the problem, and uneven distribution based on economics rather than need. Meanwhile, the federal government has been competing with providers and states for supplies.

    The solution? The federal government should hire a subcontractor to act as a supply chain czar with authority to coordinate across all stakeholders—hospitals, suppliers, distributors, online marketplaces, GPOs, states and federal agencies. Precedent is found in the Medicare 340B disproportionate-share outpatient drug program, operated by a private subcontractor.

    If that degree of oversight is unlikely from the Trump administration, then the industry should unite on its own to quickly nurture a more actively managed supply chain that provides: open communications between suppliers, distributors, GPOs and customers to prevent under-ordering and hoarding; visibility into hospital inventory, with more accurate demand forecasts, faster order placement, and greater collaboration with suppliers and distributors; analytics supported by real-time data to forecast supply bottlenecks; and online communities enabling clinical engineering teams to share insights and best practices.

    These capabilities exist today only in patches. Nothing would move the industry faster toward their widespread adoption than a private-sector coordinator authorized by the federal government to orchestrate among all supply chain stakeholders.

    Jody Hatcher
    Former president of supply chain services at Vizient and a 14-year board member of the Healthcare Supply Chain Association

    Ariz. ruling erred on public’s right to know data on nursing homes’ COVID-19 cases

    The article “Judge rules against news agencies over nursing home stats” noted, “A state judge sided with the administration of Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, which had argued (information on the number of coronavirus cases and deaths among residents of nursing homes, long-term facilities and retirement homes) is private under several state provisions. One of the primary defenses the state presented is that releasing such data may be ‘stigmatizing’ for those nursing homes and impact their competitive perception in the community.”

    While such public shaming is probably not something any leader of any entity desires, such information is precisely the kind of thing I would want to know if I were placing a family member in an Arizona long-term facility. The key is whose perspective should society favor—the probably privately owned facility or the prospective consumer? In my mind, the question answers itself—the taxpayer-supported state agencies should represent and implement the view of the potential consumers who are likely taxpayers.

    To have a state protecting the business interest of market-based institutions over public right-to-know information that could significantly impact the public’s market choices represents a “business capture” of a public function. Shame on the court for not recognizing that.

    Les DelPizzo
    Baltimore

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    NEWS_180709947_AR_-1_BUXUXMLZKOGI.jpg
    Supreme Court denies ERISA suit against Anthem, Express Scripts
    FDA advisers recommend updating COVID booster shots for fall
    FDA advisers recommend updating COVID booster shots for fall
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing