Supply Chain Management in Healthcare

How Hospitals Can Improve Collaboration with Key Vendors
There are many ways in which hospitals can improve their collaboration with key
vendors, such as large distributors in food services, pharmacy and medical supplies. One of
the ways is communicating demand expectations (Ledlow, Manrodt & Scott, 2017). For
instance, the hospital could share data, such as how its consumption of supplies varies on a
monthly or quarter-yearly basis. The vendors will use this information to improve their
management of supplies to the hospital. They will know when to increase or reduce volumes
of certain supplies in anticipation of increase or reduction of demand from the hospital.
Another way that the hospital can improve collaboration with its vendors is through
requesting for periodic shipments from the vendors. Such periodic shipments ensure that the
hospital does not experience stockouts (Kwon, Kim & Martin, 2016). Additionally, hospitals
should seek information from the vendors about time taken to make urgent shipments.
Knowing lead time for urgent shipments will help the hospital to determine products that it
needs to order with greater lead time.

Type of Data to Share

Data sharing can significantly improve the hospital’s overall supply chain. One of the
data that should be shared is demand data. Demand of hospital supplies is not constant. It
varies with time. It is important that vendors know periods of peak and low demand so that
they can manage their supplies accordingly (Mathur et al., 2018). The data on demand should
be as detailed as possible. For instance, the vendors should know how demand of specific
food or medical supplies varies with time. Apart from data on demand variation, the hospital
should also share data on expected product quality. Such data will ensure that vendors only
supply products of appropriate quality.

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Example of Healthcare Facility with Effective Supply Chain Management
Even though healthcare facilities understand the importance of having an effective
supply chain management in reduction of waste and cost, few have managed to establish to
effective supply chain management systems. Therefore, I am yet to find a healthcare facility
that has a perfect supply chain management system.

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References

Kwon, I. W. G., Kim, S. H., & Martin, D. G. (2016). Healthcare supply chain management;
strategic areas for quality and financial improvement. Technological Forecasting and
Social Change, 113, 422-428.
Ledlow, G. R., Manrodt, K. B., & Schott, D. E. (2017). Health care supply chain
management: Elements, operations, and strategies. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett
Learning.
Mathur, B., Gupta, S., Meena, M. L., & Dangayach, G. S. (2018). Healthcare supply chain
management: literature review and some issues. Journal of Advances in Management
Research