What is a clinically integrated supply chain?
It’s never been more critical for healthcare supply chains to be aligned with the clinical objectives of their hospitals and health systems. In the past, supply chains were siloed and separated from clinical concerns. However, integrating them to be more situationally aware, innovative, and collaborative is one of the best ways to ensure better patient outcomes.
A report from Gartner® about predictions for 2023 states that “by 2026, 20% of healthcare providers will adopt real-time health system supply chain platforms, driven by the need to more closely align supply chain logistics with clinical activity.”¹
To do this, hospitals need to look into real-time health system (RTHS) supply chain models, which will grow more and more important as inflation continues to impact the cost and availability of critical supplies.
How to create a clinically aligned supply chain
RTHS principles and technologies have long been centered on integrating, automating, and optimizing patient management, care delivery, and care coordination workflows.
And central to it all is real-time visibility. When orders for critical product are placed, lack of visibility leads to wasted time and money:
- Buyers can be spending up to 50% or more of their day looking for product
- Clinicians can be spending 10% or more of their day doing the same
- A study conducted by a large health system concluded that it costs $45/order to track down missing or back-ordered product
When a health system makes visibility its priority, alignment between supply chain and clinical operations falls into place. Clinical integration increases patient safety, reduces overall costs for both the health system and patients, and improves clinical outcomes.
Clearly, a visibility solution should be on every hospital’s list of must-do’s. But what, specifically should they be looking for? The ideal solution enables supply chain and clinical staff to:
- Search by PO, tracking number, product, or buyer
- Track and monitor shipment status and delivery on a map
- Subscribe to email notifications for proactive alerts
- Share order status with critical staff
At VPL, we believe the quickest way to a clinically integrated supply chain is to work with a provider who can deliver all of the above. (Spoiler alert: We can.)
Request a quote of our platform to take the first step toward creating a clinically aligned supply chain.
