Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings seeking supply chain expertise in the last week:

Meet Linda — a 68-year-old grandmother and a diabetic. Linda calls 911 one day after experiencing pain in her stomach and back. In the hospital, her CT scan does not reveal anything significant, so the ER releases Linda. Later at home Linda's daughter finds her unresponsive and calls 911 once again. Back in the hospital, her blood tests reveal three strains of bacteria, so her doctor prescribes two different antibiotics as a broad-spectrum approach.

A Redwood City, Calif.-based medical devicemaker paid an additional $6,000 last week alone due to the Trump administration's latest round of tariffs against Chinese imports, according to Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by Fox Business.

The Metrix Company, a Dubuque, Iowa-based medical devicemaker, is recalling more than 120 lots of its empty IV bags due to the potential for leaks that could cause serious infections.

Viant has acquired Meraqi Medical, which is the fourth acquisition the contract device maker made in the last two years.

Hospitals and integrated delivery networks rely on a wide range of medical devices to deliver safe and effective clinical care. The good news is that suppliers are continually launching new, innovative products to address patient needs. The challenge for supply chain leaders, however, is managing runaway costs for medical devices, while at the same time respecting physicians’ product preferences.

Hospitals across the country are running out of skin tests for latent tuberculosis, according to Spectrum News 1.

In the past, health system leaders were almost solely concerned with delivering clinical excellence to patients. Operating efficiency wasn’t as essential to success as it is now — striking the right balance between clinical excellence and operating efficiency has become table stakes for today's health systems.

An Illinois judge approved a consent agreement Sept. 6 that could allow medical device sterilizer Sterigenics to reopen its Willowbrook, Ill. location, Medical Design & Outsourcing reported.

A new "supercooling" technique extends the amount of time a liver can be stored outside of a body to a day and a half, according to New Scientist.

Although concern for opioid abuse has not waned in 2019, sales of implantable medical devices that can be used as an alternative solution to chronic pain have, according to the Star Tribune.

The U.S. trade war with China threatens to hit hospitals and health systems as well as consumers in the form of higher prices and product shortages, the president of medical supply distributor DealMed told Yahoo Finance.

Ten hospitals and health systems have posted job listings seeking supply chain expertise in the last week:

Software companies SAP and Chronicled have teamed up to deploy a blockchain solution to help pharmaceutical companies comply with the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act, according to a Sept. 3 news release.

The FDA recently ended a program that allowed devicemakers to conceal nearly 6 million reports of device-related harm and malfunctions from the public and physicians. Under the program, the reports were hidden in a database, but they are now accessible to the public. 

Hospitals are increasingly recognizing the value of using Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) protocols to improve patient outcomes and decrease adverse events that can trigger financial penalties such as surgical site infections and unwanted readmissions. 

As Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida, officials at Baptist Health South Florida—a health system with 10 acute care in-patient facilities; more than 70 outpatient facilities including urgent care, imaging and surgery center locations; and more than 41 physician offices in the region—made the critical decision to close two of its hospitals in the Florida Keys.

The FDA is recommending that healthcare facilities start using duodenoscopes with disposable components to reduce the risk of patient infection. 

Ten hospitals and health systems have posted job listings seeking supply chain expertise in the last week:

During tests conducted with fake patients, medical drones carrying first aid kits arrived 90 to 120 seconds faster than an ambulance in the busy streets of Iraq, according to technology and engineering magazine IEEE Spectrum.