Global Health Exchange released its annual list of the 50 best healthcare supply chains in North America April 14. This year, GHX is honoring 51 hospitals and health systems due to a tie. 

Drugmakers around the world are facing a shortage of large plastic growbags used in part of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing process, The Guardian reported. 

Intermountain Healthcare, a 25-hospital system based in Salt Lake City, has signed a 10-year membership agreement with group purchasing organization Vizient, the companies said April 12. 

The FDA is urging hospitals to transition from crisis capacity measures such as decontaminating and reusing  N95 masks, citing an increased domestic supply. 

One of the biggest learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the need for transparency of data.

3M has filed a lawsuit against Tarpon Springs, Fla.-based MM Medical Supply, claiming trademark infringement and fraud for allegedly selling fake N95 masks to a health system in Massachusetts, The Hill reported April 9. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only boosted the amount of supplies in the Strategic National Stockpile, but has changed the way it functions, KMGH, an ABC affiliate in Denver, reported April 8. 

Public health experts are raising concerns over medical waste generated by COVID-19 prevention and treatment, warning the waste could have long-term public health consequences, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported April 8. 

Some health systems aren't vaccinating inpatients, even if they're sick with something other than COVID-19, while their supplies are strained, Minali Nigam, MD, an internal medicine resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, wrote for CNN. 

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

The FDA has authorized the first at-home COVID-19 antibody test, which allows people to collect finger-stick blood samples and send them to a lab for testing.

Compared to pharmaceutical companies, medical device and supply companies pay seven times more of their total industry revenue to physicians, according to a study published April 5 in Health Affairs. 

A supply chain manager at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., told CBS Boston that after ordering 30,000 3M N95 masks from a third-party vendor, he was able to spot from a shipping box label that the masks were counterfeit. 

The U.S. has launched its fourth annual National Supply Chain Integrity Month and has issued a call to action for organizations across the country to strengthen their supply chains. 

In our value-based care environment, hospital and health system leaders are striving to provide the best patient care in the most cost-efficient way.

HHS has launched a $500,000 competition to develop more comfortable face masks, The Hill  and CNN report.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed an executive order April 1 that directs state agencies to focus on procuring medicines, medical devices and medical supplies made within South Carolina, ABC Columbia reported. 

Vizient said April 1 it has completed the acquisition of Intermountain Healthcare's group purchasing organization, Intalere. 

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

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced healthcare supply chain leaders to be more nimble, collaborative and innovative, and the importance of the non-acute supply chain has become more obvious. The role of non-acute supply chain leaders has evolved as a result of the pandemic and is a vital role to supporting patient care outside of the hospital’s four walls.