Supply Chain

North Carolina awarded CVS Caremark, CVS Health's pharmacy benefit manager, a $3.4 billion contract to serve the state's 727,000 public employees. 

ECRI, a nonprofit organization focused on patient safety and healthcare quality, released the first public ranking of commonly used at-home COVID-19 test kits based on usability. 

Owens & Minor, a global healthcare logistics company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Apria, a home healthcare equipment provider. 

Michigan received its first shipment of paxlovid and molnupiravir, new oral medications to treat COVID-19, officials confirmed Jan. 7.

The federal government has resumed shipping all three COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatments to systems across the U.S. despite evidence two of the three may be ineffective in treating omicron, The Washington Post reported Jan. 9. 

Lyon County (Kan.) declared a local emergency Jan. 7 after Newman Regional Hospital ran out of ventilators, The Kansas City Star reported. 

As supply constraints remain a key challenge in the healthcare industry, it becomes increasingly difficult to prepare for the unknown. Each day brings uncertainty with which products will be available, requiring health systems to rethink their demand planning process.

The U.S. government is finalizing a plan with the U.S. Postal Service to distribute 500 million COVID-19 tests to households nationwide, four people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

With supply chain leaders in the healthcare industry facing numerous challenges in 2021, it’s important to also highlight the successes from the past year as well.

Anywhere from 800,000 to 1 million COVID-19 tests expired in a state stockpile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed during a Jan. 6 news conference, NBC2 News reported.