Supply Chain

Most health systems are aware that achieving supply chain excellence results in positive implications for their facility.

The FDA is requesting more regulatory power over the medical device supply chain to mitigate and prevent supply shortages, acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, wrote in a July 21 blog post. 

Quest Diagnostics CEO Steve Rusckowski told CNBC July 22 that the company is seeing an increase in COVID-19 tests as the delta virus spreads. 

Air-filtered personal protection booths called hexapods developed and used by Mass General Brigham in Boston during COVID-19 testing led to cost savings, decreased use of personal protective equipment and increased testing capacity, a study published in JAMA Network Open found. 

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

ECMC Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y., has two weeks of personal protective equipment on hand after a 75-day supply was destroyed in a fire July 20, WGRZ, a Buffalo-based NBC affiliate, reported. 

PartsSource, a company that connects hospitals and clinics with medical device vendors and repair companies, will be acquired by private equity firm Bain Capital Private Equity, the companies said July 20. 

The Government Accountability office released a report this week making 15 recommendations for how the U.S. government can improve its COVID-19 pandemic response. 

The Strategic National Stockpile is in much better shape than it was at the beginning of the pandemic, Dawn O'Connell, HHS secretary for preparedness and response, told a U.S. Senate panel July 20, The Washington Post reported. 

In response to both changing healthcare policies and the COVID-19 pandemic, patients are being pushed to lower-cost settings, most common of which is the ambulatory surgery center (ASC).