Healthcare supply chain leaders have spent years investing in visibility tools, supplier relationships and inventory strategies to prepare for disruptions. But when a shortage or other unexpected event hits, leaders said the ability to respond depends on something broader: knowing what is happening early and being able to act quickly.
For seven health system supply chain leaders, information alone is not enough. Health systems also need the people, relationships and decision-making structures to turn that information into action.
For Joe Wilson, vice president of supply chain services and chief procurement officer at New York City-based Montefiore Health System, “the single most important capability for managing supply disruptions is end-to-end visibility across suppliers, inventory, demand and logistics, combined with strong clinical partnerships,” he said.
That visibility allows supply chain teams to spot risks earlier, but he said clinical relationships allow organizations to respond once a problem emerges. Those partnerships can accelerate decisions around product alternatives, conservation and substitutions while protecting patient care.
Nalin Kulasekara, system vice president of ancillary operations and supply chain management at Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System, also pointed to end-to-end visibility — with AI potentially taking that capability further. He described the ideal capability as “AI-enabled end-to-end visibility,” in which health systems could predict disruptions, quickly determine their severity, understand available inventory across warehouses and shipping channels and estimate when the problem might be resolved.
“It will enable us to continue patient care uninterrupted,” Mr. Kulasekara said.
But technology is only one part of disruption management. At Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Health System, Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer Motz Feinberg pointed to the resilience of the supply chain workforce as the organization’s indispensable capability.
“Data and tools are clearly necessary, as are the critical relationships we build with our internal and external partners,” Mr. Feinberg said. “The glue that holds us together and ensures uninterrupted patient care is the strength of our people.”
Don Barton, chief technical officer and director of supply chain management at Shelbyville, Ind.-based Major Health Partners, similarly emphasized people and communication. He said maintaining rapid, clear communication among clinicians, materials management, leadership and suppliers ensures everyone understands disruptions, priorities and workarounds in real time.
“Equally critical is having people on the team who stay calm, improvisational and collaborative when plans change, because even perfect systems fail without staff who can execute under disruption,” Mr. Barton said.
For San Angelo, Texas-based Shannon Health, the differentiator is how quickly the organization can move from information to a decision. “Our greatest capability in managing supply disruptions is our ability to make decisions quickly, and act upon the data that we are seeing in the current market,” Luke Martin, administrative director of supply chain management, said.
He credited the health system’s senior leadership with giving the supply chain team autonomy to make critical decisions when conditions change.
Dameka Miller, senior vice president of supply chain management at Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, distilled the capability down to one word: agility. “Organizations that handle supply disruptions best are not necessarily the ones with the most inventory or sophisticated technology,” she said. “They are prepared to respond quickly and mitigate impacts to patient care when a disruption unfolds.”
Tracy Cleveland, vice president of supply chain at Munson Healthcare in Traverse City, Mich., similarly pointed to “awareness” as the critical capability — particularly how early an organization recognizes that a disruption is developing.
“When do we become aware of the disruption? Is there advanced warning to indicate a disruption is on the horizon?” Mr. Cleveland said. “As soon as there is awareness the contingency planning should commence.”
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