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Supply Chain Creativity During COVID-19

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Supply Chain Creativity During COVID-19

Supply Chain Creativity During COVID-19

Just as we typically don’t think about how groceries get to our grocery store, we probably don’t wonder how medical supplies get to our hospital room or doctor’s office. But for those of us who work in hospital supply chain management, we know a lot of negotiating, storage and coordination goes into this at the best of times.

As the world confronts COVID-19, issues regarding medical supply chains have been thrust into the spotlight. When a previously nonexistent health threat spreads across the globe in a matter of weeks, demand for essential medical equipment suddenly outstrips supply. Fraudulent vendors become a higher risk. Established vendor partnerships are strained. In fact, this virus originated near a major personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturing area in China. This greatly reduced supply at a time when the world needed it most.

While most of UW Health has thus far not encountered a surge of COVID-19 patients, we have still faced unprecedented challenges since the onset of the pandemic. To overcome these current and potential shortages, serious creativity and collaboration need to be front and center.

With so much still unknown, a best-case scenario might be a new normal of carefully caring for COVID-19 patients in steady conjuncture with the many other patients who need our support. This creates a significant and prolonged increased need for PPE, posing tremendous challenges as the supply chain is under immense stress.

Using Public and Private Partnerships

As an academic medical center where our physicians are also faculty of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, UW Health often works methodically. Now that time is of the essence, the health system and university have been collaborating closely and swiftly, and UW Health is benefiting greatly from its close partnership and proximity to the institution’s educators and students.

Making Unusable PPE Usable

In mid-March, UW Health received 1,250 hoods from the strategic national stockpile. These were meant to be used with our PAPRs, the respiratory protection systems that protect healthcare professionals when bodily fluids can be aerosolized, such as during intubation. Powered by a blower strapped around the wearer’s waist and connected by a hose to a hood covering the head, PAPRs offer the highest form of protection to a medical professional’s head, face and respiratory system during high-risk procedures.

Keeping Hand Sanitizer Flowing

As COVID-19 rapidly spread, the supply of hand sanitizer dwindled everywhere. We knew we would be hard-pressed to safely care for patients without it, so again we relied on the ingenuity and expertise of partners, this time at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy’s Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment, which typically focuses on supporting drug development.

Reuse and Recycle

Sometimes supply chain challenges are not about getting or making more, but making existing supplies go further. We began sterilizing used N-95 respirators to reuse if we experienced a significant surge of patients. We have not yet needed to use them, but preparing for the worst is vital.

UW Health goes through thousands of surgical, isolation and patient gowns each week. Sourcing new, disposable gowns would be nearly impossible in the current climate. Fortunately, we are part of a laundry cooperative that not only launders all linens but sterilizes surgical and isolation gowns. Partnerships like this put a health system in a better position to control the supply chain than if it were a contracted client to a third-party laundry vendor or disposable gown supplier.

Read more at Supply Chain Creativity During COVID-19

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How To Avoid a Third-Party Break in Your Supply Chain

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Your business is only as secure as the weakest link in your supply chain. A single lapse by a third-party can lead to an operational disruption, cyberattack, or compliance violation. How can you be certain that your vendors and partners are keeping up with the latest regulatory mandates, industry best practices, cybersecurity measures, and your own corporate standards?

Vendor Risk Management Should Be a Top Priority

In these days of high-profile data breaches and intensifying regulatory requirements, supply chain risk management has become a critical priority for every organization. Such programs typically encompass policies, standards, governance, and risk assessment. Vendor risk management falls under the last of these—and it’s the cornerstone of effective supply chain risk management.

Develop a Vendor Risk Policy with Teeth

Nothing gets the attention of a vendor like a withheld payment. To set the expectation that risk policy compliance is a requirement, not an option, let vendors know that no money will be released until the right boxes have been checked.

Document and Track

A supply chain risk register is essential to keep track of your vendors and their risk. Your database should provide a single source of information on which vendors have been approved and when, as well as their current risk assessment rating.

Stay Engaged During Procurement

Don’t wait until the final review of a master services agreement (MSA) to get involved. Build a strong collaborative relationship with the procurement team so you can be notified promptly when a business function submits a procurement request, and stay engaged during vendor sourcing. By getting in front of the process, you can avoid being labeled as a roadblock or deal-breaker.

Maintain, Scale, and Repeat Your Program

Running an effective vendor risk management program and managing supply chain risk in general is all about scaling and repeating. To uphold your policy and standards, be diligent and strict about annual security assessment and verification, and perform site inspections as needed depending on the severity of risks posed by a given vendor.

‘Trust But Verify’

From the earliest stages of the procurement process through onboarding, service provision, and offboarding, expectation-setting and verification should be woven through each vendor relationship. Even the most secure organizations can encounter challenges, and the best-run programs can break down—assume nothing, check everything.

Read more at How To Avoid a Third-Party Break in Your Supply Chain

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