March 16, 2021 – The Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) has released recommendations for policies to diversify manufacturing and sourcing of pandemic medical supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE) to build up domestic capacity and help avoid future shortages.
HIDA’s policy recommendations include:
- Prioritize companies with experience in healthcare to receive government support to on-shore production
- Create a comprehensive plan that ensures government incentives and commercial market investments complement and reinforce each other
- Use trade agreements, federal purchases, and reimbursement policies to provide a consistent demand signal to the commercial market and ensure long term viability
HIDA represents the country’s medical product distributors. HIDA members offer critical services increasing the efficiency of U.S. healthcare providers, including hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories, home care, and physician practices.