May 26, 2021 – After the disruption caused by COVID-19, global supply chain managers will likely be looking for new or alternative suppliers to rebuild and diversify their supply chains. COVID-19 has created a total shift away from the traditional “single source” strategy to a much more diversified approach. It’s crucial for sectors like the healthcare industry to ensure the stability of their supply chain, as well as the legitimacy of the healthcare supplies they receive. The Global Trade Investigations Division at the Department of Homeland Security has opened over 570 criminal investigations worldwide and has seized over 900 shipments of mislabeled, fraudulent, or prohibited COVID-19 test kits, treatment kits, homeopathic remedies, purported antiviral products and PPE. It’s more important than ever to make sure that health systems are equipped with the proper materials to take care of their patients. So, how can healthcare systems improve the stability of their supply chains?
Building a vendor accreditation program
The healthcare supply chain relies on the safety and quality of the medical materials they receive to provide better patient care, which necessitates a healthcare product safety net. The first step to building a healthcare product safety net is to build a vendor accreditation program. This accreditation program would eliminate the need for every purchasing entity to vet ever potential sourcing entity, which would allow the entire process to operate efficiently. Once this is in place, the accreditation should require a renewal after a certain period to ensure a standard of quality is being maintained.
Ensuring quality throughout your supply chain
Nearly all hospitals utilize a similar service to validate the credentials of anyone who works to support the operational aspects of the hospital to ensure that they have the proper background, training, insurance, and immunizations. A vendor accreditation program would ensure that product suppliers have the appropriate business licenses, insurance, length of time in business, and quality systems to provide the level of quality and validity in the products they provide to hospitals.
The bottom line is that health systems need to ensure quality across their supply chain, from something as simple as hospital gowns to the high-demand PPE supplies.
Health Product Xchange (HPX) has produced an extensive white paper, “Building a Healthcare Product Safety Net” that explores the need for a product safety net, as well as how the industry can build one.
To download your copy of “Building a Healthcare Product Safety Net,” visit Healthcare Product Safety Net.