Healthcare supply chain management is the process of managing the flow of medical products, medicines and other healthcare services from manufacturer to patients, when and where they need them.

Healthcare supply chain management involves functions, such as medical resource acquisition, inventory maintenance, supply and equipment management, and delivery of goods and services to patients.

To improve healthcare supply chain and make it more patient-centric in today’s competitive healthcare landscape, supply chain leaders need to think about the intersection of cost, quality and clinical outcomes.

Focus more on the healthcare supply chain costs that you can trade off, balance and optimize to improve patient care. The best supply chain leaders are accelerating investments in people and processes to bolster clinical alignment, which involves listening to and collaborating with end users.

When that is achieved, the focus can shift to where and how to source products effectively and how to get products in the right place at the right time. Some healthcare organizations can have as many as seven different supply chains, including medical/surgical, medical devices, laboratory, pharmaceuticals, capital equipment, purchased services and food. Healthcare organizations need to think about product segmentation, as well as the who, what, when and where of the healthcare supply chain and how it impacts the delivery of care.

The talent shortage within healthcare supply chain is a major challenge: Underperforming salaries often drive workers to leave healthcare supply chain for opportunities in other departments, at other IDNs, at manufacturers or even within other industries. To sustain talent, it’s critical that you focus on delivering against major transformation goals.

According to Gartner research, leaders in healthcare supply chain focus on:

• Developing core competencies (like data analytics) and next-generation skills (like clinical alignment, or the ability to listen to and collaborate with clinical end users as part of sourcing).

• Redesigning roles away from legacy job descriptions to orient on the future of supply chain strategy.

• Designing compensation packages and career paths that are competitive to supply chain roles in other industries.
  

Leaders in the healthcare supply chain are effectively using microanalytics, i.e., data about individual procedures. First, microanalytics are gathered and reviewed with end users, e.g., patient length of stay, how likely the patient is to return within 30 days of admittance. Then, decisions are made that change the trajectory of patient care.

Healthcare inventory management is the process that healthcare organizations use to keep track of their medical inventory, purchases, payments, etc.