February 23, 2023 – In 2016, HHS released the 2017-2022 Health Care Preparedness and Response Capabilities guidance to describe what the healthcare delivery system, including healthcare coalitions, hospitals and emergency medical services must do to effectively prepare for and respond to emergencies that impact the public’s health. There had been lessons learned from natural disasters like hurricanes in Texas and Florida, but nothing foretold the coming COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The U.S. healthcare system wasn’t alone in the lack of preparedness. Global action and leadership was needed throughout the world’s healthcare systems. For example, the European Union created the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority in response to the pandemic, but it must continue to support countries in revamping and nurturing their own preparedness capacities.
In Arizona, a team of Arizona State University (ASU) undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, along with staff from the Healthcare Transformation Institute, which is affiliated with ASU, surveyed members of the Arizona Coalition for Healthcare Emergency Response (AzCHER), including hospitals, long-term care facilities, medical clinics, dialysis centers and other medical care providers, and interviewed medical supply manufacturers, distributors and government agencies to determine supply chain vulnerabilities for:
- Blood
- Medical gas
- Fuel
- Pharmaceuticals and nutritional products
- Leasing entities for biomedical and other durable medical equipment
- Disposables supplies, including PPE
They were led by Professor Eugene Schneller, adjunct faculty member Jim Eckler and Assistant Professor Mikaella Polyviou in the Department of Supply Chain Management at the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU. Schneller, Eckler and Polyviou spoke at The Journal of Healthcare Contracting’s IDN Insights: Showcasing Level IV Health Systems last year, chronicling supply chain preparedness for the long game and the implications for providers, suppliers and distributors.
Read more in the latest issue of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting.