By Pete Mercer
March 2024 – The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Over the last few months, the global supply chain has been front and center again in the news. This time for supply chain disruptions affecting all facets of the economy. Here at The Journal of Healthcare Contracting, our Daile-News has been full of stories about the disruption shortages. For instance, our Daile News Editor Alan Cherry reported:
- In mid-September, the port of Long Beach, California moved to 24/7 operations in order to clear the growing shipping logjam. By the end of the month, medical supply shortages began to crop up all over the country for a host of critical items needed at medical facilities – from exam tables and heart defibrillators to crutches and IV poles, and more. Unlike earlier in the pandemic, the new shortages were generally for supplies that had nothing to do with treating COVID.
- In October, hospital supply chain teams had been on “high alert” for shortages of thousands of items containing semiconductors for six months. By October, medical device makers were also feeling the crunch. In a Deloitte survey of medical technology companies, every single respondent reported supply issues. Hospitals were also experiencing long order delays because of the semiconductor shortage for new CT scanners, defibrillators, ultrasound machines, and telemetry monitors.
- By the beginning of November, a growing shortage of aluminum had providers around the country asking their local communities to donate crutches and other “gently medical supplies.” The aluminum shortage could become a much bigger problem in the near future, since the end of the year is typically the busiest time for orthopedic surgeries as people squeeze in the surgeries prior the end of the year.
In late November, the Wall Street Journal reported that while global supply-chain experts said the woes were beginning to recede, shipping, manufacturing and retail executives didn’t expect a return to more-normal operations until next year, and that cargo will continue to be delayed if COVID-19 outbreaks disrupt key distribution hubs.
Indeed, this is the reality that today’s supply chain leaders must navigate. There may never be a true return to normal, if by normal we mean how the supply chain used to operate. Fortunately, most supply chain leaders I’ve spoken to have embraced the uncertainty with more resiliency and industry collaboration, whether it’s IDN to IDN or health system to vendor. My hope for 2022 is that we’ll have a chance to see some of this hard work really come to fruition with new initiatives and solutions.