How Can We Improve Healthcare Supply Chain Management?

Senior VP of Field Sales
Steve Hartsell

Managing the healthcare supply chain was vital and complex even before the onset of the global pandemic. Healthcare is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world. In 2018, healthcare was an $8.5 trillion global industry, and it is projected to grow to $10 trillion. In the U.S. alone, the industry was worth $4 trillion in 2020.

COVID-19 put the health care supply chain to the ultimate test, shining a light on the need for flawlessly functioning critical infrastructure to transport health care supplies from manufacturers to wholesale distributors and retailers — and the ultimate end users: patients.

Old Dominion facilitated a panel with three health care industry players at the LogiMed Virtual Conference, during which several themes emerged when asked to reflect on the impact of 2020:

1.) Having your resiliency / contingency plan in place is not an option, but a necessity.

Many health care professionals may have had a crisis plan, but it may not have accounted for a global pandemic impacting medical supply chains. Companies must think through all aspects of their emergency preparedness plans, including choosing the right partners to keep their supply chain intact and running during times of emergency. Talk with your logistics partners about having adequate capacity and flexibility to manage peaks in demands.

2.) Data is critical for managing your healthcare supply chain.

Gather and use data to track your supply and logistics trends, even though predicting demand has become as much art as science over the last few years. At Old Dominion, our customers saw a large influx of healthcare and medical products that needed distribution to stores and medical facilities on tight timeframes.

3.) Do not take anything for granted, including the ability to get the materials and products you need.

It is better to go ahead and place orders for long lead-time items that are predicted to be in demand. Be stocked and be prepared to make sure your inventory is ready to move to market.

Need More Information?

Contact us by email or simply call 1-800-235-5569 to be connected to an Old Dominion customer service representative.