I asked Brian Hudock, a partner at Tompkins Associates, for his insight into what's really going on in today's healthcare supply chains. Brian is an expert on improving supply chain performance in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and medical products and has spent a fair amount of time in waiting rooms. Here are his thoughts.
-Jim
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What do you think about when you're sitting, waiting, in the very appropriately named physician's "waiting room"? For me recently, it was first and foremost the health of my wife (who is fine) and secondly, it was the complexity of the healthcare market. Signs of complexity in the healthcare industry were swirling all around me.
My wife was having an outpatient procedure, and when we walked into the facility, I noticed multiple (dozens) of specialty offices -- all focused on the spinal issues, but each on specific specialties. As we filled out the paperwork along with the insurance forms and the the waivers, the amount of information collected and generated from a single patient was staggering (and this for a single visit). As my wife went into the prep room, I noted how the complexity of the bed, the supplies, the sanitation options, the additional questions asked (yes, more paperwork), all reinforced how healthcare has become so much more specialized and more extensive than the tongue depressors and cotton balls I remember as a child when I visited the all - purpose family physician. Although I think we just called him "the doctor" back them.
With this much specialization, it makes perfect sense that the pharmaceutical and medical products industries are becoming less specialized and more diverse. In order to service patients effectively, a broad range of solutions (including those that are customized to a single patient) must be part of a broad portfolio of solutions. To ensure that patients are well served and to keep pace with a rapidly evolving healthcare industry, the ability to manage, effectively distribute, and collaborate with industry partners is becoming increasingly critical.
The big reality of healthcare today is that the merger of non-traditional partners and industries -- including Pharmaceuticals, Generics, Vaccines, Biotechnology, Genetics, Medical Device, Medical Products, and OTC products using the same supply chain across the globe -- will challenge even the best logisticians and planners. If these acquisitions and mergers are not successfully integrated, the cost reductions being sought to support governmental healthcare goals will never be met.
These goals include up to a $1 trillion savings over the next 10 years -- not including the increased cost and challenges of new drug development and approvals, increased patent limitations globally, and an explosive healthcare supply chain security and counterfeiting problem. I knew it before, but realize now more than ever, that integrated systems, partnerships and control are and will continue to be critical in all sectors of healthcare.
My belief is the next decade will be fascinating as we truly create a seamless Healthcare Supply Chain. Now if we can do just something about these uncomfortable waiting room chairs and the long wait times!
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