Agile Supply Chain In The Distribution Of Healthcare Products: A Review Of The United States’ Healthcare Supply Chain During The Covid-19 Pandemic Period.
Purpose of the study
The value creation concept requires all systems and procedures within an individual organization to be aligned in a cost-effective manner to create value to all stakeholders involved through quality products and services. Through this, incorporation of new systems and procedures resulting from increased technological innovation and invention is always required in effective and efficient realization of this mission (Tarafdar and Qrunfleh, 2017 p 929). This is necessary to ensure an effective response to emerging technological trends, changes in demographic structures as well as disasters as currently witnessed during the covid-19 pandemic.
In regards to disaster response, individual organizations should always ensure their systems and procedures are ready to generate a swift response to such occurrences especially organizations in the healthcare system. An individual organization’s supply chain will determine the level of efficiency and effectiveness these organizations respond to such challenges the society may face unexpectedly (Qrunfleh and Tarafdar, 2013 p 6). Moreover, a collective effort from all organizations within the healthcare sector is required to ensure an effective response. Through this, it is imperative that all healthcare providers should streamline their supply chain to ensure an effective response to disasters and pandemics as currently seen in this period of the covid-19 pandemic.
An individual organization’s supply chain significantly impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of all systems and procedures within the organization as well as the quality of goods and services it provides to consumers. In the healthcare sector organizations heavily rely on their supply chain to ensure quality services and products in a cost-effective manner at all times (Emanuel, Persad, Upshur, Thome, Parker, Glickman, Zhang, Boyle, Smith and Phillips, 2020 p 9). The covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for efficient and effective supply chain systems among healthcare providers. In consideration of these, the study will perform a review of the United States’ healthcare system supply chain during the covid-19 period to assert the significance of agile supply chain in the distribution of healthcare products.
The rationale for the study
The covid-19 pandemic highlights how a typical disaster can impact the healthcare system and disrupt the existing systems and procedures within the healthcare system. The United States healthcare system just like many other healthcare systems around the globe experienced a significant surge in the number of its population seeking medical attention. This resulted from the increase in the number of infection rates witnessed in the country. At one point the country reported more than 50,000 infected individuals within a period of 24 hours (Onder, Rezza and Brusaferro, 2020 p 7). As a result of this significant rise in infection rates in the country, the United States recorded close to half of the total number of infections around the globe. Consequently, the country experienced a significant strain in its healthcare resource capacity. This led to poor delivery of products and services, which increased the morbidity and mortality rates in the country. The total infections around the globe are more than 4 million in which the United States has recorded close to 2 million (Atkeson, 2020 p 11). Similarly, the country recorded more death rates, over 2000 deaths in a period of 24 hours with than any other country and currently the country has recorded a total of more than 100,000 deaths, a tally that is way beyond the reach of any other country around the globe (Tanne, Hayasaki, Zastrow, Pulla, Smith and Rada, 2020 p 3).
The majority of healthcare systems around the globe have gained an essential lesson in regards to the need for an effective supply chain that can warranty timely response and minimization of wastages (Wu and Barnes, 2018 p 3687). Similarly, there is need for a supply chain system that anticipates demand fluctuations in a highly volatile environment like the healthcare environment currently witnessed during the covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, an effective communication framework is also essential in coordinating the different activities involved in such times of uncertainty (Kwon, Kim, and Martin, 2016 p 425). All these can be easily realized through the use of an agile supply chain. The covid-19 pandemic cannot be said to have gone unnoticed given the manner in which it almost crashed the different systems and procedures around the globe especially the policies aimed at ensuring an effective primary care program.
The pandemic stealthily invaded all corners of the society’s fabric and brought almost everything to a standstill. Through all these, it is essential to discern how the supply chain in the United States healthcare system was effective to respond to this problem, the failure points in the country’s healthcare system’s supply chain. Similarly, it is also essential to discern the significance of agile supply chain in combatting the numerous shortcomings witnessed in the country’s healthcare supply chain during the covid-19 pandemic period.
Importance of the study
The covid-19 pandemic triggered a series of events within the country’s healthcare systems. Almost all systems and procedures within the healthcare system were angled towards generating an effective response to the covid-19 pandemic. As a result of this, essential care to other primary care needs like quality services like vaccination to expectant mothers were significantly overlooked in some instances (McKibbin and Fernando, 2020 p 4). Moreover, individual expectant mothers also chose to miss these services due to fear of contracting the virus in the already congested hospital space with strained resources. This can provide an avenue for a possible outbreak of another pandemic in the future, which will further strain the available scarce resources.
Through this, it is essential to review the United States’ healthcare system supply chain framework utilized during the covid-19 period and identify the shortcomings in this framework which can be covered through the use of agile supply chain framework. It is with no doubt that the country’s healthcare system was significantly impacted by the covid-19 pandemic in which an effective framework must be adopted in all systems and procedures involved including the supply chain system in the country’s healthcare system. The future is uncertain and oblique and nobody knows when such a disaster can re-emerge (Scavarda, Daú, Scavarda, and Korzenowski, 2019 p 428). However, given the significance of the supply chain used in a particular healthcare system in generating an effective and efficient response at such times. It is equally imperative to conduct a study that primarily aimed at identifying the shortcomings in the healthcare supply chain and propose a viable framework that can be used in covering such to generate a swift response that ensures all health activities are maintained and properly observed.
Aim and objectives of the study
An enhanced supply chain framework is essential in realizing quality services and products within the healthcare system especially during disasters and changing consumer needs witnessed in the contemporary world. Through this, the primary aim of this study is to highlight the need for adopting agile supply chain framework in the United States’ healthcare system to ensure a swift response for pandemics and disasters.
Objectives
The specific objectives of the study include the following
- To highlight how the covid-19 pandemic impacted the healthcare system in the United States
- To establish the different supply chain frameworks used by healthcare providers in the country and how such responded to the covid-19 pandemic and their shortcomings
- To propose agile supply chain framework as the best supply chain to be used in responding to such pandemics in consideration of the different shortcomings in other supply chain frameworks.
References
Atkeson, A., 2020. What will be the economic impact of COVID-19 in the US? Rough estimates of disease scenarios (No. w26867). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Emanuel, E.J., Persad, G., Upshur, R., Thome, B., Parker, M., Glickman, A., Zhang, C., Boyle, C., Smith, M. and Phillips, J.P., 2020. Fair allocation of scarce medical resources in the time of Covid-19.
Kwon, I.W.G., Kim, S.H. and Martin, D.G., 2016. Healthcare supply chain management; strategic areas for quality and financial improvement. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 113, pp.422-428.
McKibbin, W.J. and Fernando, R., 2020. The global macroeconomic impacts of COVID-19: Seven scenarios.
Onder, G., Rezza, G. and Brusaferro, S., 2020. Case-fatality rate and characteristics of patients dying in relation to COVID-19 in Italy. Jama.
Qrunfleh, S. and Tarafdar, M., 2013. Lean and agile supply chain strategies and supply chain responsiveness: the role of strategic supplier partnership and postponement. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.
Scavarda, A., Daú, G.L., Scavarda, L.F. and Korzenowski, A.L., 2019. A proposed healthcare supply chain management framework in the emerging economies with the sustainable lenses: The theory, the practice, and the policy. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 141, pp.418-430.
Tanne, J.H., Hayasaki, E., Zastrow, M., Pulla, P., Smith, P. and Rada, A.G., 2020. Covid-19: how doctors and healthcare systems are tackling coronavirus worldwide. Bmj, 368.
Tarafdar, M. and Qrunfleh, S., 2017. Agile supply chain strategy and supply chain performance: complementary roles of supply chain practices and information systems capability for agility. International Journal of Production Research, 55(4), pp.925-938.
Wu, C. and Barnes, D., 2018. Design of agile supply chains including the trade-off between number of partners and reliability. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 97(9-12), pp.3683-3700.