Throughout the pandemic, the country has learned more about the healthcare industry and the vital role each piece plays in the health and safety of our communities. The importance of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals has been seen first-hand by many; products like the N95 masks are now household names; the CDC and governmental experts are featured on the news, providing data and trends on COVID-19; Governors are holding frequent press conferences to update their constituents on the current stay-at-home orders for their state. But where do healthcare distributors fit into this picture? What role do they play in the industry?
The Missing Link
Manufacturers develop and create the products that hospitals, doctor’s offices and nursing homes use for patient care. The question is, how are the healthcare facilities receiving all of this product from so many different sources?? With thousands upon thousands of healthcare product manufacturers across the world, it is cumbersome and costly to have each individual manufacturer supply product directly to each hospital and healthcare provider – which number over 300,000 in the U. S. alone.
In order to bring efficiency, costs savings and safety to the supply chain, healthcare facilities rely on distributors to source product from manufacturers in large quantities. Distributors then store the product, sort, pick and pack items based specifically on customers’ individual orders and desired quantities, delivering to each facility neatly and timely.
This distribution model is used in many industries, but it is often overlooked. For instance – imagine if getting groceries required that you go directly to the butcher, a baker, a dairy, an egg farm and the assortment of different processing plants needed to fill your cabinet and refrigerator. Instead, to efficiently distribute food, grocery stores offer a wide range of different foods, from bread and meats, to fruits and frozen foods. These items are sourced, in bulk, from a variety of growers and processing plants and then placed on the store shelves for individuals to purchase what they need. This provides a quick, easy, effective way for each of us to gather the food we need to feed our families.
In the same way, healthcare distributors offer hospitals, physicians, long term care facilities and medical centers across the care continuum, the same ease and effectiveness when ordering medical supplies.
Logistics Expertise
Managing inventory for a healthcare provider requires a multitude of components that most medical facilities are not equipped to maintain on their own. Distributors create efficiencies and cost savings within the healthcare industry by providing these five things, among a large variety of other services and solution:
Critical Response
Distribution plays a vital role in crisis response for healthcare providers across the country. Understanding their customers’ purchasing trends, having records of order histories and collaborating on emergency preparedness processes, distributors are able to offer a variety of additional safe guards and services during times of disaster and pandemic. Some of these include:
Doing More than Ever Before
The intricacies of the healthcare supply chain are many and the challenges that have arisen with the current pandemic have caused strain on the industry; however, healthcare and med/surg distributors continue to offer solutions, add efficiencies and create effectiveness in the ever-changing market place.
Sourcing product and providing the highest quality items to healthcare facilities is the core of what distributors do, but the additional services, solutions and expertise that these organizations add to the market are simply invaluable.
Find out more about what Concordance offers all healthcare providers across the care continuum.