The Indiana Hospital Association recently surveyed its members, asking if they suffered from any of the recent supply chain shortages. Did these shortages and disruptions limit or affect their patient care?
The responses were that the shortages were intermittent but seemed to get resolved through changing to other suppliers or temporarily postponing elective or non-emergency surgeries. The impacts were not significant or insurmountable in a reasonable period. Non-traditional methods of acquiring supplies have been utilized, such as trading with other facilities, seeking alternative suppliers, and rescheduling appointments.
Current shortages of concern are the bovie pads which are grounding pads used in surgery. Without these pads, electrosurgical procedures cannot happen. Indiana hospitals are searching for available bovie pads to avoid disrupting medical procedures.
The newest shortage of diagnostic IV dyes for cat scans, MRIs, and X-rays is expected to impact hospital supplies this summer. This shortage is due to a significant production facility in Shanghai, China, closing temporarily for COVID-related reasons and reopening a little at a time. This shutdown will impact Indiana hospitals this summer. Since this facility produced most of the dye used worldwide, the impacts are widespread.
Indiana hospitals plan to adapt and react as best they can to try and keep all services available to meet patient needs. It will be a while before this Shanghai facility is back up and running to full capacity.
Another struggle is that when medical supplies are short, demand is high – resulting in increased prices. The problem becomes that hospitals need to absorb these price increases because insurance companies have already locked into negotiated rates. Then the issues become if you can get it, is the price too high to be able to get it. When returns diminish, a hospital can no longer afford to offer whatever service is being impacted.
One of the most significant shortages is a blood shortage. Blood supplies have decreased over the last decade, but since 2019 it has been a challenge. There seems to be a generational decrease in blood donations.
The pandemic, however, essentially closed any public donation opportunities, and the restrictions on large gatherings placed all donation events on hold or canceled. Additionally, just like every other industry, there now seems to be a shortage of healthcare workers with credentials to support blood drives. In January 2022, the Red Cross declared a national blood crisis.
Indiana hospitals struggle with even if they could get the supplies, the national blood shortage situation needs to improve dramatically.
The result is that shortages are not over yet. Indiana hospitals and all hospitals nationwide need to continue to be adaptable to supply chain struggles. The most recent crisis will likely result from fuel costs and the inability to transport supplies and equipment to hospitals with critical needs.
Indiana hospitals, let alone all hospitals are encouraged to seek out alternative supplier solutions to better help offset any supply shortages they may face. One consideration would be the Seattle-based health tech startup – a next generation healthcare distributor who is bringing advanced web technologies, AI & big data insights to healthcare professionals. They are also offering far greater transparency into pricing & supply chain issues so they can better plan, prepare, and procure their most needed medical supplies online. In addition to this, they often save hospitals 20-40% off their medical supply bills and provide free shipping on all of their supply orders too.
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