Healthcare organizations in the US are focusing on supply chain due to shrinking profit margins. Medicare and Medicaid reforms and labor are consuming 33% of the budget for hospitals and creating the need for effective US healthcare supply chain models. By 2020, supply chain costs are further expected to rise and labor can be a major cost factor in healthcare. Therefore, organizations must focus on managing the supply chain effectively. They need to consider supply chains as a strategic source to increase profits. Here are few other predictions made by our experts for the immediate future of US healthcare supply chain.
Want to know how analyzing US healthcare supply chain trends can help you take the required measures to ensure profitability? Request a free proposal to access our solution portfolio now!
Future of US Healthcare Supply Chain
US Healthcare Supply Chain Prediction #1: Maximum bankruptcies in US hospitals
According to our analysts, there will be over 100 individual facility bankruptcies or shutdowns over the next one and half years in the US. Smaller hospitals are already underwater and looking for funding to sustain themselves in the healthcare sector. They are vulnerable and require effective strategies to operate. Consolidation has, therefore, emerged an option for companies since there is a continuous decline in government and commercial health insurance reimbursement for medical products and services. This can lead to shutting down of facilities that aren’t profitable. Also, the growing number of Integrated Delivery Networks in crowded market spaces can make private hospitals difficult to survive.
Increasing supply chain efficiency can help companies to reduce the possibility of bankruptcies. Get in touch with our experts to know how they can help you streamline healthcare supply chain management.
Contact UsUS Healthcare Supply Chain Prediction #2: Use of blockchain
Four Tier 1 companies are selected by the US Food and Drug Administration to support US Drug Supply Chain Security Act. The act addresses requirements to identify, track and trace prescription medicines and vaccines distributed within the country. The program aims to develop an electronic interoperable system that can identify and trace certain prescription drugs. Each company will create a shared blockchain network that allows real-time monitoring of products. The network will thus improve inventory management, allow timely retrieval of reliable distribution information and improve US healthcare supply chain services. Also, increased accuracy of data share among network members will help organizations to increase transparency in the supply chain.
US Healthcare Supply Chain Prediction #3: Decline in profit margins
Margins will continue to deteriorate in healthcare unless a healthcare organization manages its supply chain well. The future can be uncertain and ominous for hospitals having an ineffective US healthcare supply chain strategy. Leveraging effective US healthcare supply chain services to reduce waste, get cost recovery, collaborating with other hospitals and manufacturers in the region to gain buying power are a few strategies that might work in the favor of organizations in the US healthcare sector.
Improving healthcare supply chain management in the US is a tough task and requires accurate insights. Request a free demo to gain the necessary insights required to identify cost saving opportunites in the supply chain.
US Healthcare Supply Chain Prediction #4: Improved supply chain efficiency
The development of new cloud-based tools will allow healthcare organizations to develop new capabilities without going through the traditional IT department. This will solve one of the biggest problems in the healthcare sector i.e., managing copious amounts of data. This will prove valuable in improving supply chain efficiency.
