SPECIAL FOCUS
rate reconciliation of the location of vaccines during transport and administration processes — enabling a true and complete chain of custody,” Gorman indicated. “Unfortunately, today, this level of data is not consistent across state lines or countries, which fragments the data being used to report on distribution and administration. That degree of visibility means if there is an error that occurs during the distribution process – truck is in an accident, vaccines are spoiled in route or late to the site – having accurate data standards can help easily identify which vaccines were impacted.”
The fourth ensures labor optimization. “rom an efficiency standpoint, juggling data standards is a
major drain on labor,” she noted. “One large health system’s Cath Lab administrative director estimates the annual cost for participating in and supporting cardiac data registries is over $1 million and employs 15 highly skilled registered nurses.”
Gap analysis
As a snapshot of supply chain organization and momentum, COVID-19 vaccine production, distribution and administration has unearthed several questions and concerns that are inher- ently solvable, according to Ashok Muttin, ounder CEO, SupplyCopia. “Tracking vaccines from the point of manufacture through distribution to the point of care – wherever that may be – has illuminated more of the gaps we have in supply data stan- dards,” Muttin noted. “While COVID-19 vaccine lot data is consistently identified and tracked, challenges occur in the last mile of distribution, and disparate systems make it difficult to bridge gaps. At the end of this process, do we know where all
of the data will be and how to access it? How much is now on paper? What processes are in place to gather data from different locations? We have to close these gaps. et, it’s easy to see how challenges are exacerbated in the example we’re living through today, with vaccines requiring multiple doses, and potentially booster shots that also must be tracked.” Better supply chain tracking mechanisms would help identify
“wastage” and whether damaged vaccines are destroyed, help- ing to prevent black market resale of damaged doses, Muttin observes.
Muttin believes that improving visibility to PPE, which experienced seemingly insatiable demand during the last 14 months, can be achieved today. “With more consistent capture of product identification data, it becomes easier to track and understand PPE throughout a healthcare system, even across the industry and globe,” he insisted. “Accurate demand planning – and supplier risk analysis – become reality with consistent application of product identification data.”
But Muttin cautions about persistent challenges to demand planning efforts that include a “vast array of suppliers based outside our traditional boundaries, with their own PPE require- ments, and political situations that influence exporting abili- ties.” This can include a container ship, for example, that runs ashore and blocks a canal used in global shipping routes. “Consistent, global product identification builds greater vis- ibility to these suppliers, while allowing providers to under- stand opportunity and risk,” he noted. “For accurate demand planning at the local level, an organization has to connect in real time to the number of COVID-19 cases, in a particular geography, down to the ZIP code level.” HPN
Using drug, supply data standards to make MVPs out of MVCs by Rick Dana Barlow
Stemming from the healthcare reform measures of the 1990s that led to the creation of integrated delivery networks (IDNs), few will argue against vertical integration being a more highly favored business model than horizontal integra- tion of participating facilities. But those IDNs covered public and private, not-for-profit and investor-owned
healthcare providers, and to a lesser extent, federal government-operated hospitals. For the last six of 15 months of the pandemic, the ability of state and county
healthcare organizations to administer COVID-19 vaccines to the public in mass vaccination centers (MVCs) best resembles cat herding as they circle the wagons. In fact, Healthcare Purchasing News unofficially observed four different vaccina- tion sites – three MVCs and one retail outlet. Two of the three MVCs were located in suburban Chicago while the fourth was located on the far western side of the state in a rural area just east of the curving Mississippi River. All four displayed varying stages of automation/electronic ability. The retail outlet demonstrated the highest level of automation with online registration and scheduling, bar coding for check-in and dose-vial matching and then electronic data sharing with the patient’s ordering history linked to the patient medical record shared with the doctor and participating hospital.
Read the the full sidebar online at
https://hpnonline.com/21222300
12 June 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
Pharma’s got data standards game so what’s med/surg’s excuse?
In terms of supply data standards adoption and implementation, few legitimately can doubt or even ques- tion how far along the pharmaceuti- cal industry is when compared to the medical/surgical supply industry. Might the COVID-19 vaccination pro- cess – from manufacturer through distributor through administration site to the patient – serve as something of a motivator to showcase definitively the benefits of supply data standards adoption and implementation? If anything, experts contend the process represents an active case study to test and implement solutions for the larger industry.
Read expert contributions at
https://hpnonline.com/21222300
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