Not Everything About The Pandemic Has Been Negative

NOT EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PANDEMIC HAS BEEN NEGATIVE

By DARBY THOMPSON 

Partner

[FEBRUARY 10, 2022] – A long, long time ago -- actually, more than 250 million years back, even before Tom Brady was a rookie, and before my feet ever hit this planet -- there was one super continent called Pangaea and one super ocean known as Panthalassa.

That was it. One land mass, one body of water.

Along the way, Earth’s mantle heated and cooled, heated and cooled, and things began to shift, evolve and re-form as the old norm was left behind in favor of a new world, one as we know it today that includes seven continents separated by seven seas.

In a far less dramatic fashion but nonetheless significant, we’ve experienced a tectonic shift in the healthcare industry the past two years which, not coincidentally, aligns with this Godforsaken pandemic era that just doesn’t seem to want to let go. And while the kneejerk may be to bemoan the long 24-month [so far] ordeal, much has happened in healthcare that will sustain itself long after the last of the COVID strains are but a footnote in history’s annals.

Let’s take a look at a few of these pandemic-driven shifts and dynamics that can be classified as progress:

A More Resilient Supply Chain – Previously [meaning pre-pandemic], we all had a basic understanding of what supply chain was: Moving materials or products from Point A to Point B, right? Seemed simple back then and we all thought we knew enough.

Nope.

Supply chain isn’t simply moving items from Point A to Point B. More accurately, it means moving materials or products from Point A to Point Z with many, many physical and data links in the chain from there to here.

Supply chain can be complex and is truly a delicate balance of output, availability, throughput, timing, communication and cost, with elements of weather, foreign policy, government regulations, and physical mechanics and maintenance tossed in to make your head spin and test your patience. [All may go well for the majority of the process but all it takes is a manufacturing shutdown or a transportation disruption to bring this house of cards down in an instant.]

Yes, it’s a delicate, delicate balance. But there’s good news!

Every American has been touched by current supply chain issues, including all of us in healthcare. Everyday consumers have seen the stretches of unoccupied grocery shelves, we’ve all gotten the “delivery delay” alerts from Amazon, and we’ve seen prices rise as supply-and-demand does its thing and inflation rises to a four-decades high.

Hmmm, I said there’s good news, right …?

Coping with these challenges has been a forced education for all of us and, as a result, we have a greater understanding and appreciation for the complexities of supply chain. In healthcare, things are more critically important than waiting a few extra days for that sweater or that book you ordered online because patient quality-of-life and life itself is at stake, as well as the ability of providers to do what they do at the highest possible level of service and care.

As a result of the challenges of the past two years, we are seeing a more resilient [you’ll see that word again later on in this blog] supply chain. Users have shifted to multi-source products so there are alternatives and options available should issues arise. There’s greater transparency into what materials or products are available off-shore, near-shore and on-shore. We know more about raw material availability and have a better sense of redundancies in the system.

More than ever, we’re able to tie into the back-end systems of organizations because companies are operating with greater transparency [more on that in a moment]. In short, we can track more accurately than ever and this makes us all sailors of a sort who know how to course-correct regularly to ensure we reach our destination on time, or as close to on-time as possible given circumstances.

Another positive by-product of supply chain challenges is a stronger commitment by providers to support those manufacturers who are in the process of, or already have, built resilience into their business models, processes and systems [i.e., creating a production facility in the U.S., direct sourcing from the manufacturer, etc.].

Having said that, yes, we’re still experiencing maddening supply chain issues but at least we have a greater understanding of precisely what’s happening [or not happening] where and why. This empowers us to better anticipate, plan and pivot as challenges arise.

Clearer Communication Among Key Constituencies – I won’t belabor this point except to say that the challenges of the pandemic era have touched all of us in healthcare and, by and large, everyone has stepped up their level of transparency and open communication. This includes manufacturers, shippers, distributors, Group Purchasing Organizations [GPO] and providers. More knowledge = Greater understanding. And greater understanding builds trust and strengthens bonds between all parties.

There also exists a greater sense of “we’re all in this together so let’s work in a spirit of partnership”. Whereas fingers may have been pointed in the past and blame quickly assigned, we’ve perhaps become more patient and been more willing to collaborate and operate as a united force to get breakthrough healthcare services and products into the hands of providers so patients may experience more favorable outcomes.

Commitment on the Provider Side is Driving Supply Chain Resilience – We’re seeing it everywhere right now – hospitals are contracting more swiftly with manufacturers. GPOs, Integrated Delivery Networks [IDN] and Regional Purchasing Coalitions [RPC] are building more resilience language into contracts.

This is all driven by a greater focus and understanding of supply chain all the way to the raw material level. And that’s a very good thing. People are able to be more strategic in their approach to managing supply needs. This generates stability in their ordering cycles, which creates efficiencies in manufacturing. This is a critical factor in controlling cost and availability. At this point, we know full well we’ll be facing these challenges for the foreseeable future.

Unprecedented Prioritization of Healthcare Facility Management – The industry is well aware of supply chain challenges we’ve experienced when sourcing Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] for staff and patients. Clinical teams performed in heroic fashion as they identified new care protocols to cure patients of COVID. There are, however, some underappreciated heroes in healthcare – specifically, the Facilities Management team.

There are three ecosystems to manage inside care facilities -- people, surfaces and the air. Facilities Management’s seat at the Infection Management table is more important than ever. A facility’s health not only involves physical surfaces, or episodic cleaning of locations, it involves managing the single largest environmental item in our healthcare ecosystem – the air. The air we breathe in healthcare facilities is cleaner and safer than ever because providers are spending millions of dollars to invest in technology to continuously improve air quality.

We should all acknowledge and salute the energy that has gone into the evolution of healthcare, sparked by the pandemic, and do everything possible to sustain these improvements. These are but a few of the many positive bi-products of the pandemic.

Let’s not go back to the old ways of doing things after the all-clear has sounded on the virus. Let’s keep striving and seeking ways to make healthcare more efficient, more cost-affordable, and more readily available. After all, we operate in this industry with the ultimate goal of serving providers so they can deliver greater patient outcomes.

__________________________

ABOUT DARBY THOMPSON -- Darby is an executive leader with nearly 30 years of sales and operational experience in healthcare. He is an expert in navigating the complexities of bringing products and services to market through Group Purchasing Organization [GPO], distributor, and Integrated Delivery Network [IDN] channels. He specializes in delivering provider value and has a proven track record of creating competitive advantages that result in sales growth, GPO and IDN contracts, access to distribution, and engagement with key influencers and decision-makers. Prior to joining to Excelerant, Darby provided consulting services to healthcare manufacturing, service, and distribution. He has managed national accounts, medical-surgical distribution, and key accounts for Owens & Minor Distribution, DeRoyal Industries, and Avadim Healthcare. He also managed sales for DeRoyal. Darby earned his degree from the College of Business and Economics at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

dthompson@excelerantconsulting.com

__________________________

ABOUT EXCELERANT CONSULTING  

Excelerant Consulting is the go-to organization for med-tech companies that need to position products and services successfully for value analysis committees, contract acquisition, and sales modeling and execution to commercialize the launch of medical devices or services with Group Purchasing Organizations [GPO], Integrated Delivery Networks [IDN], or Regional Purchasing Coalitions [RPC]. Our clients rely on us to enhance their product positioning, navigate corporate contracting opportunities, and provide sales support to accelerate sales growth.

info@excelerantconsulting.com