Recently Cardinal Health conducted a Supply Chain survey. What was revealed was the potentially enormous role that the IoT can play in driving supply chain efficiencies in the healthcare industry. The study was fielded January 16-28, 2019, using an online survey methodology. The samples were drawn from SERMO’s Online Respondent Panel of Health Care Providers, which includes over 600,000 medical professionals in the United States. The study included 306 respondents total from health care organizations varying in size, specialty and practice area. Respondents included frontline clinicians (n=81), hospital administrators (n=75), supply chain decision-makers (n=75), and procedural department management personnel (n=75). All survey data is on file at Cardinal Health. The following article summarizes three key findings.
Healthcare as we know it today is going thru some pretty major changes. This is due in large part to the modernization of in-hospital machines coupled with improved virtual communication that can connect the best medical minds from across the globe.
Indeed, the healthcare industry is becoming smarter, more efficient, and more effective with each new piece of technology introduced. To sustain this constant state of maturation, companies in the healthcare industry must look for ways to better utilized internet of things technologies and solutions for things such as the reduction of waste in the supply chain.
Take, for example, the levels of medical device inefficiencies there are today. The total amount of inefficient, ineffective, and otherwise non-recyclable devices leads to billions of dollars in waste annually. Add in additional sources of waste like excess inventory, expired products, unnecessary shipping costs, and more, and the costs are truly astounding.
Fortunately, there are solutions out there; or rather, opportunities. And they’re tied to the IoT, which can allow those with purchasing power to acquire world-class IoT technologies and solutions that can help promote efficiency in a hospital’s supply chain.
