Supply chain management in healthcare

Introduction: Explain the process you have diagrammed.

The process diagrammed in this flowchart is supply chain within the health care industry. For the purpose of this assignment the flowchart identifies the basic constituents in this chain and process. The process is largely a linear one, in which the different participants in the chain rely upon one another for the end result. The final result is the procurement of medical supplies for providers within the health care industry. Sating the needs of health care consumers via medical supplies is the catalyst for the supply chain. The initial step in this chain is the creation of these supplies as engendered by producers. The intermediary step is the attainment of medical supplies from the purchasers, who in turn distribute them to the providers accordingly.
Producers
The initial step in the supply chain is producing the medical devices and supplies required for consumers. This step is facilitated by medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, the latter of which purvey drugs. There is a diversity of technology deployed by these producers. Device manufacturers utilize current equipment and innovations to create new devices, whereas pharmaceutical companies deploy various forms of analytics for biology, genetics, and other relevant subjects for a particular area of focus for a drug. The policies and rules involved in determining the logistics of this step (how, when, why, and where it is executed) stem from regulatory entities. These entities are both government agencies (such as the Food and Drug Administration), and non-governmental entities which are expressly created to regulate the safety and viability of such devices. The primary information needed for this step is the needs of healthcare consumers as related to specific conditions.
Purchasers
The predominant organizations involved in the purchasing of supplies from producers in the health care supply chain are wholesalers, distributors, and GPOs (Rego et al, 2014, p. 303). GPOS are group purchasing organizations which are created to get the best bargains and most lucrative discounts for those aligned in the same business—such as healthcare. Minimal technology is used by these groups, who predominantly are concerned with buying at reasonable prices and selling high. Thus, they run analytics to quantify both the supply and demand for products. Essentially, the laws of supply and demand are the rules which determine the logistics for the execution of this step. These organizations purchase in wholesale so they can make a profit selling to retailers. The information needed for this step is the latest data regarding demands of health care providers. Additionally, then need regulatory information about the approval process.
Providers
Those involved in the provisioning of health services include in-patient and out-patient facilities, hospitals, physicians, medical specialists, nursing homes, and various clinics which are solicited by consumers for health care services. They have numerous cost concerns (Chakraborty and Dobrzykowski, 2014, p. 179). Pharmacies are also involved. The technology used pertains to all the various treatment and diagnostic processes. Providers must gauge how those needs correlate to their ability to supply consumers with those services. Thus, there are also analytics and big data technologies deployed.
The policies and rules for the logistics of how health care services are executed is largely determined by the government. There are both state and federal mandates about how such services are rendered. Regulatory agencies assist in the reinforcement of these mandates.
The main information needed for this step is inventory control. Practitioners must remain cognizant of how many supplies they have, and how many they will need to sate the demand of their consumers.
Describe the metric that is currently used to measure the soundness of the workflow. Is it effective?
The metric predominantly used to determine rectitude of the workflow is the provider’s ability to satisfy the consumer of healthcare services. More than any other metric, this ability is a vital means of determining the efficacy of the overall supply chain. A breakdown in any of the three levels of the aforementioned chain prevents providers from serving consumers successfully.
Describe any areas where improvements could occur and propose changes that could bring about these improvements in the workflow.
The main area in which improvement could occur in the identified supply chain network is in the ability of the provider to predict his or her needs for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. Although tracking inventory is a valuable way of doing so, it is primarily historic-facing in nature. Providers could determine what supplies, diagnoses, and treatments they will need in the immediate future best by leveraging current options for artificial intelligence in this respect.
Summarize why it is important to be aware of the flow of an activity.
It is imperative to remain aware of the flow of an activity because doing so impacts the ability of the overall supply chain to satisfy its end users—the consumers who actually utilize these supplies for their treatment and diagnoses (Enyinda et al, 2014, p. 13). Each step in the supply chain impacts one another. Therefore, being able to ascertain problems beforehand and take active measures to mitigate them is essential for achieving the healthcare supply chain’s goal.

References
Enyinda, C. I.; Gebremikael, F.; Ogbuehi, A. O. (2014).
An Analytical Model for Healthcare Supply Chain Risk Management.
African Journal of Business & Economic Research. (9)1, 13-27.
Chakraborty, S.; Dobrzykowski, D. (2014). Examining value co-creation in healthcare purchasing : a supply chain view. Business: Theory & Practice. 15(2), 179-190.
Rego, N.; Claro, J.; Pinho de Sousa, J. (2014). A hybrid approach for integrated healthcare cooperative purchasing and supply chain configuration.
Health Care Management Science. 17(4), 303-320.