We thought we'd put together advice for vendors on what hospitals are requiring - and for hospitals on what they ought to require from vendors - during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
You can find some of that in our podcast episode this week, in which our VP of Operations - who's been coordinating with and within hospitals since the pandemic began - shares his observations about how hospital protocols have evolved and how hospitals' partners can come prepared for that first temperature check.
Onward with other people's advice:
- Supply chain is a rising concern for healthcare execs right now, and rightly so. So you need a partner that's actively redesigning their supply chain to prepare for crises.
- If you can do all your vetting online, great. There's lots of technology you can take advantage of without any in-person meetings or installations. But be careful, because...
- While we've talked about increasing your security before, that conversation needs to be increasing, since breaches have risen during the pandemic. Choosing your vendors for their security strength isn't a bad idea*.
- One thing vendors and providers alike will need to address are the mental health needs of basically everyone they encounter - especially in hospitals. The risk of emotional damage from this period of unrest is high.
- We salute the clinicians who are relieving the physical and mental health burden placed on the Black Lives Matter movement -- through doctor and nurse shows of solidarity and the ongoing care they provide**.
*The data that is accessed, processed, and provided by Z5 Inventory every day includes no patient data, so we're rarely required to interact with IT departments, but we are overcautious about encryption and accessibility all the same. We believe that's what good partners do.
**We believe good partners also align their values with yours. It might be worth investigating whether they're dedicated in making the "care" in "healthcare" competitive. (And maybe whether your organization is, too.)