Staying Healthy, Stocked, and Secure: Supply Chain Pros Have To Manage It All | Five To Save

Everybody has been affected by endangered health, supply chain disruptions, and struggling to meet ever-evolving digital standards. But only healthcare supply chain pros have had to find solutions for it all.

(Hey, that's you! And us! What a lucky bunch we are.)  

We asked in our last Five To Save if we're due for more healthcare delivery interruptions. Given that the situations that we described two weeks ago - cases on the rise, staffing issues, supply instability - are only continuing in the directions they were headed, we might be headed in that same direction: trouble. 

Here are the specifics of that trouble we ran across this week: 

1. To fight the tide of COVID-19 infections, the CDC released some confused guidance around mask use.That will probably do little to help here in the U.S. where vaccination rates are pretty good.
   
   
2. It does nothing to help nations where vaccination rates are much worse. Nations that happen to be in the developing world and happen to be where manufacturing might soon be more affected than it already has been. You might be served by modeling your supply chain so you can test your vulnerabilities (we know that's basic advice, but everybody could use a reminder from time to time). 
   
   
3. One of those vulnerabilities could be (and probably is) cybersecurity. We've talked about this before, but a pretty small chunk of the healthcare supply chain must've been listening, because a recent study revealed that 76% of providers failed to meet cybersecurity standards. 
   
   
4. Some basics of supply chain cybersecurity can be checked off from the list provided here. And if you're strapped for resources (you probably are), hopefully you can look forward to assistance from a government program to shore up essential services. 
   
   
5. And the fact that you're dealing with all of this plus everything that everybody else is dealing with is what makes this field so particularly stressful all the time, let alone this particular year. Healthcare supply chain pros might rarely be celebrated when things go right, but know that we appreciate all you've done and will provide what support we can for what's coming next. 

Let's end on that rare positive note (okay, semi-positive) and remind you that we've got more articles and goodies in our Five To Save newsletter. Sign up and read on your own time. (Like any of us have our "own time...")