America’s Health Care Supply Chain Is on Life Support
COMMENTARY

June 21, 2022by Amy Ryan, Healthcare Diagnostic Consultant
America’s Health Care Supply Chain Is on Life Support
Stacked containers line a shipping port in Gwangyang, South Korea, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Kim Dong-ju/AP via AP)

The world is now seeing its supply chain limits put to the test with multiple struggles happening at once: China’s COVID-19 lockdowns, Russia’s war against Ukraine, the ongoing pandemic’s impacts on labor, and unwanted policies like ending the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In my work as a health care consultant, I see the challenges health care manufacturers in diagnostic testing face in their product supply chains. One of the top issues we face is how to obtain the critical production materials needed to build laboratory equipment. Testing assay shipments — needed for day-to-day testing for patients — has been strenuous. On top of the shortage of raw materials and parts for desperately needed health care products and equipment, the labor crisis has debilitated our once-healthy hospital supply chains.

While everyone talks about the delays in their dishwasher or furniture orders, delays in health care products are rarely noticed by the general public. Health care corporations are working harder than ever to get products to physicians, nurses, and hospitals. “Allocation” has become a word that I dread communicating to my clients because it means waiting for lifesaving products.

America’s health care supply chain is currently on life support. Here’s what I see every day: Health care manufacturers are at the mercy of multiple national and international markets. Materials to make a key product might only be available in a single country, which means any small issue can delay or even stop our supply chain flow. And once you stop, it can take weeks or months to start again.

For example, the raw material phosphorus, which is used to create crucial day-to-day assays, is mainly extracted in countries like China, Russia or Morocco. Two out of the three top suppliers of phosphorus are currently in strict COVID-19 lockdowns or operating during a war. In response, manufacturers are urgently requesting more supply from countries with better trade agreements, like Canada.

Another example is the production of complex products for hospital laboratory equipment, like microchips or semiconductors. Our equipment is dependent on a secure IT system to store crucial medical information and a level temperature stasis so laboratory equipment can run efficiently and safely. These chips are currently only made in Taiwan. Any disruption to Taiwanese production means our supply chain fails and no final product is made. In health care, failures and delays are not an option. I cannot tell my clients to delay testing patients because there is no product. A delay can harm patients’ health — and even kill.

The U.S. Senate just passed a bill backed by the Biden administration that would help alleviate some product supply shortages: the Bipartisan Innovation Act. The BIA would ensure funding for building U.S. semiconductor and microchip production plants. Reshoring manufacturing would strengthen our supply chains and help us get critical health care supplies to hospitals.

Congress needs to pass this bill and send it to the president’s desk for signature so we can start the backfill of product supply and increase the circulation of products U.S. patients urgently need. Failure to pass this legislation could mean life or death for American patients.


Amy Ryan is a health care diagnostic consultant who has been in health care product supply for over 20 years. She has a master’s degree in Health Management and Informatics from the University of Missouri and an undergraduate degree in Health Sciences from Purdue University.

A+
a-

In The News

Health

Voting

Opinions

Abrego Garcia Should Be Returned to US

The Trump administration’s refusal to demand the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an immigrant from El Salvador whom U.S. officials mistakenly... Read More

The Trump administration’s refusal to demand the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an immigrant from El Salvador whom U.S. officials mistakenly deported to a prison in his native country — is illegal, unconstitutional, immoral and unAmerican.  If the deportation without due process of law of a man... Read More

Google's Monopoly Ruling Reveals a Deeper Threat to Innovation

A recent federal court ruling found that Google violated antitrust laws to maintain an illegal search engine monopoly. While a landmark decision,... Read More

A recent federal court ruling found that Google violated antitrust laws to maintain an illegal search engine monopoly. While a landmark decision, it is just the tip of the iceberg, exposing a deeper, underlying issue plaguing America's innovation ecosystem. The irony is hard to miss. Google, once the... Read More

The USPS Can't Stamp Out Its Problems With Higher Prices

If the U.S. Postal Service was a business, it wouldn’t be in business for long. The agency lost $9.5 billion in fiscal... Read More

If the U.S. Postal Service was a business, it wouldn’t be in business for long. The agency lost $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024, and expects to lose $6.9 billion in FY 2025. America’s mail carrier has hiked prices on stamps six times over the past five years, and that clearly hasn’t... Read More

Despite the Hype, Campaign Cash Doesn’t Buy Elections

This misconception has stubbornly dominated American political thinking for decades. Recent electoral contests have delivered the latest in a series... Read More

This misconception has stubbornly dominated American political thinking for decades. Recent electoral contests have delivered the latest in a series of stunning repudiations of this assumption. From April’s Florida legislative races to a high-profile Wisconsin Supreme Court contest and even the 2024 presidential election, we saw... Read More

Crypto Kiosk Scams Are Rising. We Need Better Laws to Stop Them.

As a former law enforcement officer, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about public safety and protecting people from... Read More

As a former law enforcement officer, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about public safety and protecting people from con artists running complex financial scams. These criminals exploit various financial systems to prey on people. Cryptocurrency’s booming popularity has brought with it the challenges of... Read More

Nonprofit Hospitals Are Quiet Quitting Their Charitable Missions

Hospitals play an essential role in the American health care system: They care for people when they are at their... Read More

Hospitals play an essential role in the American health care system: They care for people when they are at their most vulnerable. For nonprofit hospitals, this role is doubly important. Organized as charities, their mission is — or at least it should be — to care... Read More

News From The Well
scroll top