Medically Necessary

Hospital systems aim to make their communities healthier. Traditionally, that means simply providing health care. Increasingly, hospitals are going a step further, trying to create healthier communities by working with local suppliers and reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Hospital systems aim to make their communities healthier. Traditionally, that means simply providing health care. Increasingly, hospitals are going a step further, trying to create healthier communities by working with local suppliers and reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Shortages of many generic drugs have plagued the U.S. health system for decades. The leading cause of drug shortages is quality issues at manufacturing plants, which are mostly located overseas. Some experts argue that bringing pharmaceutical production back to the U.S. will help companies and regulators better monitor manufacturing and avoid issues.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

The COVID-19 pandemic caused demand for PPE to spike and demand for products used in elective procedures and primary care visits to plummet. Effective vaccines raised hopes for a return to normal, but the delta variant has complicated that calculus. The next step is predicting how demand will change in this new stage of the pandemic.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

E-commerce has made retail shopping as easy as clicking a button. Telehealth has already brought some of those conveniences to health care. Now, companies are trying to figure out how to use the tools of e-commerce to improve the health care supply chain.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

China is a manufacturing superpower and in many industries U.S. companies have a hard time competing. Now, many policy makers are interested in boosting manufacturing of medical products and drugs in the U.S.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Matt speaks with Beth Schenk, executive director of environmental stewardship for Providence, a health system that has a network of more than 50 hospitals in the Western U.S. Matt and Beth discuss the carbon footprint of the health care supply chain and how health care providers, distributors and manufacturers are trying to reduce their carbon emissions.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Most of the drugs sold in the U.S. come from overseas, exposing those supply chains to disruptions like natural disasters or political conflicts. Some researchers argue that using 3D printing to make drugs at the site of care could increase resiliency.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

A network of small businesses, universities and enthusiasts used 3D printers to make millions of pieces of personal protective equipment last year. That helped mitigate supply shortages in some cases, but it's not clear how useful the technology will be for the next pandemic.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

The demand for gloves soared during the COVID-19 pandemic and those issues still persist. Now, a nationwide lockdown in Malaysia, which produces most of the world's gloves, is slowing down production. The lockdown could last for weeks.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

In 2020, dozens of businesses started manufacturing personal protective equipment to make up for severe shortages. As demand for PPE has declined, many of those small businesses are now close to shutting down. A trade group representing these companies wants the federal government to stop that from happening.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Last year, many drug researchers had to modify their clinical trials to include remote elements, like shipping drugs directly to patients and video check-ins. Now, pharmaceutical companies want to adopt some of those measure to make clinical trials more efficient. The challenge will be getting the supply chain to support these remote trials.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

On the previous episode of Medically Necessary, Matt discussed how to increase the resilience of the health care supply chain with leaders from Vizient. On this episode, they discuss recent calls from industry leaders and politicians to produce more medical supplies in the United States.Follow FreightWaves on Apple PodcastsFollow FreightWaves on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians and corporate executives vowed to increase supply chain resiliency. Often, the plans to do that are vague. In early 2020, Vizient implemented a program that aims to do something about it.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Under normal circumstances, health care providers simply order the supplies they need. In a disaster, the typical supply channels may not be an option, or health care providers may not be able to afford to buy products. That's where humanitarian aid distributors step in.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

The COVID-19 pandemic put a giant spotlight on the importance of supply chain visibility in the health care industry. Going forward, many companies are hoping to ramp up their visibility capabilities.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

In the past, administrators of health systems viewed the supply chain primarily as a cost. More recently, they are recognizing the important ways that supply chain decisions can affect patient care.  Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

On today's episode Matt speaks to Rami Karjian, CEO of Medically Home, about what the supply chain looks like for hospital-to-home programs, how the pandemic changed the health care industry's perception of those programs and what the future of hospital care might look like.Follow Medically Necessary on Apple PodcastsFollow Medically Necessary on SpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Many hospitals use RFID tags to track the location of expensive medical equipment or keep tabs on supply levels of personal protective equipment. The RFID tracking company Impinj hopes to provide better visibility into healthcare supply chains.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Biological samples used for laboratory tests degrade quickly, so lab companies have to make sure to pick up shipments promptly. That can be a challenge without detailed data about where samples are. BOXLOCK wants to use technology to improve lab logistics. Andrew Kelley, Chief Commercial Officer of BOXLOCK, joins Matt Blois of FreightWaves.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

On today's episode Matt Blois, Medical Analyst for FreightWaves, speaks with Josh Komenda, CEO of Veyo, about non-emergency transportation's role in the health care supply chain.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Many people are getting vaccines from retail pharmacies or mass vaccination sites. However, those locations might be hard for some people to get to, especially if they live far away or have mobility issues. The telepharmacy company AdhereHealth has been working to reach those people by bringing vaccines to community landmarks, such as travel stops, churches and community centers.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Many hospital systems saw telehealth visits skyrocket during 2020, and some providers are expecting telehealth appointments to remain well above pre-pandemic levels. That means health care supply chain professionals will need to adjust. Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

Some researchers and business leaders believe the pandemic has changed the strategic importance of the supply chain. It used to be that the health care supply chain was all about reducing costs. After the pandemic, that focus has shifted to include resiliency.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

On today's episode of Medically Necessary Matt Blois, Health Care supply chain analyst for FreightWaves, speaks with Matt Elenjickal, Founder & CEO of Fourkites, about the company's new partnership with Cardinal Health.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts 

Matt Blois, Healthcare Supply Chain Analyst, FreightWaves, chats with Ranjeet Banerjee, CEO, Cold Chain Technologies.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

In this episode Matt Blois speaks with Dr. Hui Zhao, medical researcher at Penn State University, about reducing drug shortages in the pharmaceutical supply chain.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

In the inaugural episode of FreightWaves newest show Medically Necessary, Matt Blois speaks with Robert Handfield, Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, about the enormous challenge of scaling up global vaccine production.Apple PodcastSpotifyMore FreightWaves Podcasts

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