Org Value Chain

Reply to the two responses.
Include one reference for each response.

Response MP#1
According to Tracelink
“The healthcare value chain is the chain of suppliers, producers,
distributors, healthcare providers, and dispensers that provide clinicians with
the drugs and supplies they need to care for patients and
patients”. The principle of the healthcare value chain would be to
provide a complete overview of the business relationships that exist between
the various healthcare departments’ manufacturers and maintain chain process
throughout. As per the reports from American Health policy, the U.S. government
plays a big role in the healthcare value chain as the federal government is the
country’s largest single payer of health care, paying for more than a quarter
of all health-care spending. When a single entity generates so much revenue for
an industry, that entity gains disproportionate power in that business. As a
result, as the country’s largest payer, the federal government has tremendous
influence over the health-care sector.
The value chain concept was first described in 1985 by Harvard
Business School professor Michael Porter, in his book Competitive
Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (Chai,
W. 2021). As described in the article by Chai Wesley, the fundamental of value
chain was describe in 1985 and it continued to be influenced by the government
over the years. One of the biggest changes made by the government was during
the year of 2008 and 2009 as there were economic recession and financial crisis
which led the government to make some changes in the healthcare value chain. It
pushed governments to prioritize health governance in the pursuit of a healthy
workforce and health as a vital component of well-being, using both
whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to improve societies beyond
economic development. As a result, governments are continuously evaluating
health-care returns more closely and pressuring health-care providers to
reorganize wasteful and poorly functioning public systems. Because of this
action from the government towards the healthcare value chain, the synergistic
set of policies is becoming increasingly necessary, requiring cooperative
action from the health and non-health sectors, public and commercial players,
and citizens for a common interest.
One of the biggest role of every healthcare professional would
be to tackle the effects of COVID 19 on the healthcare value chain. All of us
have experienced that COVID-19 uncovered both the strengths and
limitations of global healthcare value chains. It has demonstrated to
healthcare organizations the advantages of collaboration and coordination in
the healthcare value chain. It has highlighted the lack of redundancy and
diversity especially in pharmacy and medical supplier procurement unit, as well
as the urgent need to increase supply chain digitization. It has also revealed
a lack of supply chain awareness, making it harder to track products, estimate
demand effectively, and avoid potential shortages. All these roles are to be
monitored as healthcare professionals in order to make the healthcare value
chain as a smooth process. In order to overcome this problem, healthcare systems use healthcare supply chain technology
to create a fully
integrated supply chain that
encourages supply chain leaders and medical teams
to work together together to
reduce costs, improve
quality of patient care and patient outcomes while ensuring continual improvement of supply
chain processes in terms of efficiency and responsiveness. All these creates
a more patient-centric supply
chain which make the healthcare value chain stronger.

Response AC #2
The delivery of healthcare in
the United States is fluid and can be dependent on several different principles
and agents supporting its effectiveness. As noted by Burns, the linking of
payers, intermediaries, providers, purchasers and producers are all components
of the healthcare value chain (Burns, pg.4) and contribute to the process.
Further, these entities are considered major participants in the U.S.
healthcare system through their applicability in the “iron triangle” of
healthcare with impact in accessibility, cost and quality.
Having direct influence in healthcare, the U.S. government has
been able to contribute through services as a payer and provide legislative
augmentation through legislation such as with the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996. By way of this act, providers, such as
hospital, and intermediaries were able to remain solvent through integration
(Burns, Pg. 5). Further, consolidation can be noted in healthcare
organizations stemming from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and Balanced Budget
Reformed Act of 1999 that effected reimbursement rates for services provided by
healthcare systems.
Through the use of manufacturing partnerships and push/ pull
methodology can impact larger costs, the use of Group Purchasing Organizations
(GPO’s) has had impact in the cost of goods. This cost is reflective of most
healthcare organizations operating under normal conditions. Further, the normal
supply and established value chain was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic
through the shortage of many medical products and personal protective equipment
for providers resulting in the deployment of the Strategic National Stockpile.
As the Strategic National Stockpile is a stop-gap buffer intended to support
healthcare (PHE, N.d.), the stockpiles use facilitated the continued delivery
of healthcare during an evolving pandemic and until short term recovery allowed
the restoration of current healthcare reform initiatives.

Last Completed Projects