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Buyers may also use the services of a third-party paymaster to secure funds on behalf of buyers in a custody and settlement account, IBM stated in the announcement.
Suppliers and buyers joining the network include hospitals and other organizations including Northwell Health, New York’s largest healthcare provider, and The Worldwide Supply Chain Federation, which is integrating over 200 American suppliers from its 3,000 global community members.
"Northwell Health has had adequate supplies to protect patients and our staff during the increase in New York COVID-19 patient cases," said Phyllis McCready, vice president and chief procurement officer at Northwell Health.
"It is through creating our own GPOs and supply chain, and joining forces with non-traditional suppliers that we have maintained an adequate stockpile of PPE and other equipment and supplies, so we are pleased to join IBM Rapid Supplier Connect."
The network is available until August 31, 2020, to qualified buyers and suppliers in the US and Canada at no cost.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left frontline workers feeling the impact of supply chain disruptions, so many companies from outside the traditional healthcare system are currently re-shaping how to mass-produce masks, gowns, and other essential supplies.
Buyers, including healthcare workers and first responders, must identify new suppliers and efficiently screen and on-board them to uncover real-time inventory availability.
IBM noted that its Rapid Supplier Connect helps to identify existing suppliers and excess inventory going unused, which allows hospitals to make it available to others and redirect supplies where they are needed most.
“Buyers who access the network can benefit from a broader range of suppliers outside of their traditional supply chain, a streamlined supplier onboarding process, validation checks and inventory information in near-real-time,” IBM said. “Suppliers benefit from a portable online identity, access to user feedback and the ability to post and manage inventory availability.”
Implementing real-time insight into an uncertain supply chain causes great challenges. IBM said that it received the Trust Your Supplier blockchain-based identity platform built by Chainyard for qualification and identification, in combination with its existing Sterling Supply Chain Suite and Inventory Visibility microservice to deliver increased visibility.
IBM stressed that individuals looking for more information about Rapid Supplier Connect or wanting to join the network to visit: https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/solutions/rapid-supplier-connect.
The healthcare supply chain is being negatively impacted by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
At the end of March, Vizient reported that it had seen significant increases in orders of two promising COVID-19 drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. The shortages started when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
The healthcare company had seen a 6,842 percent and 2,196 percent increase in orders for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, respectively. But supply has been unable to keep up with the demand and fill rates dropped as low as 1.4 percent and 12.1 percent for those medications.
“Given the limited supply of these medications, and the increasing number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalized for severe illness, as well as those who have been using these products for existing diseases, it is essential that immediate steps be taken to adjust the flow of supply to minimize the potential for even greater negative outcomes,” Dan Kistner, group senior vice president, pharmacy solutions for Vizient, said in the announcement.
As coronavirus continues to spread, experts believe other potentially effective COVID-19 drugs may be in danger of a shortage.
Kistner noted that hospitals and health systems must be best positioned to support COVID-19 supply-demand given their responsibility and managing the most critically ill patients and in investigational drug research for critical care therapies.
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