Adaptive Organizational Technology Approaches to Public Health and Hospital Supply Chains

Introduction

COVID-19 has created a view of public health that includes doctors, nurses, and technicians treating patients, monitoring health trends, engaging in health education, and conducting medical tests (Wang, 2018; Kennedy-Sims, 2021). It is essential to consider how medical equipment, medicines, and supplies can save lives but only if they can reach those in need quickly (Wang, 2018; Kennedy-Sims, 2021). The inability of those supplies to reach those in need have dire consequences for public health. To prevent inadequate public health responses, logistics and supply chain delays and disruptions require more specific identification and analysis (Wang, 2018; Kennedy-Sims, 2021).

To respond effectively to pandemics and public health emergencies, a robust public health and hospital supply chain infrastructure must be secured by national industrial production proficiencies, process innovations, and the world of practice best practices in supply chain and logistics management. Providing medical care and prompt delivery of medical supplies is critical for national security (Wang, 2018; Kennedy-Sims, 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health and hospital supply chains experienced harmful and dangerous disruptions to access needed healthcare supplies (Kennedy-Sims, 2021). These inclinations resulted in competition for inadequate critical healthcare supplies in the U.S. The U.S. needed the national guidelines to support the apportionment and distribution of limited medical supplies and quickly scalable manufacturing capacity (Kennedy-Sims, 2021).