Humanitarian Supply Chain/Logistics: Roadmap to Effective Relief Effort

Between the years of 2000 and 2012, natural disasters caused 1.7 trillion dollars in damage and affected 2.9 billion people (dosomething.org). In Americas (ranked second globally in terms of natural disasters) between 2007 and 2016, disasters caused 255,033 deaths, 898,816 injuries and damages worth $470 billion (Disasters, 2017). In 2016 alone, natural disasters caused$175 billion in damage with 8,700 lives (Munich RE, 2017). The above numbers reflect the amount of physical destruction only but do not include indirect losses such as unemployment, environmental consequences, and business disruptions. Therefore, the full impact of these catastrophic events is much greater than these numbers suggest. Response to and management of disaster relief supply chain is different from that of commercial supply chain/logistics in many aspects. Since humanitarian relief efforts depend to a large extent on international donors and the donors usually respond well to emergency, a well thought out long term strategic plan to relive human suffering is not well established. But studies indicate that investment in the planning stage of humanitarian supply chain is much more effective and saves many lives than spending on the operation side of relief efforts. This paper explores alternative ways to respond and manage humanitarian relief efforts utilizing the principles of commercial supply chain. More specifically, this paper addresses/outlines the process to improve relief outcomes by investing in the prepared stage of humanitarian supply chain

On Grouping Hospitals for Cost Analysis

Ik-Whan Kwon is Chairman of the Department of Management Science at St. Louis University. Jacqueline D. Frasca is Director of Medical Records Services at Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children in St. Louis. Joe H. Kim is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Rider College

Over- and under-supply of inpatient rehabilitation after stroke without a post-acute rehabilitation system: a nationwide retrospective cohort study

IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate the utilization of post-ischemic stroke rehabilitation prior to the introduction of the post-acute rehabilitation system in South Korea in 2017.MethodsMedical resources utilized for patients with cerebral infarction hospitalized at Regional Cardio-Cerebrovascular Centers (RCCVCs) of 11 tertiary hospitals were tracked until 2019. Stroke severity was classified according to the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and multivariate regression analysis was performed to analyze factors influencing the length of hospital stay (LOS).ResultsThis study included 3,520 patients. Among 939 patients with stroke with moderate or greater severity, 209 (22.3%) returned home after RCCVC discharge without inpatient rehabilitation. Furthermore, 1,455 (56.4%) out of 2,581 patients with minor strokes with NIHSS scores ≤4 were readmitted to another hospital for rehabilitation. The median LOS of patients who received inpatient rehabilitation after RCCVC discharge was 47 days. During the inpatient rehabilitation period, the patients were admitted to 2.7 hospitals on average. The LOS was longer in the lowest-income group, high-severity group, and women.ConclusionBefore the introduction of the post-acute rehabilitation system, treatment after stroke was both over- and under-supplied, thus delaying home discharge. These results support the development of a post-acute rehabilitation system that defines the patients, duration, and intensity of rehabilitation

Framework for successful supply chain implementation in healthcare area from provider’s prospective

Purpose - This paper aims to explore avenue where suppliers and manufacturers are aligned with health-care providers to improve supply chain visibility. Supply chain finance is explored to link suppliers/manufacturers with health-care providers. Design/methodology/approach - Existing literature on supply chain visibility in health care forms a basis to achieve the study purpose. Alignment calls also for financial health where supply chain partners’ working capital is readily available to execute joint supply chain plan. Findings - There is a disjoint in supply chain alliance between suppliers/manufacturers and providers where providers are unable to trace the origin of supplies. Quality care suffers and cost of care rises as providers search for supplies on an emergency basis. This paper provides a framework where solution can be formulated. Research limitations/implications - Suppliers/manufactures form a direct strategic alliance with providers where product visibility enables health-care providers with a better patient management with lower cost of supplies. Inventory management and logistics cost will be lowered as better planning/forecasting is in place. This paper does not call for testing any hypothesis. Perhaps, next move along this line will be to investigate financial health of supply chain partners based on supplier relationship management practices. Originality/value - This paper proposes health-care supply chain as an alternative solution to achieve the following twin purposes: controlling the cost while improving quality of care through supply chain finance. As far as we know, this study is the first attempt to achieve the goals

In-situ fabrication of cobalt-doped SrFe2As2 thin films by using pulsed laser deposition with excimer laser

The remarkably high superconducting transition temperature and upper critical field of iron(Fe)-based layered superconductors, despite ferromagnetic material base, open the prospect for superconducting electronics. However, success in superconducting electronics has been limited because of difficulties in fabricating high-quality thin films. We report the growth of high-quality c-axis-oriented cobalt(Co)-doped SrFe2As2 thin films with bulk superconductivity by using an in-situ pulsed laser deposition technique with a 248-nm-wavelength KrF excimer laser and an arsenic(As)-rich phase target. The temperature and field dependences of the magnetization showing strong diamagnetism and transport critical current density with superior Jc-H performance are reported. These results provide necessary information for practical applications of Fe-based superconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 3figures. to be published at Appl. Phys. Let