This article is Part 2 of our series on building supply chain resilience in healthcare. If you missed Part 1, read why resiliency is now a strategic imperative for health systems →
With the average health system facing 65 disruptions per week, leaders are under growing pressure to move from firefighting to foresight.
That shift has fueled a surge of new technology vendors promising to deliver resilience. But for executives sorting through demos, pilots, and pitches, it’s increasingly difficult to separate marketing noise from real value. The wrong choice can leave you locked into biased recommendations, narrow data, and costly workflows that don’t scale.
So how do you cut through the noise? Here are six non-negotiables to consider when evaluating supply chain resiliency platforms.
Many solutions on the market today focus on a single pain point: disruption alerts, demand planning, preference card optimization, backorder tracking, etc. While useful, these tools only address a sliver of the challenge. True resiliency and modernization requires visibility across the entire supply chain and the ability to connect the dots between disruptions, inventory availability, utilization patterns, and financial impact.
Consider preference cards as an example. Some systems are using rules in the EHR to automatically convert “open” items to PRN. That’s a step forward, but it doesn’t capture the broader picture, i.e. how those changes ripple into ordering patterns, inventory levels, or cost optimization opportunities. Without that context, leaders can’t see the true business impact or confidently report to CFOs.
Health system executives are asking for more than point fixes. They want integrated platforms that provide:
End-to-end visibility from disruption signals to inventory to ordering behavior, executives need visibility across the ERP, EHR, WMS, and the dozen other disparate systems
Data visualizations and financial reporting that can be shared with the C-suite
Decision support that bridges clinical workflows and business outcomes
In short, platforms win over point solutions because they turn isolated efficiencies into enterprise-wide resilience.
Many platforms are tied to specific suppliers or distributors, creating blind spots or forcing you to move all your eggs into one proverbial basket. If a platform is financially incentivized to favor one partner, you’ll never get a full picture of the options available to your system. True neutrality means recommendations are based solely on what’s best for your health system, not on hidden relationships.
A generic supply chain tool may track SKUs, but it won’t capture the nuance of clinical workflows. Healthcare requires platforms that can:
Flag FDA recalls in real time
Understand clinical equivalency between products
Support substitution approvals with the rigor clinical demands
If a platform wasn’t built with healthcare at its core, it'll serve as a real barrier to building a clinically-integrated supply chain.
Resiliency isn’t about identifying a disruption; it’s about resolving it quickly. Platforms should automate the entire chain:
Early detection of disruptions
Identification of clinically equivalent substitutes
Automated workflows for approval and communication
This end-to-end functionality is what allows teams to move from hours or days of manual work to minutes of decisive action.
No system has perfect visibility on its own. Platforms that aggregate disruption signals and substitution data across a network of IDNs create a powerful multiplier effect. If one hospital identifies a shortage, others can prepare before it hits their shelves. In an environment where every moment matters, community intelligence can mean the difference between continuity and crisis.
Resiliency isn’t static. Disruptions change, regulations evolve, and clinical standards shift. Look for technology partners who build with their health system customers, willing to iterate quickly, co-develop new workflows, and evolve playbooks alongside your needs. The right partner should grow with you, not hold you back.