Vizient Launches New Supply Chain Resiliency Solutions to Increase Trust, Transparency and Predictability for Providers and Suppliers of Medical Supplies

Vizient, Inc. today announces the launch of its set of solutions to improve health care supply chain resiliency through greater transparency and predictability across trading partners. These solutions will offer health systems greater visibility into supplier manufacturing and distribution sites, tracking of impactful events and risk management services for a provider’s critical supply list. Also included is a technology-enabled platform for Vizient members and suppliers for demand forecasting, real-time inventory availability and disruption alerts for end-to-end logistics management.

“The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated a historical weakness in the U.S. health care supply chain—a lack of transparency and predictability between suppliers and providers. The Vizient resilience solution set has been developed to address these issues head on so trading partners across the supply chain are sharing information at a deeper level, and in real time, which will elevate overall performance and flexibility,” said David Gillan, senior vice president, Emerging Solutions and Supplier Engagement for Vizient.

The Vizient resilience solution set has three foundational elements: supplier pedigree data, critical supplies management service and technology to support the resilience network platform.

Supplier pedigree data involves the adoption and utilization of supplier data standards across the provider and supplier community, including securely collecting and maintaining information on the physical location of major manufacturing, distribution or critical raw material sites.

Critical supplies management services provide disruptive event tracking and risk management of a provider’s critical supply list. Advisors monitor and share actionable information to supply chain managers that enable them to efficiently manage their inventory of critical supplies and quickly pivot to alternative suppliers and conservation strategies as needed.

A resilience network platform is being established through a strategic relationship between Vizient and E2open, a leading network-based provider of cloud-based, mission-critical, end-to-end supply chain management software, to facilitate the rapid development of a multi-party collaboration platform. The platform will enable timely insights into forecast, inventory availability, transportation, and consumption of goods with proactive management alerts for disruptions and imbalances to improve availability of health care products.

Once launched, the new technology will give members and suppliers participating in the resilience network platform secure, permission-based access for:

• Visibility into the geographical location of major manufacturing and distribution
• Real-time logistics visibility of shipments from the supplier to the health system
• Awareness of perpetual inventory status by location across suppliers, distributors and providers
• Forecast and consumption insights to predict usage and reduce impact of demand surges

Supply chain leaders at the forefront of driving innovation in health care at Vizient member health systems and contracted supplier organizations are participating as early adopters to provide insight into the development of the technology. The resilience network platform is expected to fully launch in early 2022.

"Vizient is taking the steps necessary to bring stakeholders to the table and design solutions that will fortify and add resilience to the U.S. health care supply chain,” said Rachel Martin, associate vice president, Supply Chain Resiliency for Vizient. “Each element in the resilience solution set serves to proactively mitigate the impact of costly supply disruptions and bring greater transparency and trust between trading partners.”

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 97% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory care providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $110 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. In 2021, Vizient acquired Intalere, which expanded its footprint with ambulatory and rural acute care providers. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

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.@VizientInc announces the launch of new solutions to improve health care supply chain resiliency through greater transparency and predictability across trading partners