The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of attention to supply chain management. Challenges getting products from raw materials to manufacturing to the store for sale have depressed sales and frustrated consumers and businesses alike. Any delays along the chain can negatively impact the estimated time of arrival into a customer’s hands.
A supply chain is, at its simplest, all steps involved in getting a product or good from inception to the end-user. Steps may include logistics, operations, and marketing and sales. Additionally, some supply chain managers have an upstream focus on the production of raw materials used to manufacture a product or the schools used to cultivate the talent needed to provide a service.
As those in the organ donation and transplantation industry know, the stakes are even higher when the supply chain saves lives rather than simply moving products or goods. The transplant supply chain is a complex ecosystem with medical teams, support staff, pilots and couriers, all working together to save a life with each precious organ. There are many steps that make up the transplant supply chain, from the initial hospital referral for a potential donor to the moment a lifesaving organ is surgically transplanted into a waiting patient. Like other supply chains, friction at any point in the chain can result in uncertainties or delays at the end of the chain.
A typical organ transplant journey involves many steps:
- An organ procurement organization, or OPO, receives a referral from a hospital that believes a patient has met certain medical criteria for an organ donor referral.
- Thorough medical evaluation of the potential donor is completed by the OPO clinical team, which requires the availability of tests, equipment and personnel.
- A family conversation takes place between the potential donor’s loved ones and the OPO.
- OPO clinical processes test, match and initiate the organ recovery process.
- Teams must check availability and schedule operating rooms for both the organ recovery and the organ transplant.
- The organ transport stage involves securing flights, ground transportation and couriers to move surgical recovery teams and the lifesaving organ after recovery.
Every step of this journey is subject to change at a moment’s notice. Plus, there are possible gaps in timing due to unforeseeable circumstances such as traffic, miscommunication and possible bottlenecks at every hand-off.
Not only is the organ donation and transplant supply chain complex, but it’s also outdated. New technologies are available that can provide better communication, greater insights and precise control. We can go from reactive to proactive; linear to integrated; single-focused to holistic. What the supply chain needs is end-to-end visibility and agility. Making moves in those directions will save more time and potentially more lives.
MediGO is leading the next wave in organ transplant success. Our suite of products simplifies supply chain logistics from the initial organ referral to the successful transplantation, bringing together each important stakeholder. Our goal is to unite clinical providers, couriers, donors, donor families, clinical testing services, medical examiners, funeral directors, intermediaries, third-party service providers, transplant candidates, recipients and recipient families.
That’s why we have orchestrated a new way to help transform the organ delivery chain of command process in real-time. Our products connect and manage time-sensitive medical resources on a centralized communication channel to make organ delivery timely and safer. MediGO products also use predictive analytics to optimize the deployment of both field and inpatient human resources for OPOs and transplant centers. Smart resource deployment improves decision-making and drives efficiency to optimize organ procurement and successful transplantation.
To learn more about MediGO and its full suite of products for the donation and transplant industry, visit www.gomedigo.io.