Premier Inc and Resilinc to Launch Health Care Exchange Amid COVID-19

Premier Inc, a health care improvement company, and Resilinc, a provider of artificial intelligence-based supply chain mapping and disruption monitoring services, plan to roll out the The Exchange at Resilinc in mid-April, the 2 companies said in a statement on April 1, 2020.

The exchange is a cloud-based platform for the health care industry where hospitals interact with vetted peer organizations to identify, locate, and exchange critical medical items during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The exchange platform, in collaboration with Stanford Medicine is now accepting applications for industry groups and providers to join at no cost.

Through the exchange, which is agnostic to any group purchasing organization, hospitals and other front line health care providers experiencing supply shortages can submit requests for specific items and be matched with peer organizations that can supply those items through a safe, secure, and trusted network. Donations of critical supplies are also welcome and will be disbursed through an integrated donation center.

“Resilinc is proud to collaborate with Premier and Stanford Medicine to bring the exchange from concept to reality, leveraging our experience in helping our customers protect their supply chains from disruptions,” Bindiya Vakil, chief executive officer and founder of Resilinc in Milpitas, California, said in the statement.

“Many hospitals searching for items that are on allocation by suppliers must manually locate other hospitals who have inventory. This can be time-consuming, less-successful, and has a narrow geographic reach," Vakil said.

"The Exchange at Resilinc is a modern, cloud-based tool that can expedite communications between hospitals and help them instantly locate and negotiate for medical supplies among thousands of hospitals nationwide," she said.

“With COVID-19, we are experiencing an unforeseen and unprecedented level of stress on caregivers and supply chains,” Chaun Powell, group vice president of strategic supplier engagement at Premier of Charlotte, North, Carolina, which unites an alliance of more than 4000 hospitals and health systems and 175,000 other providers, said in the statement.

“With more than 9300 items on allocation across the country, Premier continues to advocate for industry-wide collaboration that increases transparency into the supply chain, so we can accelerate problem-solving at scale and get supplies to providers with the greatest need," he said. "Premier is proud to help found this exchange and cut across traditional boundaries for the benefit of all.”

Amanda Chawla, vice president of supply chain at Stanford Health Care, Stanford Children’s Health, and Stanford Health Care — ValleyCare in Palo Alto, California, envisions a tool that would allow health care professionals to connect with their peers during the COVID-19 pandemic and place critical medical supplies where they are needed most.

“Together with Resilinc, we have created a platform that goes beyond traditional networks and boundaries to allow us to connect and support not only our local community but the greater community, in the fight against COVID-19,” she said in the statement.

Shortages occur across critical product categories for myriad reasons including the location of raw materials and manufacturing, demand planning, industry protocols and regulation, sterilization ,and policies.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an especially relevant example of how a domestic exchange between providers and trusted partners can help allow access to products that are in short supply, the partners said in the statement.

Providers can apply to join the exchange in less than 10 minutes at theexchange.resilinc.com/healthcare/pre-registration/, and each provider can list items it needs and offer those it can spare in exchange. Health care organizations, nonprofits, and other businesses are encouraged to apply if they would like to donate much-needed supplies.

REFERENCE

Resilinc and Premier Inc. to launch healthcare exchange to help hospitals access supplies and ease shortages during COVID-19 [news release]. Milpitas, CA, and Charlotte, NC: April 2, 2020; Premier Inc. premierinc.com/newsroom/press-releases/resilinc-and-premier-inc-to-launch-healthcare-exchange-to-help-hospitals-access-supplies-and-ease-shortages-during-covid-19. Accessed April 2, 2020.