Logistics & Supply Chain Management in Healthcare: Innovations and Collaborations

This article discusses the importance of logistics and supply chain management in healthcare through case studies of Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal Health, and Pfizer. It explores innovations such as blockchain and collaborations to advance global health access. Johnson & Johnson's campaign to motivate nurses to be trailblazers in the medical field has led to more than 1.1 million nurses receiving a bachelor’s degree over the last 16 years. Cardinal Health highlights the potential of blockchain to ensure secure financial transactions and track medical records and products. Pfizer's collaboration with Ant Financial to pilot micro financing and mobile payment options in rural China is an example of efforts to improve access to healthcare in emerging markets.

Surname 1
Name:
Institution:
Course:
Tutor:
Date:
LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Johnson & Johnson article.(Nurse Innovators: The Agents of Healthcare) Retrieved from
https://www.jnj.com/caring-and-giving/improving-healthcare-by-supporting-nurse-innovators
The article is all about transforming the nursing profession, as it is emphasizing on the ability of
nurses to not only be just caregivers, but also innovators. Following a time when the nation had a
shortage of nurses, Johnson & Johnson company launched a campaign for the future of nursing as a
profession. The purpose of the campaign was to motivate nurses to be trailblazers in the medical field.
Healthcare institutions play a very important role when it comes to delivery of quality experiences by
Johnson & Johnson, explaining why the campaign was launched. The campaign has since then led to
more than 1.1 nurses to receive a bachelor’s degree over the last 16 years (Puniewska, 1).
There are so many factors that contribute to the logistics and supply chain aspects of any
organization. For my past employer, the organization served to provide financial advice to persons
living below the minimum wage. Due to the scale of the project, the services could not be delivered
directly by the organization and therefore had to involve agents in the field. There was, however, a
shortage in the number of financial experts who were willing to join the campaign mainly due to the
low financial returns. The organization therefore decided to train and empower young educated
individuals in these communities, giving them financial knowledge to deliver the desired information.
Just like in the Johnson & Johnson case, a third party was necessary for the delivery of quality
experience to the target groups.

Surname 2
Cardinal health article. The Rise of Blockchain: What it is and how it can Benefit healthcare.
Retrieved from https://www.cardinalhealth.com/en/essential-insights/blockchain-what-it-is-and-
how-it-can-benefit-healthcare.html (Accessed 4th October 2018)
The article addresses what the healthcare sector can gain from the block chain innovation that is
currently being spoken about in the tech industry. Since the block chain is all about security and trust, it
was clear that this would serve healthcare by ensuring that data is resilience, provenance, traceable and
manageable (Myser, 1). Block chain can therefore be used to accept secure financial transactions but
also be used to track medical records as well as the history of medical products from the industry to the
consumer. Though the technology is still young, a lot of research is being put in place and it would be
best for the medical sector to move along with the trend.
Technology plays a significant role in supporting the logistics and supply chain industry. This
ranges from the various system that oversee the management of logistical data as well as tracking
products as they move along the supply chain. I currently work in a logistics company which is
currently concerned with the potentials of the block chain to impact the industry. The company is
already receiving more secure payments in form of bitcoins, which is a digital currency built using the
block chain technology. The company is also involved in research to find out how the block chain can
be used to better track products as they move on the supply chain to the final customer.
Pfizer article: Collaborating to Advance Global Health Access: 218 Social Good Summit.
Retrieved from https://www.pfizer.com/news/featured_stories/featured_stories_detail/
collaborating_to_advance_global_health_access_2018_social_good_summit (Accessed 4th
October 2018)

Surname 3
The article was all about the current state of access to healthcare across the globe. Much focus
was given to emerging markets where the access to quality healthcare is limited. This was a call to
corporate, entrepreneurs and innovators to make a combined effort and impact the lives of persons
living in these areas (Pfizer inc, 1). A good example is the collaboration between Pfizer and Ant
Financial which is a financial leader to pilot micro financing and mobile payment options to enable
people in rural China to receive vaccination.
There are many parts of the world that are short of basic services including healthcare and other
social services. One of the importance of business is not only to make profit, but also to provide goods
and services needed by the society. It is very important that these goods are also availed to remote and
rural area. This is where the need to collaborate between the academia and the company is likely to
come in handy (Mechanic, & Altman, 773). The company is working in collaboration with a local
university to see how best these products can reach the rural community in a cheaper and affordable
way.

Surname 4
Work Cited.
Puniewska, Magdalena. “Nurse Innovators: The Change Agents of Healthcare.” Johnson & Johnson
services. Retrieved from https://www.jnj.com/caring-and-giving/improving-healthcare-by-
supporting-nurse-innovators (Accessed 4th October 2018)
Pfizer inc. “Collaborating to Advance Global Health Access: 218 Social Good Summit.” Pfizer.com
2018. Retrieved from https://www.pfizer.com/news/featured_stories/featured_stories_detail/
collaborating_to_advance_global_health_access_2018_social_good_summit (Accessed 4th
October 2018)
Mechanic, Robert., & Altman, Stuart. Medicare's Opportunity to Encourage Innovation in Health Care
Delivery. The New England Journal of Medicine, 362, (2010), 772-774
Myser, Michael. “The Rise of Blockchain: What it is and how it can Benefit healthcare.”
Cardinalhealth, 2017. Retrieved from
https://www.cardinalhealth.com/en/essential-insights/blockchain-what-it-is-and-how-it-can-
benefit-healthcare.html (Accessed 4th Oct 2018)