Vizient Newsroom

Though there were many national and world events during 2020 that will go down in history, likely all will pale in comparison to the virus that changed the world forever. As we reflect on the one-year anniversary of the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some lessons to be learned around every corner for those who are willing to look. Here are three long-held hospital lab and supply chain assumptions that COVID has forever changed, along with lessons learned to create a system more resilient to future demand surges.

As children’s hospitals and large pediatric programs work toward recovery and stabilization, administrative and clinical leaders are assessing which elements of COVID-19 disruption and innovation are here to stay. Many children’s hospitals have begun to understand their continued volume depletion, attributing lost emergency department and inpatient volumes to the natural consequences of social distancing and additional reductions in inpatient utilization due to intentional strategies such as early discharge and outpatient shifts. Though outpatient shifts have been an ongoing trend impacting health care utilization for several years, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated site of care shifts to minimize time spent in a hospital and subsequent risk of infection exposure. In pediatrics, the outpatient shift has unique meaning and drivers depending on the acuity level of the condition or procedure.

This acquisition enhances Vizient’s position as the leader in serving the health care supply chain and enables it to further meet the growing needs of its diverse membership and customer base, which includes academic medical centers, health systems, community hospitals, rural hospitals and ambulatory care providers.