As healthcare supply chain professionals, we  know that supply shortages will happen and many are beyond our control. We do our best to address the disruptions through substitutes, data analysis, and strong relationships with our suppliers and distributors.  But how well do we communicate with the care teams who rely on those supplies?

“Please just tell me what I need to know!” pleads the clinical team members. Yet that’s a loaded request. Safety-huddle briefings, Excel backorder spreadsheets, laminated posters placed behind supply-room doors, and cryptic emails you read after shifts are already over… these are just not enough to communicate.

That’s the heart of the matter.  We have a communication problem as much as a supply problem.  So many care team leaders have shared that they can get by if they know what the issues are, and the recommended actions, but providing the right information at the right time and place is something no supply chain system or process has seemed to get right and not for the lack of trying by everyone involved.

At Red Thread, we’re starting with that communication problem: “What product do we carry that has this size?" "Can you help me find that product I need?" "What is the status of that critical product shortage?" "Is that product item a substitute?" "Is that the photo of the new value analysis item?" "What do you even call that thingie?"

It’s about communication.