Navigating Supply Disruption: Collaboration and Information Sharing as a Strategy

ECRI’s annual list of Top 10 Health Technology Hazards identified supply chain challenges as the No. 2 topic on our 2022 list. When critical supplies are unavailable, risks to patient and healthcare worker safety increase, making supply chain disruption a major concern for healthcare leaders.

While the pandemic amplified existing vulnerabilities in the supply chain, it also brought forward new strategies to solve these challenges, some of which depart from traditional methods. Join ECRI’s team of experts as we explore how collaboration and information sharing work to prevent product shortages and maintain patient care when necessary supplies are not available.

Learning objectives

We’ll discuss:

• The impact of Supply Disruption and how the pandemic has led to new strategies to address supply chain vulnerabilities.
• How ECRI monitors the supply chain
• Testing supplies for performance
• How to find alternative products when facing supply disruptions

Andrew Furman, MD, MMM, FACEP

Executive Director, Clinical Excellence, Technology Assessment, ECRI
Andrew Furman is an emergency medicine physician who has worked in clinical and leadership roles in Pennsylvania and Oregon. He worked as a quality and communications consultant within the Geisinger Health System, acting as a liaison between the closed model of care delivery at Geisinger and the more open models of care delivery in newly acquired hospitals and health systems. At Salem Health, in Salem, Oregon, he served as Vice President of Medical Affairs. After completing a Master of Medical Management degree at University of Southern California Marshall School Business, he joined Accolade in Plymouth Meeting. While at Accolade, Dr. Furman supported the organization’s mission to equip employees of self-insured companies with people, tools, and technology that empowered them to better navigate the complicated healthcare environment.

Jason Launders

Director of Operations, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Jason Launders has been at ECRI since 1998 and is currently the Director of Operations for the Device Evaluation group. Jason’s primary responsibility is managing ECRI’s laboratory based evaluations of medical technologies. Jason has an MSc in Medical Physics and spent his earlier time at ECRI evaluating a wide range of diagnostic imaging technology, such as: CT, MRI, PACS, and Digital Radiography. Today, he is responsible for developing the content of evaluations to ensure they meet the needs of our members.

Rob Schluth

Principal Project Officer 1—Product Development, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Rob Schluth is a principal project officer manager at ECRI, an independent, nonprofit organization providing unbiased assurance on medical technologies and treatments to healthcare professionals around the world. During his 25-year tenure with ECRI's Health Devices Group, Rob has contributed to hundreds of the engineering team's device evaluations, problem reports, and guidance articles spanning virtually all health technologies. Rob currently focuses on managing special initiatives, including the annual Health Devices Achievement Award competition and development of ECRI's Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list. The Top 10 list—which identifies potential sources of harm associated with medical technologies and provides recommendations for action—empowers those on (or near) the front lines of patient care to further ECRI's mission of improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare across all settings.

Tim Browne

Executive Director, Supply Guide, ECRI
Timothy D. Browne is ECRI’s Executive Director of Supply Guide, with over 30 years tenure with ECRI. He developed and directs the Supply Guide product suite, which assist hospitals and health care systems with the procurement of medical/surgical supplies and implants. Supply Guide focuses on revealing opportunities with respect to cost savings, standardization and utilization analytics. He has also played a critical role in the development of ECRI’s Value Analysis Work Flow, a single source workflow management system that streamlines the analysis of new product requests, conversions and acquisitions.

Jillian Hillman

Manager, Functional Equivalents Technical Development, ECRI
Jillian Hillman has been with ECRI for two years, managing the development of Functional Equivalents with the Supply Guide team. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Bioengineering and has over 10 year of research experience in drug delivery, biomaterials, wound healing and regenerative medicine. Recent Functional Equivalents categories where she has applied her expertise include SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Tests, Peripheral Stents and Tissue Bulking Agents.

Karen Haberland

Project Officer, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Karen Haberland has been with ECRI since 2020, serving as a Project Officer in the Device Evaluation group. She has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and is experienced in both product development and regulatory consulting. Since joining ECRI, her focus has been on the evaluation of personal protective equipment and cardiovascular technologies.