TRIOSE: Effective Logistics Solutions For Healthcare Supply Chain

Natalie: The value-based care trend really came up around 2017-2018. Before that, the supply chain team was acting as a cost center with little oversight to direct the hospital. As soon as healthcare institutions switched to a value-based system, they realized that supply chains play a huge role in being able to provide that value-based care. There were multiple changes around reimbursements in the insurance industry as well. Healthcare providers needed to ensure that they not only save money, but pass on as much value as possible by providing good care for the patients. So, the 'value-based' trend has passed the pressure on to the supply chain industry as well. We needed to look at an innovative solution to continue to provide a solid service, and make sure that patients are getting the care they need, when they need it. The value-based care model shines a spotlight on the role that the supply chain plays.

Gerry: We asked supply chain leaders about their metrics and how they are measured on customer satisfaction. In almost all cases, we spotted that they are no longer measured solely on cost saving, but also on patient and provider satisfaction. In short, supply chain is now considered an important part of the team that determines the patient’s outcome.

3) Can you give more insights on your supply chain solutions and how they help your clients?

Natalie: Our freight management product is focused on bringing goods and medical devices and equipment into the hospitals, and also in receiving shipments so they may be delivered at an efficient cost. We are trying to bring in goods from the vendors and manufacturers in a way that the hospitals can reduce those costs, while retaining control over those expenses. Working with over 15,000 vendors, we continuously strive to ensure that every single shipment goes through our shipping program. As we observe the evolution of the value-based care model, we are seeing that the care-giving landscape has shifted. As care moves further away from the hospital setting, there is a greater need to actively manage its delivery. As a result, we started to see a need for our courier and fleet management solutions. Most of the hospitals are receiving their items either from a centralized distribution center or warehouses. So either an internal hospital-owned fleet or external courier provider is used to go pick up the goods and deliver it to the customers. We help them initiate courier operations and monitor fleet performance in an efficient way that benefits the healthcare facilities.

Pharmacies are major revenue generators for hospitals. Our customers ask us how can we help the pharmacies, healthcare providers, and their patients receive their medication from their care providers without visiting a retail pharmacy. TRIOSE provides such service to our clients with our Pharmacy IQ product, which helps pharmacies focus on the delivery of patients’ medications and makes it easy for them after they receive their medication. From our side, we will take care of the logistics so the patients don’t have to manage it themselves. We are able to give a pharmacy time back to run their business while we run the logistics which would otherwise take up 20 to 40 hours in a week, depending on the pharmacy operations.

4) Can you share one or two case studies with us where TRIOSE has helped its clients overcome their challenges and attain desired outcomes with your solutions?

Gerry: Earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, Texas had a challenge with power outages in the winter. We had a hospital in Houston that needed to conduct Covid-19 testing; the carrier couldn't deliver because of a power shutdown. The hospital let us know what they needed and we were able to identify those shipments and follow through. We worked directly with the carrier to arrange delivery to the hospital so that they could continue to carry out their Covid testing on patients.