News Releases

The Center Advocates for Hospitals at Federal Level on Consolidation and Supply Chain

The Center for Health Affairs and its subsidiary, CHAMPS Group Purchasing (GPO), advocated for hospitals at the congressional level this month as lawmakers, including some from Ohio, tackled issues related to hospital consolidation and supply chain.

The Center reached out to Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, in advance of a committee hearing on consolidation in healthcare. So far this congressional session, which began in January, lawmakers have been heavily engaged on issues impacting hospitals and healthcare. Several congressional committees, including the House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees, held a series of hearings this spring and more recently the Senate Finance Committee has turned its attention to some of these topics.

In a letter to Sen. Brown, The Center outlined some of the factors that lead to consolidation and emphasized the financial pressures hospitals are continuing to face. The letter also highlights positive outcomes of consolidation, which can include not only helping vulnerable hospitals keep their doors open, but also improvements in quality and expanded access to services.

Also this month, CHAMPS GPO signed on to a stakeholder letter voicing support for H.R. 3577, the Medical and Health Stockpile Accountability Act. This bill would require the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to establish an automated supply chain tracking application that provides insight into critical medical supplies across the country. Introduced on May 22 by Reps. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Lori Trahan (D-MA), the legislation is designed to ensure the nation’s healthcare providers and the patients they care for never again face the widespread supply shortages and uncertainty that plagued the U.S. during the pandemic.

Specifically, the bill would:

• Establish an automated supply chain tracking application within ASPR that provides near real-time insight into the amount of critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals available in national and state stockpiles as well as manufacturer, distributor and hospital inventories. The system will overlay existing vendor management inventory (VMI) systems, be vendor agnostic, and be triggered during an emergency response.
• Establish clear guidelines and practices for standardized data collection in consultation with public and private sector partners.
• Permit hospitals, manufacturers, distributors, and other private sector entities visibility to data relating to inventory and time estimates for when inventories may be replenished.
• Eliminate manual reporting burden and errors by automating data feeds.
• Institute robust safeguards to protect confidential and proprietary information.
• Ensure that federal data collection is used for monitoring and dynamic allocation. Data cannot be used for reallocating inventory from hospitals or other organizations, advantaging any institution over another, or undermining the competitive marketplace.
• Conduct an annual exercise to test the effectiveness of the application and to report any deficiencies.
• Provide funding for healthcare entities, such as rural, critical access, and community hospitals, to implement a VMI if needed.

For more information about these issues or The Center’s advocacy activities, contact us.