Cutting-edge healthcare is a great thing, but the rising costs of healthcare in this country could make it difficult for Americans to take advantage of it. According to the World Health Organization, people in the United States spend more on healthcare than anyone else in the world. At the University of Arkansas, industrial engineering researchers are focusing on a way to reduce the cost of healthcare without compromising quality or availability—improving the supply chain system in hospitals and home health networks. Most of us don’t think much about the healthcare supply chain, but all hospitals need a reliable source of bandages, gauze, needles, surgical equipment, pharmaceuticals and other supplies. Just like a grocery store or other commercial retailer, hospitals must keep inventory, stay on top of demand and figure out when and how much to restock. Unlike the retail world, however, the healthcare industry has not traditionally focused on making their supply chain efficient and cost-effective. The Center for Innovation in Healthcare Logistics wants to change that. In CIHL, researchers are targeting the gap between retail and healthcare logistics. By using the best practices from retail, CIHL’s website points out, the healthcare industry can “recover significant costs and achieve new efficiencies, while enhancing safety, quality and equity of patient care.”
Top to bottom: professor Heather Nachtmann (top left), professor Ronald Rardin (top middle), Manuel Rossetti (top right), assistant professor Ashlea Bennet Milburn (bottom right), professor and director of CIHL Ed Pohl (bottom right)