Fool Me Twice: The Role for Hospitals and Health Systems in Fixing the Broken PPE Supply Chain

Tara Lagu; Andrew W. Artenstein; Rachel M. Werner

doi:10.12788/jhm.3489

Fool Me Twice: The Role for Hospitals and Health Systems in Fixing the Broken PPE Supply Chain

Tara Lagu^*, Andrew W. Artenstein, Rachel M. Werner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Medicine, Hospital Medicine Division

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

_T ^{he pandemic} part, _that^story_has by ^of_made a ⁱⁿ persistent ^{the the coronavirus}_it^United_difficult shortage ^States_and^disease_dangerous^has of medical ^{been 2019 (COVID-19) defined,}_for supplies _health-ⁱⁿ care workers to care for infected patients. States, health systems, and even individual hospitals are currently competing against one another—sometimes at auction—to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE). This “Wild West” scenario has resulted in bizarre stories involving attempts to obtain PPE. One health system recently described a James Bond–like pursuit of essential PPE, complete with a covert trip to an industrial warehouse, trucks filled with masks but labeled as food delivery vehicles, and an intervention by a United States congressman.¹ Many states have experienced analogous, but still atypical, stories: masks flown in from China using the private jet of a professional sports team owner,² widespread use of novel sterilization modalities to allow PPE reuse,³ and one attempt to purchase price-gouged PPE from the host of the show “Shark Tank.”⁴ In some cases, hospitals and healthcare workers have pleaded for PPE on fundraising and social media sites.⁵ These profound deviations from operations of contemporary health system supply chains would have seemed beyond belief just a few months ago. Instead, they now echo the collective experiences of healthcare stakeholders trying to obtain PPE to protect their frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	570-571
Number of pages	2
Journal	Journal of Hospital Medicine
Volume	15
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.12788/jhm.3489
State	Published - Sep 2020

Funding

Disclosures: Dr Lagu reported personal fees from the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation under contract to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the Yale Center or CMS. The other authors had nothing to disclose. Funding: Dr Lagu received grant support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL139985-01A1 and 1R01HL146884-01).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Fundamentals and skills
Care Planning
Assessment and Diagnosis
Health Policy
Leadership and Management
Internal Medicine

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10.12788/jhm.3489

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title = "Fool Me Twice: The Role for Hospitals and Health Systems in Fixing the Broken PPE Supply Chain",

abstract = "T he pandemic part, thatstoryhas by ofmade a in persistent the the coronavirusitUniteddifficult shortage Statesanddiseasedangeroushas of medical been 2019 (COVID-19) defined,for supplies health-in care workers to care for infected patients. States, health systems, and even individual hospitals are currently competing against one another—sometimes at auction—to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE). This “Wild West” scenario has resulted in bizarre stories involving attempts to obtain PPE. One health system recently described a James Bond–like pursuit of essential PPE, complete with a covert trip to an industrial warehouse, trucks filled with masks but labeled as food delivery vehicles, and an intervention by a United States congressman.1 Many states have experienced analogous, but still atypical, stories: masks flown in from China using the private jet of a professional sports team owner,2 widespread use of novel sterilization modalities to allow PPE reuse,3 and one attempt to purchase price-gouged PPE from the host of the show “Shark Tank.”4 In some cases, hospitals and healthcare workers have pleaded for PPE on fundraising and social media sites.5 These profound deviations from operations of contemporary health system supply chains would have seemed beyond belief just a few months ago. Instead, they now echo the collective experiences of healthcare stakeholders trying to obtain PPE to protect their frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.",

author = "Tara Lagu and Artenstein, {Andrew W.} and Werner, {Rachel M.}",

note = "Funding Information: Disclosures: Dr Lagu reported personal fees from the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation under contract to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the Yale Center or CMS. The other authors had nothing to disclose. Funding: Dr Lagu received grant support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL139985-01A1 and 1R01HL146884-01). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Society of Hospital Medicine",

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Fool Me Twice: The Role for Hospitals and Health Systems in Fixing the Broken PPE Supply Chain

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