Supply Chain management
Jackson Health System is located in Miami-Dade county, a highly populated (approximately 2.253 million), large (approximately 2000 square miles), metropolitan county. The firm has reorganized itself as an integrated healthcare delivery system consisting of one academic medical center, one community hospital, 12 primary-care centers, two long-term care nursing facilities, one community diagnostic center, nine school-based programs, and seven clinics in the county's corrections facilities. Jackson Health System's neighborhood-based primary care centers are linked to the UM/Jackson Memorial Medical Center.
About one-third of the patients who visit Jackson Memorial Hospital annually are referred through primary-care centers in the community. The primary-care network is linked by a computerized information system that shares demographic and medical information and facilitates patient movement throughout the system. This ensures proper care in the appropriate setting.
The scenario above helps to understand the challenges of managing healthcare organizations.
In a thorough and detailed response using references, please answer the following 3 questions:
1. Research and describe the supply chains of two (2) U.S. healthcare companies (other than the one mentioned above) that have organized themselves either into vertical or horizontal systems (or both) in order to develop and/or sustain their competitive advantage in the marketplace.
2. Compare the two (2) chosen healthcare companies and how they have organized themselves in order to develop and/or sustain their competitive advantage in the marketplace.
3. Suggest the application of the concepts of Supply Chain Management to the healthcare industry as a whole.