Healthcare supply chain management is critical for hospitals and clinics striving to control costs, maintain supply availability, and improve procurement efficiency. Disruptions in the supply chain can drive up expenses, create operational inefficiencies, and even impact patient care. Healthcare organizations need a strategic approach that reduces risk and ensures consistent access to essential supplies.
Pointcore Supply Chain Services helps healthcare providers streamline procurement, control costs, and improve supply chain resilience. By leveraging a collaborative approach and the scale of OSF HealthCare, Pointcore delivers strategic sourcing solutions that enhance supply availability and reduce expenses.
Pointcore Improves Supply Chain Stability With Mask Manufacturing
How Pointcore Strengthens Healthcare Supply Chains
Pointcore takes a strategic approach to healthcare supply chain management, helping hospitals and clinics reduce costs while ensuring a steady supply of critical resources. Through the Pointcore Supply Chain Services Collaborative, healthcare organizations gain access to competitive pricing, optimized procurement strategies, and streamlined distribution.
By leveraging the purchasing power of OSF HealthCare and its extended network, Pointcore creates efficiencies that improve the healthcare supply chain strategy at every stage. This approach not only drives cost savings but also helps organizations navigate challenges such as supply shortages, vendor negotiations, and logistics management.
Expanding Healthcare Supply Chain Strategy: Case Study on PPE Manufacturing
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in supply chain management in healthcare, particularly in securing critical personal protective equipment (PPE). As demand surged and global shortages intensified, hospitals and clinics struggled to maintain access to essential supplies. Relying on international suppliers for crucial medical equipment left healthcare organizations exposed to price fluctuations, shipping delays, and unpredictable availability.
To address this challenge, Pointcore partnered with OSF HealthCare’s Integrated Solutions group and Peoria Production Solutions to establish a domestic PPE manufacturing operation. This allowed Pointcore to take control of a critical segment of the healthcare supply chain strategy, ensuring its members had access to high-quality, cost-effective protective masks when they were needed most.
Pointcore and its partners invested in a clean room manufacturing facility, secured specialized equipment, and leveraged an experienced workforce to begin large-scale mask production. This effort not only stabilized costs and eliminated reliance on overseas suppliers but also strengthened the local economy by creating jobs and supporting a mission-driven workforce.
The results were significant. Pointcore successfully produced millions of masks, including ASTM Level 2 surgical masks and N95 respirators, ensuring healthcare organizations could provide essential protection for their staff and patients. This proactive approach demonstrated the value of a resilient healthcare supply chain strategy, reinforcing supply security and helping hospitals and clinics avoid costly disruptions.
Cost Savings and Efficiency for Healthcare Organizations
Effective healthcare supply chain consulting goes beyond procurement—it ensures long-term financial and operational benefits for hospitals and clinics. Pointcore’s approach helps healthcare organizations reduce supply costs, improve purchasing efficiency, and minimize waste. By leveraging strategic sourcing and contract management, Pointcore enables its members to access essential medical supplies at competitive prices.
The impact of these efficiencies extends beyond cost savings. A well-managed healthcare supply chain strategy improves inventory control, reduces administrative burdens, and allows medical teams to focus on patient care rather than supply shortages. By optimizing vendor relationships and streamlining logistics, Pointcore helps healthcare providers achieve greater financial stability while maintaining high-quality care.
Pointcore’s proactive initiatives, such as domestic PPE manufacturing, further strengthen supply chain management in healthcare by ensuring a stable supply of critical resources. These efforts not only protect organizations from market volatility but also enhance their ability to plan for the future with confidence.
Learn More About Pointcore Supply Chain Services
Navigating the complexities of healthcare supply chain management requires expertise, strategic planning, and the right partnerships. Pointcore helps hospitals and clinics improve procurement efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen supply chain resilience. Whether through healthcare consulting, strategic sourcing, or innovative solutions like domestic PPE manufacturing, Pointcore provides the tools and expertise needed to optimize supply chain operations.
Discover how Pointcore’s approach to supply chain management in healthcare can benefit your organization. Contact a Pointcore representative today to learn more about customized solutions that support your hospital or clinic’s unique needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pointcore helps hospitals and clinics optimize healthcare supply chain management through strategic sourcing, procurement solutions, and supply chain consulting. Below are answers to common questions about our services.
What is Pointcore Supply Chain Services?
Pointcore Supply Chain Services is a healthcare supply chain consulting and procurement solutions provider that helps hospitals and clinics reduce costs, streamline procurement, and secure essential medical supplies through strategic sourcing and vendor partnerships.
How does Pointcore collaborate with OSF HealthCare?
Pointcore leverages OSF HealthCare’s scale and infrastructure to provide supply chain management in healthcare, allowing member organizations to access competitive pricing, improve logistics, and enhance supply chain resilience.
What are the benefits of joining the Pointcore Supply Chain Services Collaborative?
Members of the Pointcore Supply Chain Services Collaborative gain access to cost-saving contracts, improved vendor relationships, and supply chain expertise that helps them navigate procurement challenges while ensuring reliable access to critical supplies.
How did Pointcore respond to PPE shortages during COVID-19?
Pointcore partnered with OSF HealthCare and Peoria Production Solutions to establish a domestic mask manufacturing operation, reducing reliance on overseas suppliers and ensuring a stable supply of high-quality PPE for healthcare providers.
Does Pointcore provide consulting for healthcare supply chain strategy?
Yes, Pointcore offers healthcare supply chain consulting services, helping hospitals and clinics improve procurement efficiency, optimize vendor contracts, and implement strategies that enhance long-term supply chain stability.
How can my organization work with Pointcore?
Hospitals and clinics interested in optimizing their healthcare supply chain management can contact Pointcore to learn more about customized solutions that fit their specific needs.
CHALLENGE
As a healthcare services company, Pointcore had been wading through the many obstacles and problems that surfaced from the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning early in 2020. With the world in crisis and hospitals on the front lines of caring for COVID-19 positive patients, healthcare facilities were struggling with having enough PPE supply for both patients and those providing care. Gaps in PPE supply stemmed from COVID-19 related staffing shortages and increased demand globally. And, with approximately 80% of all PPE coming from Asia, what could be done to take control of the situation and be self-sustaining?
SOLUTION
Developing the Solution
Pointcore, in partnership with OSF HealthCare’s Integrated Solutions group, developed a strategic plan to overcome difficulties with PPE supply, which included the development of their own manufacturing operation. Protective masks were identified as PPE in high demand and the most feasible to produce quickly. Pointcore selected central Illinois-based Peoria Production Solutions (PPS) to partner on manufacturing efforts. The endeavor required capital investment to develop a clean room and secure the necessary machinery to produce the much-needed masks, while leaning on the production workforce of PPS.
This workforce includes employees with disabilities, which is central to PPS’s mission to provide a secure and respectful work environment for individuals with disabilities. The partnership not only aligned with the mission of Pointcore as an extension of OSF to deliver the best care possible, but also strengthened the economy and community of central Illinois.
Manufacturing High-Quality Mask Portfolio
What started as an operation to produce high-quality barrier masks expanded to two additional ASTM certified masks, including Pointcore Surgical Masks, which meet ASTM level 2 requirements, and N95 masks. Each mask is manufactured in Peoria, IL with the highest standards and tested to meet safety requirements.
RESULTS
- Eliminated our reliance on oversees ear loop mask suppliers
- Pointcore Supply Chain Collaborative members receive access to supply at a special price
6 Million
MASKS
produced to date
30,000
MASKS
produced each day
