HIDA Launches Communications Plan To Strengthen Medical Supply Chain

Sept. 9, 2024 – September is National Preparedness Month, and the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) has released its new Communications Plan resource to support the Traffic Protocol Partnership: Monitoring the Medical Product Supply Chain Playbook. The Communications Plan was developed through public and private collaboration and enhances effective communication between partners.

The Communications Plan augments the Playbook developed last year by commercial supply chain partners and the federal government to collaboratively monitor the supply chain. It continues the public-private partnerships developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the role of each partner in communicating during an event.

Specifically, the plan outlines the actions and information needed to support the partnership in each of the supply chain status conditions – Steady State (Condition Green), Potential Disruptions (Condition Yellow), or Overwhelmed Supply Chain (Condition Red). For each status condition, the Communications Plan sets benchmarks on the participation of key stakeholders, the frequency and cadence of meetings, and outlines communications best practices. Stakeholders would take such conditions into account to coordinate production and distribution decisions during a public health emergency.

Additionally, this new resource includes best practices for communicating potential supply chain disruptions to affected stakeholders and includes an example of the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Key Bridge in March 2024.

For more preparedness resources, visit HIDA’s National Preparedness webpage at hida.org/preparedness.

About HIDA

Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) represents the healthcare distribution network – the essential link between global healthcare supply manufacturers and local care providers. HIDA members operate more than 500+ distribution centers to bring critical products, supplies, and services to more than 560,000 healthcare settings across the U.S., including hospitals, long-term care, physician practices, home care, and laboratories. Visit HIDA.org.