If you haven’t been trapped
in an underground cavern for the last few years then you have heard of the
company Amazon. But have you heard of
Amazon in relation to healthcare
management and medical supplies? As it seems Amazon is wanting to get in on the healthcare or medical supplies
business which is making major medical suppliers a tad bit uncomfortable.
While Amazon currently sells some healthcare supplies through their
platform ‘Amazon Business’ they are looking
to expand its footprint within the healthcare market.
With a well established and
well funded company such as Amazon
other medical supply focused companies are being put in the hot seat to cut
costs to increase margins to stay competitive.
Still Amazon has a lot of hurdles to face such as an already set up and heavily
contracted marketplace, especially Premier
and Vizient who has a good grip
on more than half the market share and understands the ins-and-outs of supply
logistics and storage while already having a relationship with their vendors.
But the fact that Amazon is showing
interesting in wanting to be a key player in the medical supplies business should
alone, make companies think twice and look at their game plan on how they can
keep a handle on their piece of the proverbial pie.
Share your Thoughts:
Do you think healthcare
management should be willing view Amazon as
a healthcare supplier? What would you do to prepare, if anything as a
healthcare supply company? Do you think healthcare management should take a
step back from signing long term supplier contracts to enable the best pricing?
Thank you to Baylor
University MBA in Healthcare for helping their students navigate the always
changing landscape of healthcare management.
Sources:
https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2017/06/15/amazon-medical-supplies?WT.mc_id=Email|DailyBriefing+Headline|DBECTake|DBA|DB|2017Jun15|ATestDB2017Jun15||||&elq_cid=1339315&x_id=003C000001tclvqIAA
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/17/176060/img/logos/amazon_logo_RGB.jpg
