In our latest episode, Cotter talks about his nonprofit organization that helps the health sector prepare for emergencies, and the need for more data to manage the supply chain.
Tom Cotter spends time thinking about things that would keep some people up at night.
Tom Cotter, president and CEO of Healthcare Ready
Cotter is president and executive director of Healthcare Ready, a nonprofit organization that works with the health sector to ensure sufficient supplies of pharmaceuticals and other needed supplies for disasters. He talks about the organization’s work in the latest Data Book podcast.
Healthcare Ready was founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and coordinates information sharing between the healthcare sector and supply chain entities.
In light of shortages of key drugs such as albuterol and children’s ibuprofen in recent months, Cotter says, “We need to understand where's the data that is useful for decision makers to take action.”
“I think people think there's more visibility and transparency than there actually is in the supply chain, especially in the healthcare sector,” Cotter says.
Cotter says the supply chain “is more of a supply web. And there's a lot of interdependencies.”
“I think what we need to now do, in general, you know, at a high level, is make sure we're institutionalizing the lessons learned from the past couple of years, and not just from COVID-19,” he adds.
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