--- title: Why Telehealth Supply Chains Still Struggle | Opendock description: Irina Rosca, Senior Director of Supply Chain at Helix chats about why telehealth supply chains struggle with hospital inventory gaps, weather delays, and sample returns. image: https://blog.opendock.com/hubfs/episode%207.png --- [![Opendock dock scheduling and yard management software](https://blog.opendock.com/hs-fs/hubfs/opendock_logo_rgb_black.png?width=512&height=82&name=opendock_logo_rgb_black.png "Opendock dock scheduling and yard management software")](https://blog.opendock.com/?hsLang=en) [![Opendock dock scheduling and yard management software](https://blog.opendock.com/hs-fs/hubfs/opendock_logo_rgb_black.png?width=512&height=82&name=opendock_logo_rgb_black.png "Opendock dock scheduling and yard management software")](https://blog.opendock.com/?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://blog.opendock.com/) - [Carrier Login](https://carrier.opendock.com/app/login) - [Warehouse Login](https://nova.opendock.com/login) More results En - English - [Español](https://blog.opendock.com/es) - [Español - México](https://blog.opendock.com/es-mx) - [Português - Brasil](https://blog.opendock.com/pt-br) - [Home](https://blog.opendock.com/) - [Carrier Login](https://carrier.opendock.com/app/login) - [Warehouse Login](https://nova.opendock.com/login) Opendock Blog #### Share this [Share on X](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https://blog.opendock.com/telehealth-logistics-overcoming-barriers-to-innovation&text=Why+Telehealth+Supply+Chains+Still+Struggle+%7C+Opendock) [Share on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://blog.opendock.com/telehealth-logistics-overcoming-barriers-to-innovation&t=Why+Telehealth+Supply+Chains+Still+Struggle+%7C+Opendock) [Share on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.opendock.com/telehealth-logistics-overcoming-barriers-to-innovation&t=Why+Telehealth+Supply+Chains+Still+Struggle+%7C+Opendock) # Episode 7 of What's Up Dock? Podcast by [**jpallmerine**](https://blog.opendock.com/author/jpallmerine) on 01 February, 2023 Key Takeaways - Hospitals often lack a single inventory system across departments. - Weather and seasonality can delay time-sensitive telehealth test kits. - Getting patients to return samples quickly remains a persistent challenge. - Telehealth logistics still relies on infrastructure not built for home care. Telehealth is becoming a smarter and faster option for a lot of patients. But there are certainly myriad challenges facing the associated supply chain created from scratch. [Irina Rosca](https://www.linkedin.com/in/irinarosca/), Senior Director of Supply Chain at [Helix](https://www.helix.com/), is a seasoned supply chain professional with over 15 years of experience in various industries. She currently works in the healthcare field, focusing on the efficiency and privacy of in-home health kits. Her background began facing supply chain demands of wine imports for a 5-star restaurant group before she went on to shipping sporting supplies, each endeavor with its own unique challenges. Irina shares with us the challenges of telehealth and the importance of ease of return, integrity of samples, privacy and more. Join us as we discuss: - Why hospitals lack overall inventory management systems - When weather and seasons should be considered in supply chain planning - Where telehealth logistics is facing barriers to innovation [![Dock Scheduling 101: The Ultimate Guide](https://blog.opendock.com/hubfs/DS-eBook-CTA.png)](https://lp.opendock.com/dock-scheduling-ebook?hsLang=en) ## Why Do Hospitals Struggle With Inventory Management? **Hospitals often run on disconnected, department-by-department inventory systems instead of one shared view.** Hospital care can be pertinent to the health and survival of individuals worldwide. With high community investment and reliance, people expect their care to be organized, tools and tests to be readily available and medication to be unexpired. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. According to Irina, hospitals have some of the most disorganized inventory management systems, largely due to the lack of innovation in the field. *“Hospitals don't generally have an overarching management system,” Irina says. “Different departments are in charge of their inventories and ordering, there's a lot of clashing and lack of communication.”* The lack of innovation in the field is a revolving force. Without the development and change that would enable a greater organization across hospitals, future innovation is also stifled. Irina says there are additional reasons innovation gets stymied in healthcare. First, most hospital leadership often comes from medical backgrounds and lack alternative views to inventory management. Just as different departments function on various systems, locations also have widely differentiated management systems. Healthcare distributors know that fragmentation well: before standardizing on one platform, [Cardinal Health managed dock appointments across its facilities with spreadsheets, phone calls, and emails](https://blog.opendock.com/case-study-cardinal-health?hsLang=en). Additionally, the barrier to entry is significantly high, while solution adoption is very low. Despite difficulties in innovation in the field, it's extremely beneficial for entrepreneurs to enter this space and create more ease in healthcare. The scale of that challenge is clear at large hospital systems too, where [a supply chain director coordinates tens of thousands of SKUs across eleven hospitals](https://blog.opendock.com/episode-11-of-whats-up-dock-podcast?hsLang=en). [![Take the Opendock dock scheduling product tour](https://blog.opendock.com/hubfs/Product%20Tour_Opendock.png)](https://loadsmart.navattic.com/904j01ru?g=cmm0qo58p004d04l16aswd4fk&s=1) ## When Should Weather Factor Into Telehealth Supply Chain Planning? **Weather and seasonality should be part of every telehealth shipping plan, since delays can ruin time-sensitive test kits.** The emergence of widespread telehealth was abrupt. But countless benefits have been shared by hundreds of thousands of people who utilize the available services. Yet, while access has been easier for many, the seemingly overnight expansion of telehealth required the development of a brand-new supply chain. When faced with the challenge of high demand and the criticality of quick turn-around times within COVID testing efforts, Irina's team developed a new shipment system. While their system was 96% successful, the team learned that considering weather and seasons can play a huge role in the supply chain. In the case of telehealth and medical tests, weather can cause delays, something that can be detrimental to [time-sensitive medical shipments](https://blog.opendock.com/pharma-shipment-visibility?hsLang=en). Likewise, tests may be in greater demand during seasons when illness is more apt to spread. Regardless of industry, supply chain planning should consider the importance of seasonality and weather. ## Where Is Telehealth Logistics Still Facing Barriers to Innovation? **The biggest barrier is getting patients to return test samples quickly, since most home shipping infrastructure wasn't built for that.** While telehealth allows patients to be conveniently cared for in their own homes, there are quite a few barriers when it comes to testing and other systems that require physical distribution. For example, distributing and [collecting medical returns from patients](https://blog.opendock.com/pharma-reverse-logistics?hsLang=en) poses challenges in timely, clear and accessible shipment. Existing infrastructures are often too bulky and expensive to implement on an individual level, but affordable options can take too long and be disorganized. *“One of the biggest challenges is actually getting the patient to return their sample in a timely manner,” Irina says. “We want to ensure the unit returns to us as soon as possible with the lowest impact on the patient and the quickest delivery possible.”* There is much hope for innovation in telehealth and at-home testing kits. For example, Uber and similar companies have begun to offer shuttle services for medical tests and kits from patients' homes to shipment facilities. However, many of these options still require patients to schedule pickups. Telehealth offers many benefits and significant room for development across the field. But it's important to always keep in mind that the telehealth supply chain currently relies heavily on an existing structure that is not built for at-home treatments and testing, a gap that [direct-to-consumer meal kit companies](https://blog.opendock.com/the-logistics-of-meal-kits?hsLang=en) know well. *Keep connected with us by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get podcasts. [Find all the episodes here.](https://lp.opendock.com/whats-up-dock-podcast?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=hyperlink&utm_campaign=whats-up-dock-warehouse-opendock-q1-23&utm_content=episode-1-blog&hsLang=en)* Irina's experience shows that even a brand-new supply chain has to solve the same old problems: visibility, timing, and trust. [![Request an Opendock demo](https://blog.opendock.com/hubfs/opendock-blog-cta-1200x475-2.png)](https://opendock.com/#request-a-demo) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who is Irina Rosca? **Irina Rosca is Senior Director of Supply Chain at Helix, a population genomics and clinical testing company.** She joined the What's Up Dock? podcast to discuss the unique logistics challenges of telehealth, including sample returns, privacy, and inventory management. ### Why do hospitals struggle to manage inventory well? **Hospitals often lack one overarching inventory system because each department manages its own ordering separately.** Irina says that disconnect, combined with leadership that often comes from medical rather than operations backgrounds, makes innovation difficult to introduce. ### What's the biggest logistics challenge in telehealth? **The biggest challenge is getting patients to return their test samples quickly and reliably.** Irina explains that existing shipping infrastructure wasn't built for at-home treatment and testing, which makes fast, low-friction returns hard to guarantee. 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