The research specifically showed companies that distribute only specialty drugs save the industry an estimated $3.5 billion, based on an analysis of the value of their services and of the increased cost if manufacturers and healthcare providers assumed their role. The savings total about $8 billion when this analysis is expanded to include traditional distributors that handle specialty drugs.
The study also notes that specialty distributors use technologies to manage inventories, transactions and deliveries with speed and precision. These include customer relationship and warehouse management systems and electronic data interchange communications to process purchases, shipping notices, invoices and payments. These systems all cut inventory and distribution costs by shortening transit times and reducing loads and paperwork errors. In addition, they assist manufacturers with marketing and help providers meet capital needs, taking costs out of both ends of the healthcare supply chain.
Read the news release about specialty distributors.
Read other coverage about the healthcare supply chain:
– Amerinet, Teleflex Sign Agreement for Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters
– X-Ray Film Maker Raises Prices by up to 50%, Citing Higher Costs
