Defense Health Agency Medical Logistics Team Maintains Supply Chain Ensuring Quality Health Care Delivery

Story by Ken Cornwell

Defense Health Agency

In the wake of the global pandemic, supply chain delays and disruptions became common, leading to frustrations for many.

For the Military Health System, supply chain issues could put the health and welfare of the MHS’s approximately 9.5 million beneficiaries at risk.

That’s why the work of the Defense Health Agency’s Medical Logistics directorate, referred to as MEDLOG, is critical. The directorate helps ensure the MHS delivers high-quality care to every beneficiary by keeping the supply chain of medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and other medical materiel functioning properly and efficiently.

Supply chain management within DHA “is the management and flow of medical surgical supplies from the procurement by a military hospital or clinic to receipt by a customer,” according to Perry Cooper, acting director for Medical Logistics and J4.

U.S. Navy Capt. Eskinder Dagnachew, director of Medical Logistics and J4 through August 2024, said MEDLOG’s Supply Chain Management Division “provides cohesive expertise in support of the MHS’s objective of implementing an integrated process for medical material standardization to improve clinical outcomes, enhance readiness and training, control costs, and improve interoperability.”

“Our mission is to recommend clinical, logistics, and program policy, as well as to support medical materiel development and acquisition processes across the services,” he continued.

“Now, what does this mean for folks in the clinic?” asked Dagnachew.

“It means their doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals have the supplies they need to take care of our beneficiaries,” he said. “Our directorate looks for ways to improve by establishing feedback loops with Defense Logistics Agency support and outside organizations to ensure that not only are there supplies on the shelf, but if there is a recall, that item is pulled immediately.”

MEDLOG ensures the supply chain functions properly throughout its lifecycle with a combination of careful planning, determining necessary requirements, managing funds, executing acquisition plans and order management, managing inbound and receiving, managing care of supplies in storage, and reconstitution and disposition of supplies and resources.

It’s critical, Dagnachew noted, “to have resiliency in our processes and supply chains. Global political situations, natural disasters, and other events can affect the supply chain, so we put great effort into preparing for those circumstances. We work closely with the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Defense’s executive agent for medical logistics, and our partner in working with medical materiel vendors, to ensure a viable supply chain.”

Various MEDLOG professional teams oversee the supply chain while customer support teams work in direct support of military hospital and clinic medical logistics activities to handle issues at touchpoints on the ground.

The supply chain management division focuses on the management and distribution of medical materiel, which include pharmaceuticals, gloves, masks, and other medical equipment.

“They provide cohesive and clear medical materiel expertise in support of the MHS’s objective of implementing an integrated, collaborative process for medical materiel standardization to improve clinical outcomes, enhance readiness and training, control costs, and improve interoperability.”

Dagnachew said, MEDLOG optimizes support to the Defense Health Networks and military hospitals and clinics through measures like:

• Better buying initiatives: “For example, switching the source of pharmaceuticals from brand name to generic has a projected cost savings of $100 million,” said Dagnachew.

• Strategic sourcing: “We developed incentive agreements that establish lower cost pricing based on order quantities, creating a cost savings of over $15 million so far this fiscal year,” he added.

• Reducing variance: “We are reducing variance on our medical equipment with our five latest projects totaling an estimated $454 million cost saving.”

Supporting DHA Strategic Goals

Dagnachew points to several areas where MEDLOG’s supply chain management work supports the goals of the DHA.

“In the health care delivery area, we emphasize standardization where possible,” he said.

“We want to achieve 85% standardized medical practices to enable flexibility for local market conditions. We consider standardization based upon which facilities provide what services and leverage economies where feasible.”

MEDLOG also looks for opportunities to leverage innovation.

“We look at innovation in technology, processes, workflow, and people who allow us to be more effective and efficient,” said Dagnachew. “We also look to the private sector to learn from how they innovate.”

In the area of enterprise support, MEDLOG works to strengthen DHA’s workforce through effective employee recruitment and high-quality training, talent retention, and professional development of existing staff to support a broad range of functions and increase department interoperability.

“This includes the functional Career Community Career Development Guides for each GS occupational series in MEDLOG, Supply Chain MEDLOG training workshops available around the globe, and the MEDLOG Management Calendar,” said Dagnachew.

A Close-Knit Community

Ultimately, teamwork and collaboration play a key role in MEDLOG’s success.

“I can’t help but be thankful for everything and everyone in the medical logistics field,” he said. “We are one of the closest-knit communities in the Department of Defense which has always been our strength—getting together and solving the myriad issues we encounter with the medical supply chain and adapting that to our mission in DOD, whether that be in a brick-and-mortar hospital or down range in the field.”