SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES
Advancing a Digitally Enabled Supply Chain as a Strategy to Strengthen Resilience of Canada’s Healthcare Supply Chain Anne W. Snowdon, Alexandra Wright, Colleen J. Metge, Nancy L. Pakieser, Cindy Ly and Saba Ghadiri
Abstract Currently, most healthcare organizations in Canada lack the capacity to identify products on hand, track their locations or link product use in the delivery of healthcare to patient outcomes. These digital blind spots are associated with delayed product-recall responsiveness, compromised patient safety and a limited ability to make data-driven decisions during supply disruptions. This study presents a co-design strategy supported by the Supply Chain Advancement Network in Health (SCANH) community of practice to define a digital supply chain strategy that will ensure that health systems have the supply chain capacity to deliver quality and safe care to Canadians. Using Delphi methodology and roundtable consultation among diverse health system stakeholders (n = 35), four system-level strategies are described to advance a digitally enabled supply chain within and across Canadian health systems, including: (1) the key features of a clinically integrated, digitally enabled healthcare supply chain; (2) defined data sources and data content to strengthen product traceability (e.g., unique product identification; location data; utilization at point of care); (3) integration of global product data standards to strengthen accuracy and consistency of supply chain management; and (4) interoperability of product data across Canadian healthcare systems. Project findings leverage current federal, provincial and territorial data modernization efforts, such as the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s
Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework strategy and Canada Health Infoway’s interoperability initiatives. The results of the co-design strategy offer a strategic path forward to advance a digitally enabled healthcare supply chain across Canada, illustrating how access to standardized product data empowers proactive, evidence-based supply chain decisions that protect patient safety and improve system resilience.
Introduction
Canada experiences a higher frequency of health product shortages than any other developed country in the world, with critical drug shortages continuing even as the COVID-19 pandemic supply disruptions have resolved (Health Canada 2025; PharmaCompass 2023). This stark reality reflects a deeper systemic challenge that contributes to the fragility of Canada’s healthcare supply chain. Currently, health system leaders are unable to identify available products, track their locations or understand the demand utilization of products required to deliver patient care (CIHI 2025; Snowdon and Forest 2021; Yang 2024). The majority of Canada’s healthcare organizations operate with limited or no digital infrastructure to monitor product inventory, or to track demand utilization for products and mitigate risks of product shortages. Health systems are essentially “flying blind” (Snowdon and Forest 2021), with a lack of
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