Lynn C. Fritz Medal for Excellence in Humanitarian Logistics 2023: International Medical Corps
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W<strong>in</strong>ner <strong>Lynn</strong> C. <strong>Fritz</strong> <strong>Medal</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Excellence</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Humanitarian</strong> <strong>Logistics</strong><br />
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with paper and Excel is like driv<strong>in</strong>g a car<br />
while look<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the rearview mirror.”<br />
In 2015, <strong>International</strong> <strong>Medical</strong> <strong>Corps</strong> decided<br />
that the time of paper mounta<strong>in</strong>s<br />
must end. A team searched <strong>for</strong> solutions<br />
on the market—<strong>in</strong> va<strong>in</strong>. The software<br />
tools it found were either very expensive<br />
or unsuitable <strong>for</strong> use <strong>in</strong> disaster relief. So<br />
<strong>in</strong> 2018, the organization made the decision<br />
to develop a solution <strong>in</strong>ternally.<br />
Unlike other organizations or companies<br />
<strong>in</strong> which a manager delegates a project<br />
from the top down, <strong>International</strong> <strong>Medical</strong><br />
<strong>Corps</strong> chose a bottom-up approach: <strong>in</strong><br />
concrete terms, this means that employees<br />
from the entire organization participate—pharmacists,<br />
logisticians, doctors,<br />
technicians and experts from the f<strong>in</strong>ance<br />
and legal departments. The advantage<br />
of this approach is that the comb<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
knowledge of everyone <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the<br />
process is used <strong>in</strong> product development.<br />
“We developed PIMS to meet the diverse<br />
organizational needs that cover<br />
the lifecycle of a product, from plann<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
procurement, transportation and<br />
storage, to dispens<strong>in</strong>g to beneficiaries,”<br />
Alarcon expla<strong>in</strong>s. From his perspective,<br />
the ability to ensure that the right medic<strong>in</strong>es<br />
were available at health facilities<br />
<strong>in</strong> the right quantities, properly prescribed<br />
and dispensed, was overdue. All<br />
of these factors can significantly affect<br />
the quality of health services <strong>for</strong> patients.<br />
Better outcomes strengthen trust <strong>in</strong> the<br />
health system and ultimately lead to<br />
lower mortality.<br />
<strong>International</strong> <strong>Medical</strong> <strong>Corps</strong> relied on<br />
proven technologies to develop the system.<br />
With the help of scanners, barcodes<br />
on the medic<strong>in</strong>es are captured, and basic<br />
<strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>mation about the items and the<br />
transactions is transferred <strong>in</strong>to the system.<br />
PIMS uses simple, user-friendly <strong>in</strong>terfaces<br />
so that users can easily enter relevant<br />
supply-cha<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>mation and basic patient<br />
data while the system uses preset<br />
algorithms <strong>in</strong> the background to augment<br />
the collected data. This enables the system<br />
to provide real-time statistical data<br />
and generate alerts so that supply-cha<strong>in</strong><br />
managers can take timely action and run<br />
their projects more efficiently.<br />
The results are impressive. Compared to<br />
other solutions on the market, PIMS has<br />
many unique features. One of PIMS’ key<br />
differentiators is its ability to manage all<br />
types of goods from the central warehouse<br />
to the end-user, provid<strong>in</strong>g full visibility of<br />
all movements of goods with<strong>in</strong> the supply<br />
cha<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> the last mile. Time-consum<strong>in</strong>g<br />
practices and procedures dom<strong>in</strong>ated by<br />
manual spreadsheets are elim<strong>in</strong>ated, result<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong> greater efficiency and accuracy<br />
as well as streaml<strong>in</strong>ed operations.<br />
Because PIMS enables accurate and efficient<br />
data collection and timely, flexible<br />
report<strong>in</strong>g, it <strong>in</strong>creases process transparency<br />
<strong>for</strong> physicians, supply-cha<strong>in</strong><br />
managers and other staff, m<strong>in</strong>istries of<br />
health and funders. Importantly, it frees<br />
up healthcare professionals to focus on<br />
patient care. PIMS also helps users with<br />
quantification, pharmacovigilance and<br />
drug-utilization review when dispens<strong>in</strong>g<br />
medications.<br />
Another plus is that the tool, which runs<br />
<strong>in</strong> the cloud but also locally, can be easily<br />
adapted to any language needed. PIMS<br />
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