Commercial distribution remains the dominant, resilient model in hospital supply chains. True self-distribution is increasingly rare and evolving toward hybrid partnerships that balance control, efficiency, and resilience.

Several systems such as Sentara and Providence discontinued or modified their self-distribution models since 2016; others created new models, partnering with a commercial distributor but in different and innovative ways.

“Classifying IDNs by supply chain model is tricky, since every organization is unique” said Elizabeth Hilla, HIDA’s senior vice president of content. “No IDN is a pure self-distributor; all of them buy some items through various distributors. And conversely, all hospitals buy some products, such as large capital equipment, direct from manufacturers.”