Digital procurement marketplace connects hospitals responding to coronavirus outbreak

Resilinc, a software company, is launching a cloud-based bartering platform called The Exchange to allow hospitals to procure medical supplies from each other and from donors, while offering another item to trade in return. Along with all hospitals, The Exchange is open to Resilinc Healthcare industry customers, including group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and distributors, and other Resilinc customers interested in donating. Private companies, governmental and nongovernmental organizations can also join to donate, but only healthcare providers will be able to request supplies. The system, announced during a Resilinc webinar Tuesday, is the result of a partnership between Resilinc, Stanford Healthcare and Premier, a GPO in the healthcare industry. UPS has joined the effort as a delivery and logistics provider. The Exchange platform will go live mid-April in the U.S., with a global release in May or June, and be free to all hospitals until September, which Resilinc said "is hopefully our window for resolving or ... flattening the curve" of the COVID-19 pandemic. Government oversight would ideally be added to the Exchange to ensure the disbursement of inventory is effective, according to Bindiya Vakil, CEO and founder at Resilinc. "We don't want to play God. And we don't want to be the ones deciding who gets what," she said during the webinar. In the meantime, Resilinc’s Healthcare Transparency Initiative (HTI) board of directors will maintain oversight and settle disputes or concerns.