Aidmatrix Europe at the 2nd Annual Global Health Supply Chain Summit, Spain

The Second Annual Global Health Supply Chain Summit was held in early December 2009 in Zaragoza, Spain. Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC), a research institute established by the Government of Aragón in Spain in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Zaragoza hosted the summit. ZLC has been designated by the Ministry of Education and Sciences in Spain to be the National Center of Excellence for research in the area of logistics and supply chain management.

Over 100 professionals from around the world representing academia, government Health ministries, and NGOs with special focus on health care in developing countries participated.

On the agenda were speakers from the World Health Organization, Trans Aid, IBM, Wharton Business School and The Aidmatrix Foundation.

Key questions on the table this year:

-What was the evolution of private sector supply chain in developing countries?
-Would the evolution of global health supply chain be similar?
-Are there lessons that can be transferred between sectors?

Shari Temple, Managing Director for the Aidmatrix Foundation Europe, and Richard Lloyd, i2 Consulting Director EMEA and a member of the Aidmatrix European Advisory Board attended.

Shari addressed the delegates on the topic of supply chain solutions supporting medical relief in the humanitarian sector.

Aidmatrix Haitian Earthquake Relief

My name is Julie Ross and I’m a member of The Aidmatrix Foundation team. We are currently responding to the Haitian earthquake disaster and ongoing aftershocks. I thought perhaps you might want to know a little bit more about what we do everyday and some of the first-hand experiences we’re having with this relief effort.

While we don’t physically mend people’s bones or serve them food for their hunger, we are standing hand-in-hand in the disaster zone with our charitable partners that do.

You see, we do things like fly to Haiti (this weekend) to help set up emergency warehouses so that all the donations that you and your friends make to organizations like CARE, International Federation of Red Cross / Red Crescent, Project HOPE, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, ACS, Children International and many more can be transported to the disaster zone in mass quantities and then divvied up to the relief workers on the front lines.

Our team has been working round-the-clock since the disaster struck to coordinate with major corporate manufacturers and big box retailers to get semi-trailers of goods to be donated connected with aviation providers to donate cargo space and flight crews. Then there are the federal government agencies, military and emergency services folks in Washington, D.C., the United Nations, NATO, who we work with to help clear the way for these things to happen. It brings a lot of diverse groups together for a common cause.

So in a way, we are community builders. But then, we’re also technology folks, too. We build computer systems that allow the relief organizations to post exactly what they need on our global “bulletin board” so the public can see it all in one place. The fancy, official name is called “Supply Chain Management.” These systems enable the NGOs to have real-time visibility into their available supply quantities and to share the inventories in their disaster warehouses with their own relief teams out in the field and with other NGOs. It’s a highly fluid process as pallets of products are arriving, checked in, broken down into smaller units, repackaged, and then transported out on-demand as the heroes on the scene order directly what is needed from their laptop & a web browser.

Disaster relief is an amazing thing to witness: the coordination of it all with so many moving pieces and brave, passionate, humble people. Historically, these relief organizations have done this all on paper forms or with spreadsheets and phone calls because the technology that the for-profit world uses (like bar code scanners and inventory databases used at the supermarket) is just so expensive. Thankfully we have grantors to Aidmatrix that help fund those costs so we can provide it to the NGOs. So what we do is basically to just amplify what these amazing NGOs have been doing so well. Simple systems that help manage the flow of donations dramatically reduce a nonprofit’s administrative and operational costs putting the public’s donations toward more aid. At the same time, it enables them to push many times more aid out to people in need because it’s just such an efficient way to process information.

We’re a small shop, compared to the international relief organizations and government agencies that we work with (there are about 50 of us). But we are high-energy optimists and realists and analyticals who really are working to help solve these humanitarian crises -- and together with this growing community, we’re making progress.

I want to invite you to follow what we’re doing on any of the sites below where you can see the work we do, because I have to say it’s a pretty cool and humbling experience that I get to do this for my job.

• Facebook
• Linked In
• Twitter
• You Tube
• or our website (www.aidmatrix.org)


I hope you are well and safe. And if you’re not currently volunteering your valuable skills in some way, I encourage you to find something you can support locally and volunteer today. It just takes one to make a difference.

Thanks,

Julie Erkenswick Ross

ISTAT's AirLink Program Joins Aidmatrix Network® to Coordinate Air Transportation for Haitian Earthquake Relief and More

The Aidmatrix Foundation today announced a partnership with the ISTAT Foundation (International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading - www.istat.org) to help facilitate the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid for the Haitian Earthquake in addition to ongoing humanitarian efforts. ISTAT's AirLink program will use the Aidmatrix Network®'s technology to connect airline capacity to humanitarian need while connecting the ISTAT membership with the hundreds of NGOs currently posting transportation needs on the Aidmatrix Network.

ISTAT is using Aidmatrix's SCM Transportation Donations Management and Needs Management modules to achieve their goals. The technology and services provided by Aidmatrix will enable ISTAT to focus their efforts on securing more donated and discounted transportation offers from their membership while Aidmatrix manages the administration behind the scenes. Work is already underway to connect donated capacity on flights into Haiti with NGO staff and supplies. Visit the ISTAT AirLink web portal to learn more about this effort and see current transportation needs at http://www.airlink-istat.org/.

Read the Full Press Release Here>>




Photos courtesy of ISTAT's AirLink

UPDATE: Haiti Earthquake Response

Aidmatrix is working diligently with our global NGO and local partners in Haiti to connect the various response efforts to the recent earthquake. Needs for in-kind and transportation donations are currently being assessed and will be posted to the Aidmatrix Network as they become available. Communications and connectivity are difficult at present in Haiti as relief teams are still making their way to the area, so please continue to check back for updates or follow us on the social networks at the right.

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

Donate Cash - Choose the NGO: CARE, International Federation of Red Cross, Meds and Food for Kids, MedShare, Powered by ACTION, Food for the Poor, Save the Children, World Vision

Donate In-Kind Products/Services via the Powered by ACTION portal on the Aidmatrix Network. Powered by ACTION is a group of impassioned people working with private sector and on-the-ground social initiatives to improve the lives of those in need.

Become a Recipient - If your relief organization is working in Haiti and would like to become a "Registered Recipient."

Haiti Earthquake Response Update

Aidmatrix is working diligently with our global NGO and local partners in Haiti to connect the various response efforts to the recent earthquake.

Needs for in-kind and transportation donations are currently being assessed and will be posted to the Aidmatrix Network as they become available.

Communications and connectivity are difficult at present in Haiti as relief teams are still making their way to the area, so please continue to check back for updates or follow us on:

Facebook
Twitter
Email Alerts

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

Donate Cash

Donate In-Kind Products/Services

If your relief organization is working in Haiti and would like to become a "Registered Recipient,” please use our contact us form.

In addition, other Aidmatrix Partners are activating their own portals for this response and we will provide updates on these efforts as they are available.

Aidmatrix Disaster / Office Continuity Plan

For two days, the Aidmatrix Dallas Office closed our office doors to test our Disaster Continuity Plan readiness. We created this plan with the help of our interns and volunteers, and wanted to make sure that our office could still function with the same efficiency if a disaster or epidemic forced us to close our office down and work from home.

With the help of our incredible volunteer Michele Pavlyak, we also piloted a business continuity and alerting technology system during this time. This system is a hosted service created for organizations and emergency operation centers specializing in responding to natural disasters, business disruptions, crisis or other emergencies. The system would send out alert emails and phone calls describing the situation to each of us, and provided us with a way to communicate our status to each other. It also would notify us with information for conference calls to discuss the current situation together.

Thanks to our high level of preparedness, I believe that our office was able to seamlessly transition to working at home with no warning, just as if a disaster were to strike. This is something that I believe that all businesses, no matter how small or large, should be prepared for.

Michael Ross
VP-Technology, Aidmatrix

Aidmatrix Visits PediPlace in Lewisville, Texas

In 1995, PediPlace was only open a couple days a week and was completely reliant on volunteer doctors and nurses. Today, this not-for-profit pediatric clinic is open 5 days a week, and operates with 4 full-time nurse practitioners, a full operational staff and a half-time pediatrician. Larry Robbins, the Clinic Executive Director, gave us a full tour of the building and a full explanation of the history and the incredible care that is provided by PediPlace. When we first stepped through the doors and into the staff area (consisting of the kitchen, conference room, office, files, etc) I imagined the patient area was just as small and crowded. But as the tour proceeded, and we got to see all 16 exam rooms, and I realized that PediPlace staff dealt with the clutter and uncomfortable workspace so that their continuously growing number of patients could be comfortable.



PediPlace is a member of the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC). What separates PediPlace from other similar medical clinics is that they exclusively cater to children, from birth to 18. They serve children who are uninsured or who receive Medicaid or CHIP benefits. CHIP is the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance to all uninsured children and teens who are not eligible for or enrolled in Medical Assistance.



Currently, PediPlace sees 90-100 patients each day, all on an appointment system. This year they will be seeing their most ever patients, with a projected total of 63,000. The clinic staff makes sure that newborns are seen for all their regular check-ups, and they teach parents the benefit of bringing their babies in when they are healthy, not just when they are sick.

I really enjoyed getting to spend some time visiting a place that Aidmatrix helps, and to see them in action. Each staff member we spoke with was extremely grateful to Aidmatrix for the donated and discounted medical supplies that they are able to order through our technology, FreeClinicLink™.

I cannot wait for my next visit to see how we are able to help our partners do the incredible work that they do.

Graham Caywood
Aidmatrix Program Specialist