Increasing responsible donations of medical surplus

The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), with support from Accenture Development Partnerships, has embarked on a journey to increase the impact and effectiveness of donations of surplus medical supplies and equipment to support health care delivery within the developing world. CHA has researched the current landscape for medical surplus donation by U.S.-based hospitals and identified opportunities to improve and expand donation programs in order to strengthen sustainable impact on global health. This paper outlines key findings on U.S. Catholic hospitals' interest in surplus donation, gaps in donation quality and processing capacity, and opportunities for increasing responsible donations of medical surplus. The research also reviews practices by intermediary organizations, referred to as medical surplus recovery organizations (MSROs), which are specialized non-profit organizations that accept, process, inventory and redistribute medical donations to health care institutions in developing countries. The evidence gathered suggests that: (1) there is significant unmet demand for quality medical surplus donation; (2) there is genuine interest from the majority of U.S. Catholic health care to initiate new surplus donation programs or to improve existing operations; and (3) there are numerous constraints and inefficiencies in current approaches to medical surplus donation which, if addressed, could result in significantly greater effectiveness and impact. CHA aspires to reduce ineffective donations and increase appropriate, useful donations that have a positive impact in hospitals and clinics located in developing countries.