Managing tariff risk in healthcare supply chains

• Tariff exposure poses a growing cost and compliance risk for healthcare organizations, especially across complex supply chains.
• Workday Prism Analytics, integrated with third-party datasets like Symmetric Health Solutions, empowers supply chain leaders to develop tariff-mitigation strategies for clearer visibility into risk.
• By leveraging Workday’s data foundation, healthcare organizations can proactively model cost impacts, build a centralized tariff risk dashboard, and make more informed, agile procurement decisions.

Healthcare organizations continue to face growing complexity in sourcing and procurement. One emerging area of concern: tariffs, which are creating new disruptions in the cost and availability of critical medical supplies.

Recent global trade shifts have led to tariffs being applied not only to finished medical products but also to the raw materials used in their manufacture. For healthcare providers, this can translate into increased costs for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and personal protective equipment (PPE); extended lead times for products sourced internationally; and unanticipated budget constraints, particularly for smaller facilities with limited margins.

Health systems are moving quickly to undertake mitigation strategies, including diversifying supply chains to minimize reliance on any single source, investing in domestic manufacturing, and collaborating with other providers to enhance collective purchasing power.

Bringing tariff data into focus

To support these strategies, organizations need better visibility into how tariffs are affecting their supply chains, and that starts with actionable data. Capturing and managing tariff-related impacts requires granular, consistent, and connected data. Specifically, systems must be able to:

• Identify the country (or countries) of origin for individual items
• Track whether those items — or their components — are subject to tariffs
• Distinguish between tariffed and exempt materials within a product

This level of detail often isn’t readily available in ERP or procurement workflows. However, some healthcare organizations are addressing this by integrating external data sources into their supply chain infrastructure.

In collaboration with Workday and Symmetric Health Solutions, Huron has identified approaches using Symmetric data and Workday functionality to support tariff-mitigation strategies.

• Add alternate item identifiers: Add alternate identifiers for both country of origin and tariff rate within the spend categories. While these fields won’t be included in standard financial calculations or reports, these provide essential visibility for custom reporting and analytics. This creates a foundation for more informed supply chain decision-making without requiring core system changes.
• Update material costs: Adjust material costs to account for tariffs either at the time of receipt or through manual updates. This helps ensure that inventory valuations reflect true landed costs. The Workday item markup functionality can also be used to apply a flat percentage increase by item where specific rates aren’t available.
• Model tariffs as taxes: Configure tariffs as a separate tax type and apply them at the line level during invoicing. This allows for more automated application and consistent treatment across suppliers. Note that this may increase match exceptions, which could require adjustments to matching tolerances or rule configurations. If suppliers include tariffs as separate invoice lines, modifying an existing freight boomerang integration to shift the value into the PO header field can help reduce disruption in the matching process.

Turning insight into action

Tariffs can have far-reaching effects on patient care, from the availability and quality of medical supplies to the financial burden on patients and the well-being of healthcare workers. Addressing these challenges requires not just awareness, but strategic planning and data-driven action. We recommend the following steps to strengthen your organization’s planning and response:

• Incorporate tariff data into spend reports. Gain detailed visibility into how tariffs are impacting your supply chain. Workday Prism Analytics customers can use the Prism Accelerator for Healthcare to access deeper reporting and analysis.
• Use predictive analytics to stay ahead. Leverage business intelligence tools to forecast potential impacts, assess vulnerabilities, and explore alternative sourcing strategies — before issues escalate.
• Analyze supplier-level data. Identify which suppliers and regions are most exposed to tariff risk. This supports better negotiations, sourcing decisions, and product substitutions. Symmetric’s dataset includes substitute item information for most products.
• Build a centralized tariff risk dashboard. Create a single view of procurement risk with visualizations by source country, spend category, and supplier. This helps leaders act quickly and with confidence.
• Integrate Workday and Symmetric. Ensure you have real-time, up-to-date insights on tariff impacts, allowing your teams to make faster, smarter decisions.

Bringing tariff data into focus is more than an operational fix — it’s a strategic step toward smarter, more resilient supply chains. With the right tools and insights, healthcare leaders can turn disruption into informed action.