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FLASH POINT. Recently I went shopping for some small "Justice League" action figures for my three toddler sons. I hit the three big chains but one gave me the most challenges. That chain, which shall remain nameless (but airs stylishly campy-kitschy bullseye-logoed television commercials) carried two of the three sought-after characters in the two stores I visited at opposite ends of town. Never mind that the sales associate sarcastically told me she couldn’t check the storeroom in the back for the missing character I needed because that would give me an unfair advantage over other customers who wait in line before the store opens for such "collectibles."

Ramsay (Batman), Rhys (Flash) and Rix (Superman) ready for action

The real bone of contention is that another lower level sales associate she recruited to help me could log into the store’s computer system to search for the product but really couldn’t find precisely what I was looking for. Why? The manufacturer of the product – a prominent toy company that underwent some CEO controversy a few years back (can’t imagine why) – affixes a single product code to the entire line. So the sales associate could determine that a store may have any of the "Justice League" characters in stock but couldn’t tell if "Superman," "Batman" or "the Flash" actually was on the shelf. The chain, which is lauded as a paragon of retail and supply management success, apparently didn’t want to assign additional product codes – not only as a customer service but as an efficiency step. And this chain is a prominent part of an industry supposedly a decade ahead of the Stone Age healthcare.

Now imagine if a surgeon tried to search via computer for a specific catheter in stock but only found that 300 catheters were available with no way of distinguishing particular characteristics. Please overlook the fact that a surgeon physically wouldn’t be doing such a menial task normally relegated for mere mortals and go with the analogy. This is one reason why healthcare should stop trying to replicate the manufacturing and retail IT and supply chain operations.

Here are others: Manufacturers and retailers make, distribute and sell a wide variety of widgets. These widgets don’t react or have a physical, mental or emotional response if an assembly line worker is bacterially or virally infected. These widgets don’t suffer a catastrophic reflex in one component if a technician fiddles with another. These widgets don’t sue if an assembly line worker inserts something at the wrong angle. But a patient can catch or develop an infection in a hospital from a poorly processed device or bad hand hygiene or poor air quality. A patient can develop a complication during and from a surgical procedure or from a medication. A patient will sue if a surgeon leaves a sponge in a body cavity – and it leads to a complication.

These also are the primary reasons why manufacturing and retail supply chain management techniques can’t be applied verbatim to pandemic responses. During such crises, manufacturers and retailers simply need to create and distribute more product and quickly – classic, fundamental supply and demand. But healthcare providers also have to deal with hundreds, if not thousands, of human widgets and countless potential complications from treatment. It can be as frustrating as the war on terrorism – with or without faulty intelligence – and something where superheroics falls short.

CROSSED WIRES. Call this irony. The Department of Health and Human Services issued a report outlining its "health IT accomplishments" and goals. Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office issued its own report accusing the Bush Administration of lacking strategy for EHRs.