PINC AI launches enhanced technology offering
PINC AI™, the technology and services platform of Premier, Inc., launched INsights, an enhanced self-service healthcare solution for the creation of customized, on-demand analytics.
INsights is a vendor-agnostic analytics platform that accesses PINC AI’s cleansed, standardized, and risk-adjusted healthcare data, covering more than 45 percent of all U.S. hospital inpatient discharges. INsights users can leverage pre-developed analytics developed by PINC AI, as well as conduct customized data queries and visualizations using PINC AI or their own data sources. The platform will also serve as a development community, where users can crowdsource and share information, measures, queries and more with others.
INsights will be hosted on Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, providing users access to a reliable cloud-based platform and next-generation tools to accelerate their use of analytics and AI. With PINC AI data running on Azure Synapse, users will accelerate their time to insight with the unified experience that brings together the entire analytics lifecycle into a single pane of glass.
According to past data surveys, data scientists spend 70 to 80 percent of their time on data preparation tasks, such as loading and cleansing data. This significantly reduces their ability to be consultants and storytellers of their organizational data. INsights reduces this burden by providing access to pre-loaded datasets that are cleansed, normalized and linked together, automating all the data preparation tasks.
Early pilot-testing organizations leveraging INsights used the platform to create analytics that assess and measure a host of quality improvement efforts, including patient safety indicators, lab order turnaround times, length of stay by specific conditions and time to treatment metrics.
BD, Pfizer, Wellcome collaborate to improve antimicrobial stewardship practices
BD announced a collaboration with Pfizer Inc. and global charitable foundation Wellcome to better understand the role of diagnostics in advancing antimicrobial stewardship practices around the world.
Building on ongoing efforts to advance the role of diagnostics in tackling the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this collaboration will survey existing diagnostic practices to highlight both benefits and gaps in diagnostic testing in AMR stewardship to improve and further advocate for patient care, clinical practice and health care economics.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines. These changes make infections harder to treat and increase the risk of disease transmission, severe illness and death. As the organisms that cause infections become increasingly drug resistant, even common medical procedures – including surgery, childbirth and chemotherapy – can become increasingly life-threatening. A continued rise in AMR could take 10 million lives globally each year by 2050 – more than currently die from cancer.
Half of internet-connected devices in hospitals are vulnerable to hacks
According The Verge, half of internet-connected devices in hospitals have a vulnerability that puts patient safety, confidential data, and the utility of the device itself in jeopardy. This comes from a report from the healthcare cybersecurity company Cynerio, which analyzed data from over 10 million devices at over 300 hospitals and health care facilities globally, collected through connectors attached to the devices as part of its security platform.
The report found that the devices that are most likely to have vulnerabilities are infusion pumps, which remotely connect to electronic medical records, pulls the correct dosage of a medication or other fluid, and dispenses it to the patient. Additionally, patient monitors that track things like heart rate, breathing rate, and ultrasounds are susceptible to hacks as well. A hack into devices like these could be used to hurt or threaten patients directly.
Intermountain Healthcare names Allison Corry as new head of supply chain organization
Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City, UT) has named Allison Corry as the new chief supply chain officer and vice president of the health system’s supply chain organization (SCO).
In this role, Corry will lead the development of the Intermountain SCO’s future digital roadmap creating the vision and strategic plans for all aspects of the operation including materials management, logistics, services, operations integration, and procurement. She is the first woman to serve in this role at Intermountain.
Intermountain says that one of the biggest changes Corry will help usher in is providing extraordinary service through faster adoption of technology. This includes using big data to better predict supply chain challenges, while shifting more aspects of hospital supply chain to a direct-to-consumer model. It also includes a new partnership with Zipline that will allow Intermountain to deliver medicine and other supplies directly to patients.
Corry says it’s an important step in expanding the benefits of telemedicine.
Corry has worked at Intermountain for nearly three years, serving as the assistant vice president for the system’s SCO’s procurement team and has been a part of many of the innovations which have earned Intermountain’s SCO national recognition.
HealthTrust division CoreTrust partners with GEODIS to expand full truckload (FTL) managed transportation solution
CoreTrust, a commercial group purchasing organization (GPO) and a division of HealthTrust, and GEODIS announced a strategic alliance to provide a full truckload (FTL) managed transportation solution to CoreTrust members.
The alliance expands CoreTrust Logistics’ truckload freight offering to include a comprehensive FTL managed solution for member organizations. By tapping into the GEODIS network of more than 1,000 asset-based carriers, as well as its world-class managed transportation capabilities, CoreTrust members can achieve superior results in both procurement of contracted rates and end-to-end management of FTL shipments, the companies said.
The managed transportation solution goes beyond securing competitive pricing and includes a Transportation Management System, a dedicated operations team to manage FTL shipments, a portal providing visibility to shipment status, claims management, and freight audit and payment.
This end-to-end solution delivers both savings and efficiency improvement in CoreTrust members’ supply chain functions.
“The transportation market has experienced significant inflation and every company needing to move products can benefit from the options afforded through this collaboration,” added David Pollard, assistant vice president of CoreTrust Logistics. “Truckload rates have increased 25 to 30 percent, yet our members are confirming cost avoidance and significant savings with this comprehensive solution. Even in this inflationary market, this alliance is driving achievable and quantifiable value across full truckload transportation for CoreTrust members.”
“By leveraging our expansive network of asset-based carriers to build a customized solution that focuses on improving service, controlling cost and optimizing freight spend dollars, our team of experts can customize a premium transportation solution based on CoreTrust members’ unique supply chain needs,” said Jeff McDermott, senior vice president of Transportation Management at GEODIS in Americas. “Ultimately, we will remove the hassle and time out of transportation procurement, contracting and FTL shipment management for CoreTrust members to make their processes more efficient, reduce costs and drive considerable long-lasting value to their businesses.”