Heightened globalization, complexity and advancement through digitization has evolved healthcare supply chain management into a non-linear, more interconnected function that must be increasingly responsive and adaptive to change.
Sponsored: Premier- October 2023- The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Against this backdrop, a key area of focus for leaders includes modernizing and tech-enabling the healthcare supply chain for greater transparency, risk mitigation and automation of highly manual tasks.
Today, we’re on the cutting edge of technological advancements to meet the changing demands of the industry. Nearly half of U.S. healthcare supply chain leaders are planning to use advanced forecasting technology solutions (48%), ERP enhancements (46%) and collaboration tools (37%), among others, to automate and/or enhance their supply chain strategies over the next year, according to Premier’s 2023 supply chain resiliency survey.
Health systems should look to prioritize supply chain technology solutions that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and demand forecasting, as well as provide real- time insights into inventory, cost variances and supply standardization. They should also seek out tools that integrate with the hospital’s own enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to help improve margins while reducing the risk of errors.
AI-enabled predictive models have turned a corner – creating watershed moment for supply chain technology. Driven by ERP and organization-specific data, combined with ML, these solutions are allowing for longitudinal visibility across the supply chain, where providers can see demand signals, point-of-use information and supplier resiliency metrics vital to accurately manage forecasting and costs, and predict supply shortages that can compromise quality patient care.
For example, the PINC AI™ Supply Disruption Manager utilizes AI algorithms and provider data to generate predictions of future demand and identify potential shortages for specific medical products with over 90 percent accuracy.
Armed with these insights, suppliers can anticipate increased demand for planning production, managing inventory and preventing shortages. Providers receive real-time notifications when purchased products are at risk of shortages. The integrated predictive system also recommends clinically approved equivalent products – saving staff precious time and minimizing supply chain disruptions for steady supply and patient care continuity.
With supply chain teams asked to do more with less, AI and other advanced technology solutions have transformative potential for the healthcare supply chain, including the ability to sift and parse through mountains of data, optimize healthcare purchasing, streamline tasks and workflows, mitigate supply shortages, and more.
Learn more about Premier’s full suite of PINC AI™ supply chain solutions – and how they can drive meaningful results for providers and patients.