Dive Brief:
- A recent survey by Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) identified predictive analytics and the use of data for better-informed decisions as 2017’s healthcare supply chain goals.
- According to the survey, top performers will seek to achieve the highest accuracy in pricing between suppliers and providers, standardize data and increase its optimization.
- Contract management, ERP functionality, and cost reductions were also cited as among the most important healthcare initiatives within the supply chain in 2017.
Dive Insight:
It is no surprise the healthcare industry is looking to better data management and insights as one of the top priorities for 2017, considering recent trends toward personalized medicine and cost-cutting initiatives that do not cut quality of care.
The reason is that the advent of Big Data, and technology that can process it is allowing companies across sectors to gain access to a deeper, customer-centric level of data previously unavailable. Simply, whereas the data on specific clients and products may have always been available, collecting the data and analyzing it in spreadsheets made it less efficient to consistently analyze shifts at the customer- or SKU-level than at the site- or product category-level.
However, accessing this new technology and capabilities comes with challenges, and 2017 appears to be the year companies will seek to fix them. For example, while it is now possible to collect all the data, hospitals, clinics and other companies must be sure the product data is standardized so it can be integrated across systems. In addition, as companies seek to deliver and produce more personalized medicine, their third party logistics providers must also adapt to personalized shipments, requiring more precise tracking and storage capabilities.
