From the April 2020 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
To arrive at some of those answers, healthcare supply chain knows the value of good data, with most using data analytics to make their case, but Kiewiet suggests that the way in which data is presented could improve. “Bring the data that you have and bring it in a way that is actionable and meaningful, and add it to the other book of data that doesn’t come from supply chain so you can help to contribute to the bigger picture,” he said. “A lot of that starts from ‘go out and ask, find out what questions your data should be asking that you’re not asking’, which involves really getting into the other stakeholders and other interested parties to really get at, from their lines, where is this journey? What is value? How do you classify value? What is cost savings? What is not cost savings? What is relevant or not relevant? And it starts to build out.”
As the journey to integrate continues, advances in augmented decision-making technology — artificial intelligence, machine learning, intelligent automation — are the tools many health systems will depend on, but their usefulness will also depend on how willing healthcare organizations are to make significant cultural changes. Kiewiet says Amazon — whether you’re a fan or not — is the model healthcare should emulate.
“What Amazon has shown the ability to do relentlessly well is that everything they do starts at the consumer — the perspective, usability and experience of the consumer — and builds backwards,” he said. “If healthcare did the same thing, I think we would ask different questions and we would build tools and capabilities to answer them. Anything supply chain can do to make itself more present — and I don’t mean put a supply tech in the room, I mean supply chain leaders being more present in the care environment, not to tell but to ask and listen and observe, they will start to become more relevant.”
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