Observations on AI in the medical supply chain
By Wyeth Ruthven, Director of Congressional Relations and Public Relations, Health Industry Distributors Association
Artificial intelligence is changing every aspect of healthcare and healthcare distribution. I’ve seen it first-hand at HIDA’s conferences, such as Streamlining Healthcare and MedSupplyChain. At HIDA, we’ve been actively engaging stakeholders to discuss the capabilities and challenges for artificial intelligence in healthcare distribution. Our members are eager to learn more about AI, and are happy to share some of the insights and cases studies they have gained from its application.
Among the observations I’ve seen about AI in the medical supply chain are the following:
AI Helps Understand Supply Chain Challenges. Thanks to AI, all stakeholders in the medical supply chain – manufacturer, distributor, provider – can be notified simultaneously when there is a shipping issue that may delay delivery. Being able to quickly identify and communicate problems allows us to pivot more quickly to solutions. Recently, one healthcare distributor used artificial intelligence to deal with shipping delays caused by low-water levels in the Panama Canal. Within 50 minutes of learning of a delay, the AI system had mapped out a path to re-route the shipping containers, giving decision-makers real-time input they could use.
AI Gives Clinicians More Time for Patient Care. The volume of medical data is accelerating, and clinicians are struggling to keep up. According to research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it would take a doctor 26.7 hours a day to handle the preventative task procedures their patient population needs. Approximately, 3 hours a day are dedicated to documenting clinical data. Faced with these burdens, it is no wonder that 81% of physicians report symptoms of burnout. AI can automate repetitive tasks such as routine data documentation and patient follow up communications. This reduces the administrative burden on clinicians, freeing up their time to focus on care that benefits patients.
AI Needs Guardrails to Follow, Such as Patient Privacy. One healthcare distributor was using AI for demand planning, and the AI quickly became so sophisticated that it could predict medical supply needs in a single zip code. With this level of precision, however, it became possible to infer who in a neighborhood needed a particular surgery, which could be considered an invasion of medical privacy. Artificial intelligence is only as good as the data it is trained on – and the guardrails it is programmed to follow.
AI is No Substitute for Human Intuition. Artificial intelligence is intended to be a remedy, not a replacement for healthcare practitioners. While AI can offer solutions, it does not take the place of making decisions. Some experienced providers liken AI to a first-year resident in a hospital – they can be helpful to gather and synthesize data, but more experienced people should double-check their work to reduce medical errors.
As AI continues to advance, its transformative impact on healthcare promises to deliver improved patient outcomes across the continuum of care. HIDA will continue to convene discussions on how to best use this exciting new technology.