In the complex world of medical device sourcing, data management is crucial for informed decisions, but staying on top of data accuracy and relevance is a constant challenge.
In this article, we explore data management problems in healthcare sourcing and look at solutions to address them.
Why Medical Device Data Quality Management Is Ongoing Duty
Data enrichment is not a one-time job, but an ongoing commitment. New data continually emerges, while old data degrades over time. Information naturally evolves and deteriorates, even enriched data.
If not kept up-to-date, data value diminishes significantly, eventually to the point where it becomes essentially worthless.
What Roadblocks Hinder Medical Device Sourcing?
1 - Messy Data Is Low-Value Data
Problem: Messy, incomplete data in healthcare spend management leads to confusion and hinders visibility and decision-making.
Solution: Prioritize data standardization and quality improvements through thoughtful data enrichment. Ongoing attention to data will help supply chain leaders, clinicians and others navigate contracts quickly and effectively. Invest in comprehensive data enrichment services to extract deeper insights, enabling better vendor negotiations and physician comparisons.
2 - Incomplete Data Enrichment
Problem: Many hospitals fail to fully enrich their clinical data about medical devices for various reasons. As a result, they miss valuable savings opportunities in nearly every implant contract.
Solution: Consider partnering with clinical spend management experts like Curvo, who specialize in enrichment and other data services to ensure clinical product information is comprehensive and insightful.
3 - Managing Data Enrichment Internally
Problem: Internal data enrichment can be resource-intensive and error-prone, with recurring issues like data entry mistakes, duplicate entries and conflicting systems.
Solution: Consider outsourcing data enrichment as a more efficient, cost-effective alternative to resource-consuming traditional approaches. Invest in comprehensive data enrichment services to extract deeper insights, enabling better vendor negotiations and physician comparisons.
4 - One-Time Static Spend Analysis
Problem: When hospitals use generic tools and manual methods for clinical spend management, analysis can be limited to one-off static assessments that don’t add much value to large sourcing projects.
Solution: Implement continuous data enrichment through data services to equip supply chain leaders for ongoing contracts, conversations and decision-making.
5 - Resource-Intensive Contract Processes
Problem: Data enrichment often involves integrating third-party data with existing clinical data, which can be resource-intensive and not a core skill set. Add to that all the steps in each contracting event that involve data. It’s more than most teams can handle.
Solution: Use data-as-a-service to simplify data enrichment and integration, and reduce staff time associated with resource-intensive contract approaches.
6 - Time-Consuming FDA Research
Problem: Some sourcing analysts manually scour the FDA website in search of credible data about medical devices. This is a massive time investment, especially for supply chains dealing with time-sensitive product and contract data.
Solution: Invest in automated tools and external sourcing resources like DaaS to streamline the research process, conserving your own time and resources. The ROI comes from finishing more contracts with more savings and less effort.
7 - Categorization and Normalization Challenges
Problem: Healthcare supply chains run into problems when categorizing and normalizing clinical product data due to spelling variances, inconsistent part numbers, and open fields.
Solution: Implement data management tools and services that standardize and categorize data accurately, ensuring apples-to-apples comparisons.
8 - Broad Classifications vs. Detailed Comparisons
Problem: Without detailed product classifications and enrichments, hospitals struggle to draw conclusions and negotiate effectively. General classification systems like the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC) fall short in producing rich data about clinical products. The global, multi-sector standard for classifying goods and services is sometimes too broad for healthcare supply chain purposes.
Solution: Invest in healthcare-specific data enrichment services that provide the detailed insights required for healthcare sourcing decisions. Gold-standard systems like Generic Implant Classification (GICⒸ) are a must-have in your DaaS partner.
9 - Data Challenges of Healthcare ERP Implementations
Problem: Consulting firms play a significant role in helping healthcare systems navigate ERP implementations. ERP systems often lack data quality or data governance to ensure clean, normalized data.
Solution: Data enrichment subscriptions can effectively normalize and prepare data for major ERP implementations by providing optimized data that can support quality reporting. These services streamline data cleansing and provide a solid foundation for cloud-based ERP systems.
Healthcare Supply Chain Needs Data Service, Not Just a Data Pipeline
Data enrichment and quality governance are critical to dependable data integrity, but are you prepared to fund the commitment with internal time and talent? The average healthcare supply chain isn’t built for data management; they have other priorities. For many healthcare supply chains, the model of in-house medical device data management doesn’t make much sense. But many hospitals have found something that does.
For a growing number of healthcare organizations, the challenge is solved by a DaaS subscription. Health systems and other data users invest in data-as-a-service (DaaS) subscriptions that enrich clinical product data to ensure ongoing accuracy.
In the dynamic, pressure-filled world of healthcare supply chain, data enrichment has emerged as a game-changer. It's a steady, scalable data service that takes a big load off the supply chain.
Ready to Solve Medical Device Data Management Problems?
The dynamic nature of clinical product data requires commitment to continuous data enrichment and investment in solutions that automate the process. This is really the most logical way to ensure data remains viable for informed decision-making over the long term.
Effective data management is essential for healthcare sourcing success. By addressing data management challenges with the right digital solutions, healthcare systems make more informed decisions, improve cost savings, and enhance patient care. Embrace data enrichment and data services to unlock the full potential of your healthcare sourcing efforts.
How are you taking data enrichment and clinical spend management to the next level?