Keeping-Up-How-Digitization-Needs-Be-Harmonious-Work

We’ve all been banging on about digitization across all industries for some time now, but the COVID-19 crisis really shone a light on the ways digital technology can help us build more transparent and resilient organizations, better able to respond to global events such as the pandemic.

And with continuing crises such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continuing to stress test supply chains, this need has not diminished simply because the worst days of the pandemic are now [hopefully] behind us.

However, for the full potential of digitization to be realized it’s vitally important that all stakeholders within a system or value chain are progressing at the same or a similar rate, lest one link in the chain be left behind and lessen the effectiveness of these technologies on the entire system.

Uneven Digital Distribution

The situation described in our introduction is no mere hypothetical. This is exactly what is happening in the healthcare value chain right now and stakeholders within that system need to address the disparity or risk failing to reap the full benefits of digitization.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the healthcare industry has accelerated its digital transformation and introduced dozens of innovative technologies which help care providers better access medical data, conduct consultations with patients remotely, and distribute medical treatments through couriers or the postal service, among other services. This has created an industry which is now significantly more digitally mature than it was in the before times, something which puts it in stark contrast to the supply chains which support it.

Despite the impact of the pandemic on global supply chains – and the continuing impact of other crises – supply chain organizations have been comparably slow to adopt digital transformation. While significant numbers of organizations in this space are planning to increase investment in this area – as detailed in our previous article on supply chain resiliency – a rather worrying proportion have stated their intention to keep investment in digital tools maintained at their pre-pandemic levels or, perhaps most bafflingly, reduce investment even lower than that.

With nearly a third of supply chain stakeholders committing to this direction of travel, we are likely to see an ever-widening gap between the digital capabilities of healthcare providers themselves and the supply chains which facilitate their access to lifesaving medical technology and other supplies.

"Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry is quickly transforming to address the needs of the digital era,” writes Datwyler. "Healthcare professionals, drug developers, and patients are all critical adaptors of these new technologies and processes, which means that the [healthcare] value chain must also prepare to meet this new challenge.”

Communication

To address the clear disparity in the rate of digital transformation between those organizations in the healthcare provision and medical and pharma manufacturing space and those which operate between those two ends of the value chain will require new ways of thinking and an increase in communication between all stakeholders.

Of course, the difficult part of that suggestion is that, to make it possible, will also require increased adoption of digital technology – especially that related to the quick and easy sharing of data. The introduction of digital ledger technology which can facilitate this could provide a solution which make it far easier for all links in the medical value chain to communicate and share data.

However, this requires all stakeholders to not only agree to implement such technology, but to also agree which digital ledger system to implement. Blockchain obviously dominates most conversations around this topic, but there are many alternatives which perform the task equally well if not better than it – and without even a portion of the controversy.

Centralized ledgers, distributed databases, centralized databases, cloud storage, and others are all capable of enabling the quick and easy sharing of information and are far simpler and more cost-effective than blockchain adoption. Convincing stakeholders in a value chain to share information through something such as cloud storage is a far simpler prospect than asking them to implement a technology which is as nebulous and misunderstood as blockchain.

Final Thoughts

Whichever technological solution the medical supply chain settles on, the need for all stakeholders to reach parity when it comes to their level of digital transformation is going to be a key determinate of success in the post-COVID landscape.

If the industry fails to reach this digital parity the needs of healthcare providers and manufacturers are going to rapidly outpace the capabilities of the supply chains serving them and will result in, not only a poorer service for all involved, but reduce the resiliency of these vital systems in the face of both current and future crises.

Digitization is sure to be part of the conversation at LogiMed 2023, being held in March at The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa, Palm Springs, CA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.