Don’t Be Content being ” The Walkman”
D2 Solutions has recently been recognized as a pioneer in patient-centric pharmaceutical technology solutions. In addition, CIO Review…
| By Dean Erhardt We need to be more innovative. When in discussions with industry stakeholders — be it pharma manufacturers, pharmacies, hospitals, or others — innovation is a constant theme. The challenge, of course, is that they desire innovation – – without disruption. What is innovation? Today, we don’t think about the Sony Walkman as innovative, yet at the time it was revolutionary! Unfortunately, many entities with whom D2 works are still ‘using’ the Walkman — failing to keep pace in an environment of ever accelerating change. The world is moving fast. In our last newsletter, I discussed the significant shortages facing the healthcare industry. As a follow-up, the shortage appears to be accelerating. According to a story in US News’ Best Hospitals 2023 Guidebook, the impact is devastating. With fewer clinicians working in the field, practitioners are finding themselves responsible for a larger number of patients, fueling soaring burnout levels that experts say raise the risk of medical errors and, consequently, potential harm to Americans. Further, a recent study by USA today and marketing research firm Ipsos showed nearly 25% of industry respondents indicate they are likely to leave the healthcare field in the near future. The staffing issue is not limited to hospitals. In an August 2022 article published by NCPA, more than three-quarters of community pharmacists stated they are having a tough time filling open positions, and the result is higher payroll costs and longer wait times for patients seeking to fill prescriptions. In addition, more than 88 percent of respondents this year said finding pharmacy technicians was their “Number 1” problem, followed by front-end staff at 56 percent. What do we do, what do we do? Innovate! Everyone wants to be on the cutting edge but not on the bleeding edge – taking advantage of change, without change disrupting your entire organization. Let’s take a look at innovation that has been shared with D2 by various industry stakeholders: – Sending postcards to conduct patient surveys (first postcard mailed 1840) – Using an auto-dialer to connect with patients (auto-dialer invented 1942) – SMS texting (via phone 1992 — note the first electronic telegraph 1837) – Outbound telephone for outreach to patients (phone invented in 1876, however telemarketing took hold 100 years later, in the late 1970s) Clearly while these efforts are admirable (or seemed to be), they clearly are not innovative. As healthcare industry stakeholders consider innovation, we might suggest beginning with some very basic questions: – Does this innovation truly make my staff and/or my patients lives easier? – Does this innovation create efficiency vs. how we do activities today? – Does this innovation enable change (an enhanced experience) with a low degree of complexity? Effectively to be innovative, you should look at change that brings fast results (measurable improvement) without requiring many steps or high levels of complexity to drive that change. I like to say “this is simple, but not easy”. At D2 we challenge ourselves to be innovative – – to be an innovator. We challenge ourselves to move the needle on outcomes, while keeping the process simple. Our innovation is measurable, such as: – 100% renewal success rate for D2 ComplySuiteTM users and supported organizations – 53% increase in speed to therapy for clients utilizing D2’s UltraTouchTM Engage – 10% increase in patient enrolment into Pharmacy/ Manufacturer supported programs for clients utilizing D2’s UltraTouch Engage At D2, we work together with pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers and innovative service providers, developing and implementing technology that accelerates patient access to medications and keeps them compliant on their medication. Our mission is simple: innovate – to enable you to evolve past being The Walkman. D2 Solutions – an innovative solution provider leveraging technology to drive healthcare efficiency. |
