Observers of AI in healthcare understandably tend to focus on the ways new technologies are changing diagnostics and patient care, but given the constant struggle to control costs in organizations of all sizes it’s not surprising AI is being plugged in on the administrative side of healthcare, too.

For example,  Syft^®, a national provider of healthcare inventory control and end-to-end supply chain cost management software and services, recently announced new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in its supply chain software package, Syft Synergy® Platform 4.1.

In a statement, the company noted that 98 percent of healthcare executives surveyed earlier this year said supply chain management is a top priority for their organizations. The problem, not surprisingly, is that many hospitals and health systems still don’t have the technology implemented that can help them optimize their supply chains.

Moreover, the rise of value-based care programs makes it imperative for health systems to know their costs, but the company says most hospitals today are “unable to identify their true cost per case or analyze their cost variances by surgeon, procedure of specialty.”

Indeed, a recent Syft report estimated that “better supply chain management can enable health systems to reduce their supply expenses by an average of 17.7% or $11 million annually per hospital.”

“This is a serious motivator for healthcare leaders, who are turning to sophisticated technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to help standardize processes and reduce these expenses,” said Kishore Bala, Chief Technology Officer, Syft, adding, “Machine learning, a type of AI where computers continually refine algorithms as additional information is captured, is proving to be especially valuable in supply chain applications after being used extensively in the areas of imaging and population health.”

The company says their new AI capabilities enables health systems to continually update their forecasts to make them increasingly precise.

“Applied extensively in imaging and population health, machine learning is just beginning to be used in supply chain management,” said Kishore Bala. “There’s a tremendous amount of rich data constantly flowing from EHRs and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. AI allows queries like cost variance analysis and procedure/inventory demand intelligence to update in real time as new information comes in. AI will revolutionize the operating room and materials manager’s ability to plan for and deliver critical supplies at the right time and place, and at the right cost. The vast potential for this technology is exciting.”