Embracing Innovation: Welcoming AI in HME

Published in Member Communities on August 07, 2024

During an insightful session at the 2024 VGM Heartland Conference, industry technology experts discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) has transcended the realm of buzzwords and holds immense potential for the industry.  

Chris Rose, Director of Key Accounts with VGM & Associates, led a panel discussion with Justin Smith, Senior Manager of Innovation at Direct Supply; Saleem Shah, President at New Hampshire Medical Supply; Scott Hagberg, Director, Technology Solutions Delivery at VGM Group, Inc.; and Shane Rogan, VP of Analytics at VGM Fulfillment.  

Covering the practical applications of AI, demystifying its impact on clinical processes, workflow optimization, and automation, these experts shared their insights about AI and its new role in the industry.  

Q: What are your thoughts on AI? 

Saleem Shah: The state of AI is a powerful concept. Technically it’s not tool; it’s a concept.  

Scott Hagberg: My thoughts on AI are that we taught our data to talk and understand context. As it develops and learns, it’s going to get better and better. 

Justin Smith: AI is solidly in the “hype” period. It’s only just getting started. What we have today is the “worst” it’ll ever be. It will only get better, so we must understand its application and how it can be applied. 

Shane Rogan: AI today is not even at 1% of its capabilities. It's still teaching itself, and it's happening very fast. 

Q: How can AI be described to members? 

AI is essentially simulating the human mind, how we act, etc., but at a faster and more accurate pace. Capabilities can include inputting high-polling data into it to get high-quality insights. However, it’s important for businesses to clean up those data pipelines to use AI to its full capabilities. We have the data and can now deliver the results. AI is sending out what technology experts in the industry have been building out for decades. The concept is old, but it has the computing power to make it happen. 

Q: How AI used in your organizations? 

Saleem: We are using AI predictability of when someone might call off work, enhancing workforce management. We can also use it for patient care to analyze historical data and what equipment they’ve utilized and predict when a patient might need additional equipment, such as a back cushion, facilitating real-time decision-making. 

Scott: We’ve utilized AI in the role of transcribing patient phone calls, which not only saves time on documentation but also ensures accurate record-keeping. AI takes the transcription and generates those notes into our internal system, saving time on documentation. AI’s ability to extract relevant data from faxes further streamlines data management.  

Justin: We focus on the efficiency AI brings to the workplace by analyzing where employees spend most of their time and identifying areas of high value. The use of AI allows our staff to focus on their calls without worrying about multitasking. We use Copilot to make things more efficient, and this allows the team to be faster. This time savings in turn helps our customers be better as well. Automation grants employees more time to advance and accelerate their efforts and to see where value is being added.  

Shane: We are seeing that leveraging AI to handle routine tasks is automating people’s capabilities, empowering people to do more. 

Q: How can the enhancement of everyday AI enhance patient engagement and well-being? 

Saleem: We must sell well-being to the patient, along with the concept of something being better for them in the long run. Patient buy-in is important, and AI can do a fantastic job in bringing the outcomes for any clinical process much better. The human component of business should not be replaced. Rather, the AI component is just making our processes better. 

Q: How can businesses optimize inventory management and supply chain issues? 

Justin: The application of AI can help with demand forecasting. Ebbs and flows in demand are normal, but we can be better at demand forecasting and more closely align with timelines, communicating it through the supply chain to say what we’re expecting so no one is waiting for a product.  

It is key to understand the importance of preventative maintenance on supplies, understanding the depth of the supply chain, and know who you’re working with and compare differences. As long as the data is good, AI can provide good answers. Inventory management may be a manual process today, but the integration of AI can automate and improve demand forecasting. 

Shane: As VGM Fulfillment grows, we need to communicate better and efficiently with our manufacturer partners to give them low-variance forecasting, what they need to deliver to us for equipment, and timeline expectations to decrease backorders and increase patient satisfaction. 

Q: What training is available for staff to effectively implement AI tools? 

Scott: I encourage staff to learn more about our own processes and the existing technology we have. We consider how to collect data better, how to give access to more data points, understand our process/workflow journey, provide education on the internal processes, and how to do all of it better overall for maximum efficiencies. 

Justin: Don’t be afraid. The goal is not to replace people, it's to augment capabilities. We should establish guardrails of how we use AI and encourage staff to play around with it to see how it can augment their work. Generative AI can be given context about what you want to do, how long you have, and how to provide more focus to give a head start on a task. 

Saleem: Keep simplicity in mind. What is the objective? Keep it in mind. Follow the process all the way. Look at the whole as one whole objective. 

Q: VGM Fulfillment ships a lot of inventory. What role does AI play in interpreting that data? 

Shane: We run data through AI to ask what matters from the data we have. Does the zip code matter? Does the length of shipment matter? It can flag something for you to then follow up on manually.  

Q: What would be your advice for using AI technology and best practices for members? 

Scott: Have a conversation with it. Don’t think of it as a Google search. Talk to it to let it figure out the tone. Ask it questions, like “What's happening in this area? How can I make [example] better?” 

Shane: Leadership inertia is important. You have to have buy-in from leadership to push it from the top down. Leadership should encourage staff to utilize it and demonstrate its value to try to increase employees’ value, not replace them. 

Justin: Context is huge. You ask it questions, and you’re going to get an answer. The more information you give, the better answer you get. Review what you’re getting out of it.  

Saleem: The last outcome can modify algorithm. AI models require constant training.  

Q: What is the future of AI? 

Saleem: We must establish our place in the field because AI is not going away. We need to start embracing it. 

Scott: AI is part of everything in our everyday lives, like cars, online shopping, etc. AI is going to start developing a train of thought. As it does this and evolves, the next two years are going to be pivotal in how it is used in our field. 

Justin: I’m most excited to see what the next number of years will look like, the capabilities that will develop, and how we become more effective with it. The industrial revolution “took jobs away.” Businesses can start thinking, “What are the parts of my job that I hate, and how can I let AI take those over from me?” 

Shane: We need to start utilizing AI now. There are so many tools available. 

Q: In addition to Copilot, ChatGPT, etc., what other software do you recommended to help with everyday operations? 

Scott: Take a look at your browser and how it’s integrating AI. TikTok can also be a wealth of knowledge – ask it to help. Innovators come out with new tools a lot. 

Justin: Don’t pay for much because tools like ChatGPT accelerate so fast. Email plug ins can give you context on a chain of emails and can help you form responses and help you prioritize how you’re spending your time. Focus on free tools for now. 

Q: There are systems to take calls and transcribe them, but is that proprietary information that maybe shouldn’t be given to AI? 

Scott: RingCentral is compliant and there are retention policies built around that. That is the same with other systems as well.  

Q: How can you integrate AI into existing software, such as QuickBooks? 

Shane: You can pull data out of an application and have your own statistical app to build models. The output is put back into the database and stored. Then transmit that data back into the system. It's a whole cycle.  

Scott: The quantity of data is so important.  

Saleem: Remember the objective definition. What exactly are you looking for? Then you can identify a powerful analytical tool for doing a job.  

Q: It’s important to abide by compliance. How are companies using Copilot? 

Justin: Create guardrails. Businesses can use private instances to put in guardrails. There are HIPAA compliant versions of AI out there.  

Q: What specific AI tools can be hooked to email? 

Copilot can be integrated with Outlook.  

Q: What are the negatives of AI in industry? Are there things to be concerned about, like Medicare/insurers not paying us as a result? 

It is important to make sure the AI tools used by providers are compliant and that the industry continues to monitor these trends for any potential threats that may arise.

AI has immense transformative potential in the post-acute homecare industry, including its ability to enhance clinical processes, workflow optimization, and automation. Practical applications are already emerging, such as predicting patient needs, transcribing phone calls, and streamlining inventory management. However, the adoption of AI also brings challenges, particularly in staff training and understanding the technology’s capabilities to set realistic objectives. Looking ahead, AI is poised to become an integral part of daily operations, aiming to augment human capabilities and provide support rather than replace human roles. 

TAGS

1. artificial intelligence
2. heartland
3. hme
4. vgm