ASU-led team to identify emerging tech to improve military medical patient care
NewsDecember 14, 2018
TEMPE, Ariz. In partnership with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) officials selected the Arizona State University (ASU) W.P. Carey School of Business, Active Innovations, LLC, Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), and Expression Networks, LLC to facilitate modernization of the open architecture, web-based Defense Medical Logistics ? Enterprise Solution (DML?ES).
Approximately $2.4 million in funds will be released under the MTEC research project with the goal to provide strategic recommendations to the nation's military to improve patient care for service members. ASU's principal investigator Eugene Schneller, a professor of supply chain management, will guide the project to competition, ASU officials state.
Under contract, the team will identify emerging technology and operational methods that can improve overall performance and function of DML-ES and the future LogiCole system, as it moves towards a more integrated cloud-based system. At the end of the project, researchers hope that U.S. military medical logistics will be recognized as a fully integrated supply chain organization (FISCO) – a concept developed by ASU researchers to describe the most progressive non-military health care supply chain organizations.
"One thing we'll be considering is the use of drones in delivering supplies. Another technology that's being talked about a great deal is the use of 3D printing for items on-site that aren't available immediately," Schneller explains. Other technologies being considered under this project is the use of blockchain for supply chain management.
The research contract is divided into two phases. Under Phase I, researchers will review current systems at Fort Detrick, Maryland, home of the medical logistics agencies for the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. Data that's gathered will help assess the potential adoption of emerging technologies like 3D printing, predictive modeling for logistics pre-positioning, blockchain for cybersecurity and data integrity, drone delivery, and tracking.
Under phase II, prototypes of dashboard and simulations will be developed, depending on phase one recommendations. Researchers will provide a roadmap on how the Defense Health Agency, Medical Logistics (DHA MEDLOG) Division can develop and implement future LogiCole capabilities.
Researchers plan to utilize Expression Networks' technology to deliver systems capabilities and dashboards. GHX will leverage its cloud-based supply chain technology, which has helped hospitals streamline purchasing by maximizing automation, efficiency, and accuracy of business processes. Active Innovations will bring together its relationships with health care supply chain management and information technology planning experts to provide input and document review.
