COVID-19 Articles / Blogs / Perficient https://blogs.perficient.com/category/covid-19/ Expert Digital Insights Fri, 24 Jan 2025 22:17:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://blogs.perficient.com/files/favicon-194x194-1-150x150.png COVID-19 Articles / Blogs / Perficient https://blogs.perficient.com/category/covid-19/ 32 32 30508587 Tackling Healthcare Staffing Shortages with Salesforce and Artificial Intelligence (AI) https://blogs.perficient.com/2023/09/08/healthcare-staffing-salesforce-and-artificial-intelligence/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2023/09/08/healthcare-staffing-salesforce-and-artificial-intelligence/#comments Fri, 08 Sep 2023 16:12:39 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=343297

Aging populations and staff burnout combine to create a perfect storm for the U.S. healthcare staffing shortage

Population Pyramid shows older adults will outnumber younger people by 2035

For the first time in US history, older adults will outnumber younger individuals by 2034.

The global population is top-heavy with more than 1 in every 6 Americans falling in the 65 or older age range (AARP, 2023). As the population ages and we see a continued increase in patients with more than one chronic condition, the demand on healthcare providers will not lessen in the upcoming decades (CDC, 2022).

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed providers, nurses, technicians, and administrative staff to their limits. A 2022 survey showed that 47% percent of healthcare providers plan on leaving their roles in the next two to three years (Forbes, 2022). As a higher volume of patients require complex and frequent care and staff continue to leave the industry, organizations need to look outside the box to solve staffing issues.

Salesforce’s Health Cloud, Data Cloud, and Einstein GPT combine to revitalize workforce efficiencies

Salesforce is a powerful software-as-a-service platform. The platform offers an array of impressive capabilities to organizations, including organizations that fall into the healthcare space. When generative technology is married with the power of Salesforce’s data management capabilities of Data Cloud and Health Cloud to make a solution set, healthcare organizations are enabled to tackle staffing issues head-on.

Enabling Workforce Optimization

Einstein GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a natural language generation tool. It leverages AI to transform data into actionable insights. Paired with Salesforce’s Data Cloud and Health Cloud capabilities and electronic medical record (EMR) integrations, here is a sneak peek at how these sets of tools can tackle healthcare staffing shortages:

  1. Data-Driven Staffing: Einstein GPT incorporates historical patient traffic trends and staffing patterns to create predications around peak patient traffic periods and staff availability. Healthcare organizations are provided automated insights to proactively adjust staffing levels to meet projected demands. This minimizes staff overload and care delays while keeping patient and staff satisfaction top-of-mind.
  2. Matching Staff Skills to Care Needs: Health Cloud offers provider skill credentialing and management. Einstein GPT analyzes staff credentials and focus areas against patient care needs to highlight care gaps and overburden. If ongoing gaps persist, organizations can use GPT capabilities to generate training plans to ensure care demands are met with appropriately trained staff.
  3. Intelligent Shift Scheduling: Einstein and Health Cloud securely integrate necessary EMR and appointment information to assist schedulers in finding the best-fit appointment times and locations. For example, if a new physician office opened up and a patient needs to be seen same-day, the scheduler can quickly see which clinics are over-staffed. The system provides suggested locations based on the patient’s address, staff availability, care level, and desired times.
  4. Patient-Centered Staffing: Einstein GPT analyzes patient show and no-show data.  The system can then predict the most likely times that a patient will show up to their appointment. This reduces no-shows and allows for best-fit appointment scheduling and highest return for staff schedule utilization.

Data-Driven Efficiencies: Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein GPT

Let’s imagine a scenario where a prompt care clinic faces recurring staff shortages on weekends. Staff are getting burnt out, agency workers are burning the budget, and the talent acquisition team cannot keep up. Here’s Data Cloud and Einstein GPT addresses the challenge:

  1. Data Gathering: Data Cloud brings together necessary appointment, provider, and care outcomes data. With this, it creates unified view for each patient and staff member. Integrating with the scheduling and time off system, it compiles upcoming staff availability and historical appointment information.
  2. Insight Generation: Einstein GPT harnesses this data, highlighting patterns of patient traffic, types of care needed, and staffing expectations from front desk staff to nurses and physicians.
  3. Proactive Staffing: With these actionable insights, staffing coordinators can look weeks ahead to ensure the proper level of staffing. They can leverage data-driven insights to ensure staff is available for their projected traffic patterns. The team can also ensure their staff can take their deserved time off and budgets remain balanced.

Maintenance and Expectation Considerations

While AI is not necessarily a new technology, the advent and allowance of public access to large language models and public data sets (e.g., Chat GPT and Open.ai) has opened up an array of groundbreaking opportunities. There is a lot of hype around AI and machine learning (Gartner, 2022) and ss innovation continues to evolve in the AI space, it will be vital that organizations remember the irreplaceable value of humans. Human beings bring intuition, empathy, experience, and training where AI often falls short. The goal of AI tools such as Einstein GPT is to enhance capabilities and streamline workflow processes, not replace humans. Ethical considerations like patient privacy and data security remain paramount, ensuring that sensitive information is handled with the utmost care.

AI-based tools are not meant to be spun up and left. They require ongoing evaluation, audit, and training to ensure accurate results and outcomes. Luckily, in today’s world of information overload, AI and Salesforce have solutions for that. Responsible innovation is possible, especially if the proper planning and execution are incorporated in the roadmap.

In Conclusion

As the population continues to age and chronic conditions rise, staffing needs will remain top-of-mind for the healthcare industry. The merging of Health Cloud, Data Cloud, and Einstein capabilities creates a powerful platform for organizations to proactively tackle staffing issues. Organizations should act now to strategically incorporate technology that can streamline the balancing act of patient care and staffing.

Ready to Enable Your Workforce for The Current and Future Demand?

Contact us today for a demo: samantha.ziegel@perficient.com 


References:

AARP. https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/livable-in-action/info-2019/us-census-and-aging.html

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Promoting Health for Older Adults. 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/promoting-health-for-older-adults.htm

Gartner. What’s New in Artificial Intelligence from the 2022 Gartner Hype Cycle. Sept 2022. https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/what-s-new-in-artificial-intelligence-from-the-2022-gartner-hype-cycle

Forbes. New Survey Shows That Up To 47% Of U.S. Healthcare Workers Plan To Leave Their Positions By 2025. 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2022/04/19/new-survey-shows-that-up-to-47-of-us-healthcare-workers-plan-to-leave-their-positions-by-2025/?sh=73614325395b

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Births: Final Data for 2021. 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-01.pdf

 

 

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Home Office Setup https://blogs.perficient.com/2023/02/27/home-office-setup/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2023/02/27/home-office-setup/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2023 23:12:34 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=328913

For quite some years, thanks to the availability of high-speed networks and hardware, common people are able to create a home office environment. People feel empowered to create, design, and share these Home Desk setups with the world.  As such, I have noticed the following patterns and tips among them.

Types of Desks

Home Office Interior. 3d Render.

Traditional

This type of desk is the traditional style. It is recommended to use it when there is enough space to accommodate. Users can decide the size, shape, and decoration surrounding the desk based on the amount of space available.

Floating Desks

The floating type is meant to be permanent and embedded on the wall. Some designs can also be foldable as well, which helps when the space is very limited.

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Foldable Desks

The foldable one is a temporal desk, which is recommended for small spaces and can be removed once it is finished to be used.

Outdoor Folding Table Cartoon Vector Illustration

Corner Desks

Corner-type desks are small enough to be settled on the corner. They usually have a discrete nature to be placed there.

Blank Computer In A Cubicle

Standing Desks

Woman At Home Office Is Walking On Under Desk Treadmill

These desks have motors and use electricity to change the position and maintain them. The motors may vary in power which impacts the speed the desk goes up or down, and the weight it can handle. These are expensive as of 2022.

Desk Arrangements

Monitor Placement

It is highly recommended to place monitors at the same height as our sight, to avoid the decay of our necks and backs staring down.

Monitor supports may vary in price, use, and form.

Type of Monitor Configurations

Monitor configuration depends highly on the work needs or taste as well. Some people prefer a setup focused on one thing at a time, and others want the most amount of information displayed at once.

Simple Monitor

Office Workplace Computer With White Blank Empty Screen

Dual Monitor Laptop

Focus And Dedication Got Her Far

Ultra-wide

Looking At Invoice And Spreadsheet On Computer

Dual Monitor

Blank Screens On A Computer Desktop Monitors, Yellow Color Wall Background. 3d Illustration

 

Chairs

Professional Modern Black Computer Gaming Armchairs. 3d Rendering

 

Gamer Chairs are not recommended. Gamer chairs tend to be affordable because they normally use cheap materials which can break over the curse of a year or less. They are not good to endure the heat in the summertime.

 

 

Happy Biracial Businesswoman Freelancer Sit By Computer At Comfy Workplace

 

Ergonomic chairs are the best-recommended option, they may vary in price and size. The good thing about them is that they are specifically adapted to the common human body.

 

 

 

 

Additional Tips and Recommendations

Camera Placement

Avoid placing the camera below your eyes, it is preferable to have the camera on an angle near your eyes or above. Also, it provides a better view of the people seeing you on camera.

Casual Businessman Working At His Desk

Microphone Placement

When an external microphone is used, it can provide better audio quality. It is preferable to be away from the microphone, about a hand distance. This provides better audio since too close can saturate audio and words cannot be discerned. Too far, the voice attenuates and introduces exterior noise to the audio.

Businesswoman In Headset Call Center Agent Consulting Participating Video Conference

Laughing Man Host Streaming Podcast In Studio

Decorate based on your taste

Since the home office space is yours, you can decide how things are organized and displayed to enjoy the experience.

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The Pandemic – Our Agile Coach https://blogs.perficient.com/2022/01/17/the-pandemic-our-agile-coach/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2022/01/17/the-pandemic-our-agile-coach/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:32:00 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=303240

The Coaching Program

I can see the quizzical look on your face with the question, “Why is she calling this pandemic an Agile coach?”

My answer is: “Yes because it taught us agile principles, and imbibed agile mindset in us.”

Let me explain in detail:

During this pandemic:

  • How many of us responded to change instead of following a set plan?
  • How many of us went beyond our comfort zone to collaborate with our stakeholders?
  • How many of us thought beyond the project to keep the team motivated?

Every one of us did, and most of us did great!

Let me list some of the major steps we took to smoothly run the organization remotely throughout the pandemic.

The steps are so significant that they are continued to date voluntarily, for the value brought at project, account and organization levels.

Responding to Changes

The Pandemic made us think through remote operation measures proactively, without compromising on information security, quality of deliverables, and committed timelines.

Some of the beneficial IT changes implemented included multifactor authentication, cloud-based solutions for remote IT support, appropriate hardening of colleagues’ workstations.

Timely equipping, assets / tools stocking helped the IT team to cater best during the lock down.

Health conditions of the colleagues were considered for work plan changes.

Not only the IT team, every operation team, every project team had adopted changes in their work culture.

Collaborating with Stakeholders

We realized the importance of collaboration more during this pandemic.

A weekly all-leads meeting made all the difference needed for organizational collaboration. The weekly meeting discussed the end-to-end status of projects, client expectations, office facility conditions, support team operation, need for leadership intervention, lockdown status, work sharing status and even the unplanned absence of team members indicating their health conditions.

Remote townhall meetings were conducted to connect with colleagues and re-assure them of the  organization’s commitment, opportunities and progress.

A unique 10 connects per day program by each of the HR team members, checking on colleagues health, family wellness and offering any kind of support required, ensured moral support to all colleagues.

The collaboration initiatives also included video lunch calls, Friday games, on-request music sessions, quizzes in addition to all-round health awareness sessions, diet awareness sessions….and what not!

Motivating Teams

Teams were recognized for their work achievements in the weekly meetings and townhalls.

Volunteers who shared the workload of their peers during the time of need, were rewarded.

The colleagues were encouraged to use their project transition time for honing their skills further through certifications, Proof-of-Concept (PoC) assignments, and other preparation for pipeline projects.

1600x600 Hands

If This is NOT Agile Mindset, then…..

I am sure you would have realized that we are an agile organization by now, and I hear your question, “where is the agile mindset in implementing these steps?”

Let me explain that:

In addition to:

  • responding to changes, we have started welcoming changes with better buy-in.
  • collaborating, we have started realizing the value of collaborating.
  • motivating, we have started building trust among peers.

And all these additions have come by not through force, but through self-organizing and volunteering.

I am ever grateful for the agile mindset imbibed in everyone, by this Pandemic – Our tough Agile Coach!


READY TO GROW YOUR CAREER?

At Perficient, we continually look for ways to champion and challenge our talented workforce with interesting projects for high-profile clients, encourage personal and professional growth through training and mentoring, and celebrate our people-oriented culture and the innovative ways they serve Perficient and the community.

Visit our Careers page to see career opportunities and more!

Go inside Life at Perficient and connect with us on LinkedInYouTubeTwitter, and Instagram.

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B2B Companies Evolve: Pivoting in the Time of COVID https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/12/01/b2b-companies-evolve-pivoting-in-the-time-of-covid/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/12/01/b2b-companies-evolve-pivoting-in-the-time-of-covid/#respond Wed, 01 Dec 2021 15:03:22 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=301772

Perficient recently conducted a survey that asked executives from enterprise organizations about their current and future marketing technology (martech) investments and strategy. (See the findings from the full survey here.) The data revealed many insights into how companies pivoted over the last year in response to the pandemic and how they plan to change moving forward. An area of particular interest that warrants further exploration is what the data tells us about B2B companies.

Martech Becomes A Priority

During the pandemic, more than 60% of B2B respondents said they increased spending in martech (Figure 1), demonstrating that they are investing in their digital experience capabilities to meet the demands of existing and prospective customers. An even higher percentage said they would increase investments in the future (Figure 2), so it’s clear that businesses are working to fulfill the expectations and needs of consumers.

People and Process Lag Behind Tech Investment

While B2B organizations are closing the technology gap that’s historically existed, the people and process lag is felt strongly in B2B. When asked about their greatest challenges with data integration and governance, B2B respondents overwhelmingly said they lack the right people (Figure 3).

In our experience, this is a strong indicator that an organization’s existing processes, tools, and structure are not reflective of their present-day business or can’t support their desired future state. To fix this, organizations should evaluate their marketing operations, focusing on talent that can help align core KPIs and metrics and implement a data strategy and measurement plan that supports business goals.

Personalization: The Key to Success in the Next Normal

The survey revealed that the top challenge for B2B companies is personalizing content (Figure 4). We recommend organizations implement a personalization strategy that starts with an assessment of the data types available for personalization and available content elements. From there, they can develop a holistic and informed ongoing testing plan to help operationalize their personas and better understand when and how to personalize their content/messaging for the greatest impact in the journey.

As organizations establish their new normal and continue to do more with less in the current staffing situation, we recommend investing in building a strategic and sustainable program that can scale over time. Too often, we meet with clients or prospects dealing with the internal effects of a failed program launch due to taking on too much too quickly or launching without the right tools or staff to manage and sustain over time.

Summary

B2B organizations have historically lagged behind B2C in terms of advancement and adoption of new technology opportunities. The pandemic, and resulting customer behavior shifts, forced a narrowing of that gap, prompting B2B companies to invest in martech to meet the changing needs and expectations of their increasingly sophisticated consumers. However, B2B companies are now facing a resource gap – they have the tech, but not the people or processes needed to set up, scale, and manage it. This gap is contributing to one of B2B’s top challenges – personalizing content.

To evolve successfully, B2B companies must invest in their marketing operations, ensuring they have the tools, staff, and data strategy and measurement needed to implement personalized customer journeys that accurately reflect their customers’ new expectations and habits.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1 Martech Investment In The Past 12 Months

Figure 2

Figure 2 Martech Investment In The Next 12 Months

Figure 3

Figure 3 Greatest Challenges When It Comes To Data Integration And Governance

Figure 4

Figure 4 Top Martech Challenges

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Perficient Chennai & Bangalore: Covid Vaccination Drive https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/11/09/perficient-chennai-bangalore-covid-vaccination-drive/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/11/09/perficient-chennai-bangalore-covid-vaccination-drive/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2021 11:19:17 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=299356

As part of its efforts to support colleagues through the pandemic, Perficient India took the initiative to conduct covid vaccination drives for its colleagues. Colleagues could register and get themselves and their families vaccinated with ease in a safe and comfortable space. Furthermore, Perficient reimbursed the cost of vaccination, not only for colleagues but for their families too.

The vaccine drive was welcomed by all colleagues. Many showed up, from senior management to new interns fresh out of college. Included in the program were the custodial staff who kept the Perficient campus functioning smoothly throughout the pandemic. Colleagues separated through the digital space got the chance to meet each other for the first time since the pandemic started. Greetings were made, Selfies were clicked, and banter was exchanged.

Chennai & Bangalore Colleagues Share their Views

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Rajesh Kaliyuga Varathan, Solutions Architect

“It was a smooth experience, and I registered to get my wife and I vaccinated in Chennai. The HR on the ground coordinated with us, and as a bonus, it was scheduled for a Friday, so I was able to recover from the shot over the weekend!

It’s an amazing culture where the organization looks after the employees and their families, and they, in turn, look after the clients!”

 

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Hem Pant, Technical Architect

“Very well coordinated drive. I honestly didn’t think the entire drive would be so hassle-free and convenient. We were even helped to register through the government’s COWIN app, followed by smart processing at the camp with a comfortable waiting area. Kokila from HR was personally there to support us. Taking selfies at the Covid Standee was a fun addition- I look forward to my next shot!”

 

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Kokila Kanniappa – HCM Generalist

“The vaccination drive was so helpful. I was worried about vaccinating the older folks at home, but every aspect was looked after, ensuring their comfort. It felt like a very safe atmosphere, and I’m grateful to Perficient for organizing this drive, not just for us, but for our loved ones too.”

 

Anjan

Anjan Kumar, HCM Generalist

 

“It felt really good to see the impact I had by volunteering to help coordinate the drive. I got the chance to interact with and help colleagues, their spouses, their kids. It felt like I was part of one giant family.”

 

 

 

Bharathkn Vaccinedrive

Bharath Kadaba Nagaraju, Technical Consultant

“I’d like to thank Sumantra Nandi and Anjan Kumar from the HR team for organizing the vaccination drive. It was a surprise for us as we thought we would be guided by the Hospital staff, but Anjan introduced us and guided us. It showed how us how Perficient took responsibility for their employees and dependents. Thanks, Anjan!

We’re all safe now with all your help! Thanks, Team, and I’m proud to say we got vaccinated through Perficient.”

 

 

 

Beyond the Professionalism of the Vaccination Drive

The human element present was the differentiator, with volunteers making sure everyone felt safe. From guiding colleagues to the drive, ensuring safety measures, and checking on colleagues after they got the shot – they were present every step of the way. This was in no small way due to the meticulous planning that had gone into conducting the drives, and every detail was checked to ensure a smooth experience.

 

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Arun Ramakrishnan, Lead SQA Consultant

“Perficient provides end-to-end solutions, not only for enterprises but also for their own family. The Covid drive contributed by Perficient was like a one-click away that has safeguarded hundreds of families. A big thank you to Perficient for taking care of us.”

 

 

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Gowtham Kumar Devendra Kumar, IT Team

“I got directed to the location by our volunteers on the ground and was guided through the registration process. The waiting area was brightly lit and comfortable and felt very safe. A volunteer checked on how I felt after I got the shot, and even though I had come by myself, I never felt alone.

Thanks to the Perficient team for organizing an excellent camp!”

Passport Photo

Vishnu Aditya Ashok, Intern

 

“For the interns, this was their first experience of the Perficient warmth.”

 

 

 

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Ashok Revappa Tapasi, Technical Architect

“To save yourself and others from this Corona Pandemic, please get vaccinated soon… and We’ve proudly done our part! The drive conducted by Perficient was a smooth process. The staff was on time and made the drive easy and safe. Thanks to the Perficient family for helping us get vaccinated.”

 

 

With the second drive successfully completed and many of our colleagues fully vaccinated, one could feel the hopefulness in the air. The uncertainty and doubt of the past were being replaced by a feeling of better things to come.

One thing was clear:

We’re family, and like any family, we had each other’s back!

Click to view slideshow.

READY TO GROW YOUR CAREER?

At Perficient, we continually look for ways to champion and challenge our talented workforce with interesting projects for high-profile clients, encourage personal and professional growth through training and mentoring, and celebrate our people-oriented culture and the innovative ways they serve Perficient and the community.

Learn more about what it’s like to work at Perficient at our Careers page.

Go inside Life at Perficient and connect with us on LinkedInYouTubeTwitter, and Instagram.

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Hot Topics from HCIC 2021: How COVID-19 is Reshaping Marketing Trajectories for Now and the Future https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/11/04/hot-topics-from-hcic-2021-how-covid-19-is-reshaping-marketing-trajectories-for-now-and-future/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/11/04/hot-topics-from-hcic-2021-how-covid-19-is-reshaping-marketing-trajectories-for-now-and-future/#respond Thu, 04 Nov 2021 18:27:38 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=299880

After attending this year’s Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC) in Las Vegas, the impact that COVID-19 pandemic has had on healthcare organizations is clear — especially in how digital engagement with patient-consumers has changed now and perhaps permanently.

Consumer Preference for Virtual Ease Is Here to Stay

Across the digital landscape, from the way consumers consumed media and entertainment via brands like Netflix, ordered products from Amazon, or made reservations to restaurants with tools like OpenTable, experiences that were once unique and niche are now the consumer digital experience expectation. And this counts for healthcare, too.

Having online scheduling for making appointments or virtual visits is now a baseline expectation. Your consumer-patient also wants:

  • Guidance to the right level of care and services via curated experiences, such as online care navigators, enhanced “Find a Doctor” experiences, and symptom checkers.
  • To know before they schedule an appointment if their insurance will be accepted or what the out-of-pocket costs will be.
  • To “meet” and experience your healthcare provider and teams through provider reviews, video, outcomes data, or patient testimonials.
  • Personalized experiences derived from digital insights that predictively offer up services or experiences your consumer-patient desires, creating the unique experiences that consumers now can get when opening up a streaming app on their TV.

Meeting the Consumer Where They Are May Be Different Than You Think

To cut above the din of digital marketing and advertising, getting in front of the consumers you want means optimizing your messaging or marketing efforts in your go-to channels (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, Instagram) and venturing into newer channels where healthcare marketing hasn’t reached out much before, such as TikTok or Google Question Hub.

The old adage of “meeting the consumer where they are” is perhaps even more critical today than it ever was before.

Glaring Healthcare Disparity Can No Longer Go Unnoticed or Unchecked

I co-presented at HCIC with my colleagues, Perficient Director, Jenny Berryman Horne, and Project Manager and Pride ERG President at Henry Ford Medical Group, Jacob Sierocki. Titled “Lessons from the Pandemic: Engaging with Diverse Audiences,” our session focused on healthcare disparities for Black, Asian and Latino/Latinx Americans, millennials, Generation X, aging adults and the LGBTQ+ communities.

I was happy to see several other presentations at the conference focused on engaging with those often underserved or marginalized communities, including rural and economically disadvantaged people.

As we shared in our HCIC presentation, making sure these communities hear your organization’s message of inclusion is not only key to ensuring their health and well-being both during the pandemic and after, but it’s also an opportunity for long-term engagement with groups whose voices and perspectives are often overlooked in healthcare marketing efforts.

From consideration while building your user personas, to creating more segmentation in your consumer-patient journeys, to creation of content or digital marketing that targets these groups, you’ll want to consider the unique motivators and barriers to care that these groups experience. Only then can you truly create digital experiences that will resonate with them.

RELATED: How U.S. Demographic Trends Are Reshaping Healthcare Now and Forever – and Why That Matters

At Perficient, we build the digital solutions for many of the themes explored above while thinking about the new challenges and opportunities on the healthcare horizon. Learn more about what our healthcare experts can offer you.

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The Evolution of the Modern Supply Chain https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/10/14/the-evolution-of-the-modern-supply-chain/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/10/14/the-evolution-of-the-modern-supply-chain/#respond Thu, 14 Oct 2021 14:16:01 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=299072

BWG recently conducted a survey of 55 executive management and professional supply chain businesses, and, together with Perficient and IBM, have published findings in the report Supply Chain Modernization During the Pandemic and Beyond. The findings analyze how the global supply chain has drastically changed over the last year and a half because of Covid-19. Supply chain disruptions are nearly inevitable due to low inventory and high consumer demand. Retailers are turning to modern supply chain systems, specifically order management, to determine how to manage inventory, visibility, and supply production.

Digital Analytics in Order Management

Prior to the pandemic, organizations heavily relied on ERPs to streamline order fulfillment. However, the Covid-19 crisis changed consumers’ shopping behavior, and online sales drastically increased. Suddenly, organizations needed more bandwidth to meet the surge in online demand. Adding order management to ERPs improved the backend processes. Updates included a business rules management system, (BRMS), service level agreements, (SLAs), and contract pricing. Organizations are also updating their order management system with AI and ML insights. Both insights improve the order-to-cash cycle by accelerating processes, reducing errors, improving efficiency, and lowering cost.

Creating an Omnichannel Experience

Omnichannel order management solutions deliver a connected shopping experience, personalized at every stage of the customer journey. Retailers need omnichannel capabilities and order management for visibility purposes. Giving customers a clear view of store inventory prevents customer disruption. The inventory in a brick-and-mortar store needs to have the same product visibility online.

“If you don’t have the right visibility into what inventory is in your brick-and-mortar store, you are potentially adding some disruptions to both your associates as well as your customer,” said Jennifer Clark, Product Marketing Manager at IBM Sterling.

Supply Chains Post-Pandemic and Beyond

As supply chains mature, survey experts predict organizations will focus more on the digital customer journey and same-day delivery to create a holistic customer experience. Adopting a data-driven approach to supply chain management enables organizations to suggest products to shoppers through store merchandising and omnichannel efforts.

“A lot of businesses and retailers are reaching out to us and asking us to help them define their strategy for the next year. We guide them in what is happening in the market, what the latest trends are, and what they should be doing next,” said Devanshu Sood, Director of Commerce and Order Management at Perficient.

To learn more about supply chain modernization and its role in helping organizations reach end-to-end visibility watch Supply Chain Modernization & Transformation: During the Pandemic and Beyond.

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COVID-19 Employee Vaccine and Testing Tracker with Pega https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/09/23/covid-19-employee-vaccine-and-testing-tracker-with-pega/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/09/23/covid-19-employee-vaccine-and-testing-tracker-with-pega/#respond Thu, 23 Sep 2021 15:00:50 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=297545

As we announced last week, The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on, at minimum, a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement.

To help you navigate and comply with this rule, we have built an add-on to Pega’s COVID-19 Employee Safety and Business Continuity Tracker that allows employees to securely submit their COVID-19 vaccination record and/or weekly test results using Pega’s low-code platform.

Employees can submit and upload proof of COVID-19 vaccination or test results via:

  • Pega’s end-user portal
  • An embedded (mashup) interface in an existing employee or HR portal
  • Native mobile interface

Once submitted, employee information is automatically routed to an ERP or payroll system using Pega’s out-of-the box connectors, and the employee’s compliance record is automatically updated.

Benefits of our Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Application

  • Leverages existing Pega infrastructure
  • Seamlessly integrates with ERP and payroll systems
  • Weekly employee compliance reports allow managers to monitor their employees
  • Vaccination records and test results can be exported for submission to government agencies, if applicable
  • Provides notification reminders of upcoming appointments to employees who undergo weekly testing
  • Case escalation for employee non-compliance deployment

What’s Included

The COVID-19 Employee Vaccine and Testing Tracker requires the Pega platform. Perficient is pleased to offer the tracker at no charge to current and prospective clients with an existing Pega instance (implementation services fees will apply). Organizations without Pega may leverage our industry-leading Pega platform implementation services expertise at an additional cost.

Why Perficient

We are a Pega Authorized Partner and Pega Partner Advisory Council Member experienced in identifying and solving the unique challenges of our clients with award-winning cloud and BPM solutions. Our Automation team is committed to helping you adopt digital transformation solutions that help you navigate regulatory requirements and trends.

Read more about what our thought leaders have to say about COVID-19 on our blog.

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Perficient Introduces Application for Employers to Monitor COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Results https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/09/14/covid-19-vaccination-proof-application/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/09/14/covid-19-vaccination-proof-application/#respond Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:30:52 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=297303

On September 9th, President Biden announced a new action plan to address the latest rise in coronavirus cases and the slowing pace of COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work. OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement.

What Platforms Are Compatible with Our COVID-19 Vaccine Verification Application?

Throughout the past year-and-a-half, software has been created to support organizations with their COVID-19 response. Ahead of forthcoming rule, we are announcing that we have created a multi-platform vaccine verification application.

Our application will be compatible with Pega, Appian, and open-source technology built on Flowable. Our application can easily integrate with your organization’s ERP and Payroll systems using out of box connectors available on supported platforms.

Specifically, our application will integrate with Pega’s Safe Operate return-to-work software, Appian’s Workforce Safety Solution, and we will have a containerized version of our application to run on Flowable’s open-source technology.

Our solution has configurable workflows that allow employees to submit their COVID-19 vaccination record or weekly test results via a web-based form. This information can be automatically submitted to an ERP or Payroll system to update the employee compliance record. Our solution has reporting capabilities that can provide weekly employee compliance reports for managers to monitor their employees. Employee COVID-19 vaccination and testing results can be exported in a user-friendly format for submission to OSHA, if applicable.

We will also support the roll out of a full COVID-19 response solution built on ServiceNow’s platform, including its solution for government services.

Preparing for Return to Office

While most managers and employees have become adept at working remote for over the past 18 months, many have questions and concerns about health, safety, and flexibility in working onsite and remote.

Our Organizational Change Management (OCM) practice helps leaders engage their people in the planning and return to the office to avoid fear, resistance, and employee turnover.

Our OCM practice is prepared to work in parallel with the implementation of our COVID-19 Vaccination Verification Application to create go-forward plans to prepare leaders to lead the return to office strategy for their groups. We will help develop tools and templates to build managers’ knowledge and skills and enable managers to engage with employees and communicate policies and guidelines.

COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Solution Pricing

Our application will be available to our customers at no cost. We understand that these are challenging times, and we want to help our customers adapt to the consequences of the pandemic.

Implementation and other consulting services will have an associated cost.

Company Over 100 Employees? Need to Verify COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing? Perficient Has You Covered

Our Automation and Organizational Change Management teams are committed to helping our customers adopt digital transformation solutions that help them navigate regulatory requirements and trends spurring consumer-centered transformations.

Read more about what our thought leaders have to say about COVID-19 on our blog.

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Transforming Collaboration in Healthcare with Microsoft Cloud [On-Demand Webinar] https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/09/01/transforming-collaboration-in-healthcare-with-microsoft-cloud-webinar/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/09/01/transforming-collaboration-in-healthcare-with-microsoft-cloud-webinar/#respond Wed, 01 Sep 2021 20:38:15 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=295718

With COVID-19 as the catalyst for accelerating digital healthcare, this event shed light on a myriad of opportunities for innovators. Besides virtual health visits, healthcare organizations realized that obsolete, fragmented healthcare technologies and manual processes were a thing of the past.

As detailed in a related blog, the Microsoft Power Platform offers new ways to build a comprehensive digitized healthcare ecosystem. Power Apps and Power Automate are low-code and no-code applications that are easily customized to meet specific operational challenges of healthcare organizations.

In a recent webinar, Eric Schmitt, director for Perficient’s Microsoft Practice, and Kristina Kaufmann, senior healthcare business consultant for Perficient, explored how we’re transforming collaboration for healthcare organizations using Microsoft Power Platform and Teams.

The discussion includes:

  • How Perficient’s Healthcare Huddle App powers productivity
  • An overview of the solution with insight on workflows, reports, and dashboards that promote visibility of information
  • Applicable use cases that illustrate the “art of the possible” with our Healthcare Huddle App and the Microsoft Cloud


Did you know…

Microsoft recognized Perficient as a finalist for the 2021 Healthcare Partner of the Year Award. Read more about this honor and the great work we’re doing in healthcare.

2021 Microsoft Partner of the Year Finalist_Healthcare Award

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2020 – Beginning of a New Normal! https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/08/30/2020-beginning-of-new-normal/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/08/30/2020-beginning-of-new-normal/#respond Mon, 30 Aug 2021 11:01:49 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=296848

COVID-19 – though it made us all worried and upset, lost our loved ones from our lives, it has awakened most of us and brought us all one step closer to our family. We understood that being with our family together gives us immense strength to go through such a dangerous phase.

 

Though the initial months with restrictions was a tough pill to swallow, it was necessary to curb the virus from spreading at a larger scale. People were affected on all accounts, health-wise, financially and even mentally. People were not able to go to work, not paid for a certain period. Out of which only the software industry was able to run its machine without going to a standstill because of the flexibility it had.

Hand Flipping Wooden Block Cubes For New Normal Wording. The World Is Changing To Balance It Into New Normal Include Business , Economy , Environment And Health.

Kudos to the employees as well, who connected from their homes, kept working to meet the accepted deadlines. But working from home for a prolonged period has its pros and cons.

Let us see the bright side first

  • More Time Saved!!!

Working from home has become a blessing in disguise for people working in metropolitan cities.

Save Time Concept.

Travelling to the office was a major concern for many professionals as most of the firms were located in the outskirts of the cities and a lot of time was spent on travel. The traffic was reduced to a great extent and of course, it did help in conserving the fuel reserves for future generations.

 

  • Flexible Work Time

The cliché of office timings were broken with the usage of the Work From Home process.

3.flexible Work Time

Employees have the flexibility of logging in late or early so that they plan their errands or needs accordingly. This helped in improving the quality of time with our families like having lunch together, bringing us closer to our loved ones.

  • More Productivity

Of course, many companies have accepted that the productivity of their employees have drastically increased by working from home as there are no many distractions/other activities where the productivity might go down. Employees seem to be more focussed and driven working from home than seen at the office.

4.more Productivity

 

There are many more positives to working from home but just like any other process there are some serious cons that need to be looked into such as,

 

  • Extended Working hours!!

Working from home, as easy it might sound is a very addicting process.

5.extended Working Hours

Most employees tend to work extended hours to complete their deliverables thinking that they are just one step away. This might be harmful to their health.

  • Network Issues may ruin your day!!

6.network Issues

Technology as attractive it may appear has its limitations. There is always a chance for issues in the network and result in affecting the productivity of the employee.

  • More Meeting Time

Meeting Time Appointment Joint Discussion Clock Hands Ticking 3d Illustration

 

Working from different locations, isolated physically but connected over network results in investing more time in scheduling a meeting and connecting with the team members. In the usual scenario, it would have been a simple pat on the back and discussion for 5 mins while working in an office but when working from home leads to more meeting appointments for discussions and clarifications.

 

Just like a coin, it has both sides, every aspect of life has positive and negative. Working from home can be a wonderful aspect of operation if we can tweak ourselves and our working routine.

Some key points that every one of us needs to look out for are,

  • Plan your working hours

Even though you work from home, fix a timeframe as your working hours that would fit your team’s need as well as the one that is comfortable to yourself.

8.new Normal

split your day with multiple short breaks to stretch a little bit, or attend meetings while walking on the terrace thereby participating in physical activity.

 

  • Prepare a TODO list at the end of your day

Spend the last 15 mins at the end of your day to prepare a list of tasks that you need to work on the next day. It gives more clarity and focuses when starting work the next day.8.todo

  • Do Not Push your timing all the time

Never extend your work hours unless and until it is necessary in cases like production issues or meeting the deadlines. To adhere to this, each one of us needs to plan our tasks, having in mind the amount of time we are asked to invest. Overpromising and working to meet unrealistic deadlines are not the right way to move forward.

9.do Not Push

 

  • Give yourself a break

Take a walk inside/ outside the building, or take your pet for a walk, a 10 mins dance would refresh your mind, sing with Karaoke, 2 mins of meditation, etc.

10.give Yourself A Break

 

 

 

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An Ecommerce Feature That Could Protect Your Site Against the Delta Variant https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/08/05/an-ecommerce-feature-that-could-protect-your-site-against-the-delta-variant/ https://blogs.perficient.com/2021/08/05/an-ecommerce-feature-that-could-protect-your-site-against-the-delta-variant/#respond Thu, 05 Aug 2021 15:00:33 +0000 https://blogs.perficient.com/?p=295990

Last year I spoke about how COVID-19 would forever change B2B commerce and B2B ecommerce disaster planning. Thanks to the delta variant, much of what I wrote about in these previous blog posts will be needed once again to deal with the influx of product shortages and supply chain disruptions that businesses dealt with only a year ago when the pandemic was at its peak.

Everything I’ve previously discussed holds true and should be part of your current commerce site today. If not, I highly recommend implementing core COVID-19 commerce elements such as product restrictions, clear and transparent messaging around product availability, and extra-mile services to make your customers’ lives easier.

But I want to discuss one specific element to incorporate into your ecommerce iteration that I mentioned prior, and this feature could be the vaccine needed to aid your commerce site through the next wave of the pandemic.

What is it? You guessed it – a live bot or chat.

I touched on this briefly in my disaster planning post, but want to expand on why live chat, and more importantly, the team that manages that chat, will be crucial to provide superior customer experiences.

  • Live Chat Implementation – Implementing live chat on your commerce storefront is not a massive lift or effort. With little investment, live chat can be up and running very quickly and can yield high employee efficacy and ROI.
  • Live Chat Team/Management – Having a team of customer service representatives (CSRs) manage your chat can be daunting and needs to be thought through from an organizational standpoint to ensure that man power is readily available to handle these additional channels of communication. If you launch a new chat system and have little to no coverage, customers will be asking questions with extremely long response times, which can have an adverse effect.
  • When in Doubt, Bot it Out – As mentioned above, asking CSRs to manage live chat in addition to their current duties can be overwhelming. However, many chat systems also have bot features that can answer questions directly without ever having a CSR involved. Questions such as, “What is the cut-off time for order shipment?” or, “How long do orders typically take to ship to Chicago?” can all be intelligently answered by a Bot using predetermined answers to these common prompts.
  • Chat Prompts – We have all experienced the annoying chat pop-up window when we are browsing a site that keeps getting in the way of our shopping experience, and I’m here to tell you that it shouldn’t be leveraged in that way on all pages. Instead, look to key pages where users might be having higher than normal exit rates or longer “time spent on page” sessions. Let’s say several people are spending large amounts of time on the cart page of your site – they may be trying to figure out when they will actually receive the product or trying to understand shipping charges. This would be a good opportunity to have a chat window pop up after 5 or 10 seconds.
  • Track, Translate, and Turn – After you’ve implemented a live bot/chat into your site, you’ll want to take a look at your analytics (both digitally and non-digitally). How have things like customer satisfaction increased or decreased? How is your customer lifetime value (CLV) moving? Are you reducing cart abandonments? Based upon what your data is showing, you’ll want to translate out what it actually means for your business and your customers. Once you’ve translated the data points, take any turns or pivots you might need in your live chat strategy and follow the same process of tracking and translating the results.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Commerce is a never-ending journey, as is customer support and conversation. As this delta variant continues to spread, so will the impact it will have on your customers and their experience on your website. By leveraging live chat/bot features, you can provide quick answers to common questions, and dig deeper on specific asks when applicable, giving your customers quick and effective ways to find solutions without having to pick up the phone, or worse, giving up and abandoning your site altogether.

Implementing Features for Commerce Success

Warren Buffet once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.” Don’t let your customer relationships be tarnished by not giving customers quick and easy answers to important questions – especially during the stressful times that lie ahead this year and beyond. For more information, contact our commerce experts today.

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