Owens & Minor Announces New Partnership with Google Cloud

Rhea-AI Summary

Owens & Minor (OMI) has announced a new partnership with Google Cloud to enhance its QSight® clinical inventory management system. This collaboration aims to optimize complex inventory management for hospitals and health systems by leveraging Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform. The partnership will focus on improving QSight's ability to manage medical supplies, surgical implants, and human tissue products more efficiently.

Key benefits include:

• Enhanced real-time visibility and predictive capabilities
• Improved cost management and efficiency
• Reduced risk of expired product usage
• Decreased inventory loss

This strategic move aligns with Owens & Minor's goals for its Products & Healthcare Services segment and demonstrates its commitment to staying at the forefront of healthcare technology innovation.

Positive

• Partnership with Google Cloud to enhance QSight inventory management system
• Potential for improved efficiency and cost management in healthcare supply chains
• Alignment with strategic goals for Products & Healthcare Services segment
• Positioning as a leader in healthcare technology innovation

Negative

• None.

Tech Expert

This partnership between Owens & Minor and Google Cloud marks a significant step in healthcare supply chain optimization. By leveraging Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform, QSight's capabilities will be substantially enhanced, potentially revolutionizing inventory management for hospitals. The collaboration addresses critical issues like expired product usage and inventory loss, which directly impact patient care quality and operational costs.

The integration of advanced AI could lead to predictive analytics and real-time visibility, allowing healthcare providers to make data-driven decisions and optimize their supply chains more effectively. This tech-driven approach could significantly reduce the workload on clinical staff, allowing them to focus more on patient care. The partnership also positions Owens & Minor at the forefront of healthcare technology innovation, potentially giving them a competitive edge in the market.

Healthcare Operations Analyst

This collaboration addresses a critical pain point in healthcare operations: efficient inventory management. With thousands of medical supplies to track, hospitals often struggle with stockouts, overstocking and expired products. QSight's enhancement through Google Cloud's AI capabilities could lead to substantial cost savings and improved operational efficiency for healthcare providers.

The potential for real-time visibility and predictive capabilities could transform how hospitals manage their supply chains, reducing waste and ensuring critical supplies are always available. This could have a ripple effect, improving patient care outcomes and staff satisfaction. However, the success of this initiative will depend on effective implementation and user adoption, which can be challenging in the often change-resistant healthcare environment.

Financial Analyst

This strategic partnership could significantly boost Owens & Minor's market position in the healthcare services sector. By enhancing QSight with Google Cloud's AI capabilities, the company is positioning itself as a tech-forward solution provider in the healthcare supply chain space. This move aligns with their stated strategic goals for the Products & Healthcare Services segment and could lead to increased market share and revenue growth.

Financially, while initial investment may be substantial, the long-term benefits could be significant. Improved product offerings could lead to higher customer retention, new client acquisition and potentially higher profit margins. However, investors should monitor the implementation costs and adoption rates among healthcare providers to gauge the partnership's success and its impact on Owens & Minor's financial performance.

Collaboration will enhance existing QSight capabilities and enable future platform and service innovations to help optimize complex inventory management for hospitals and health systems

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Owens & Minor, Inc. today announced a new partnership with Google Cloud that combines Owens & Minor’s deep expertise in optimizing the healthcare supply chain with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to help drive meaningful enhancements for QSight^®, an industry-leading cloud-based clinical inventory management system from Owens & Minor. By partnering with Google Cloud, Owens & Minor will strengthen QSight’s existing inventory management capabilities while laying the foundation for future platform and service innovations with the potential to dramatically improve the QSight customer experience.

The partnership between Owens & Minor and Google Cloud will focus on enhancing QSight’s ability to help hospitals and health systems optimize how they manage the thousands of medical-grade supplies, high-value surgical implants and human tissue products required for patient care. For providers, the implications of inefficient inventory management can reach beyond the stockroom and into the operating room, including a risk that expired products are used in patient care and inventory loss if products expire before they can be used. Enterprise healthcare providers also face increasing pressure to deliver high-quality care while managing costs and optimizing efficiency — with less support from clinical staff. However, traditional clinical inventory management systems may lack the real-time visibility and predictive capabilities needed to effectively oversee complex healthcare supply chains, which can increase costs and lead to higher workloads for clinical staff.

“We provide ongoing value to our customers and help drive clinician efficiency in part by staying at the forefront of technology, including via smart investments with one of the most renowned innovators in the marketplace,” said Andy Long, EVP and CEO, Products & Healthcare Services, Owens & Minor. “Our partnership with Google Cloud to enhance QSight is just one example of how Owens & Minor is making concrete progress towards the strategic goals we’ve established for the Products & Healthcare Services segment.”

“Owens & Minor is playing an important role in the transformation of healthcare,” said Michael Clark, President, North America, Google Cloud. “Many healthcare systems have not kept pace with technological advancements, missing opportunities for improved efficiencies and better patient care. This partnership will advance Owens & Minor industry leading solutions a step further to help its customers make more informed decisions and better navigate the complexities of modern supply chain management, ultimately better supporting the important end user — patients.”

To learn more about QSight, visit owens-minor.com/services/qsight/. To learn more about Owens & Minor’s vital role in healthcare, visit www.owens-minor.com/about.

About Owens & Minor

Owens & Minor, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global healthcare solutions company providing essential products and services that support care from the hospital to the home.

For over 100 years, Owens & Minor and its affiliated brands, Apria^®, Byram^® and HALYARD^*, have helped to make each day better for the patients, providers, and communities we serve.

Powered by more than 20,000 teammates worldwide, Owens & Minor delivers comfort and confidence behind the scenes so healthcare stays at the forefront. Owens & Minor exists because every day, everywhere, Life Takes Care^™.

For more information about Owens & Minor and our affiliated brands, visit owens-minor.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

*Registered Trademark or Trademark of O&M Halyard or its affiliates.

OMI-CORP

OMI-IR

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240910704093/en/

Stacy Law, Owens & Minor

media@owens-minor.com

Source: Owens & Minor, Inc.

FAQ

What is the purpose of Owens & Minor's partnership with Google Cloud?

The partnership aims to enhance Owens & Minor's QSight clinical inventory management system, improving its capabilities to help hospitals and health systems optimize complex inventory management of medical supplies, surgical implants, and human tissue products.

How will the Google Cloud partnership benefit Owens & Minor (OMI) customers?

Customers will benefit from enhanced real-time visibility, predictive capabilities, improved cost management, and increased efficiency in managing healthcare supply chains. This can lead to reduced risks of expired product usage and decreased inventory loss.

What technology is Google Cloud providing to Owens & Minor (OMI) for the QSight system?

Google Cloud is providing its Vertex AI platform to enhance QSight's existing inventory management capabilities and enable future platform and service innovations.

How does this partnership align with Owens & Minor's (OMI) strategic goals?

The partnership aligns with Owens & Minor's strategic goals for its Products & Healthcare Services segment by demonstrating a commitment to staying at the forefront of technology and making smart investments to provide ongoing value to customers.