The Power of Patterns – Part 2

June 29, 2012 by 1 Comment
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Check out The Power of Patterns and read on to discover the second type:

Patterns of similarity when people make decisions about duplicate records

The second type of patterns about data (let’s call these type 2 patterns) occurs as humans look at multiple records (an illustration follows) trying to decide, for instance, if they are duplicate records. Without realizing it, they are sensing and evaluating the patterns of data similarities for each of the attributes, and sets of attributes, while of course automatically taking into account any misfielding and differences in the data. What they don’t calculate or really have any knowledge of is the mathematical similarity score that could be calculated for each set of attributes.

Now imagine we get a domain expert to label representative sets of record pairs as being duplicate or not-duplicate, yes or no, true or false, etc. We could build a model of the sets (vectors) of attribute similarity scores that lead the domain expert to their particular conclusions. With enough training, the model would know when it was ready to take over reaching the same conclusions (to converge) as the domain expert would reach. At this point, the model is ready to run and reach highly accurate conclusions based on the prior training by domain experts. Providing more accurate results means that higher levels of automation can be achieved in that particular business process.


Looking at the data and the attribute similarity scores you’ll notice a few keys points: misfieldings are taken into account, differences in spelling are recognized and scored appropriately, and also that the use of nicknames (or any other semantic equivalents for that matter) is supported. 

Learn more here!

Filed Under: CEP, Complex Event Processing (CEP), Event Processing, Tech Trends, Two-Second Advantage

Loyalty Program Gives Nationwide Pharmacy a Makeover to the Tune of a 9.3% Increase in Sales

June 27, 2012 by 1 Comment
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The U.S. market for health and wellness products is growing at a rapid pace and is expected to reach $170 billion by the end of 2012. Companies competing in this space will strive to boost consumer spend at each visit by providing a one-stop store for all their needs – pharmacy services, OTC medicines, homeopathic, beauty, and personal care products. To maximize customer spend while also promoting repeat shopping, companies in this space desperately need to have loyalty programs that cover all their touch points with the customer.

When Pharmaca, a pharmacy that looks to revolutionize the way we shop for health and wellness products, embarked on a loyalty initiative, one of the company’s goals was to reinforce its branding as a go-to wellness destination to drive higher engagement between pharmacy and retail.  They sought to encourage customers to fill both their conventional prescriptions needs and their need for alternative products in one location. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Healthcare, Loyalty, Retail Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Are Machines Joining the Human Race?

June 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Many of us thought by the time 2012 came around, we would be living in a scene from Back to the Future Part II: flying cars, robot waiters and automatic shoelaces.  While we still have a ways to go in a few regards, some of the 1989 film’s predictions were not far off.  Scenes depicted flat-panel T.V. screens mounted to walls, video games commanded by body movements instead of hand controllers and a multi-party video conference call resulting in Marty McFly being fired via a real-time fax.

Of course, an email would be the more realistic form of firing Marty today, but the notion is the same.  Through Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technology, devices can capture events (Marty’s boss’ verbal termination), relay them through a network to an application that extracts intelligence and translates the captured event into meaningful information (in this case: “You’re fired!”).  This data is then transmitted through a system of networks to personal devices. M2M enables these machines to communicate with one another and serve like a hired personal assistant, making our lives just a little bit easier.

More highly pragmatic uses can be deployed by today’s M2M technology.  Machines are becoming more human by driving relevance through these event-enabled networks.  Imagine this:

Now, stop imagining and pay attention.  Check out M2M for yourself and learn how we are, in fact, getting back to the future.

Filed Under: Automation, Complex Event Processing (CEP), Event Processing, Integration, Mobility, Tech Trends, Two-Second Advantage Tagged With: , ,

From the Floor at AHIP: It Can’t be Done Without 21st-Century Technology!

June 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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It would be hard to find someone to argue against the idea that healthcare has enormous room for improvement. While other industries became process-focused, automated, analytical, mobile, social and event-enabled, healthcare focused its technology efforts on the latest diagnostic equipment, and on systems that facilitate billing and claim processing, but not on the technology that would make healthcare cheaper or better.

An insurance company that wants to compete in the coming changes, including accountable care, bundled payments, and selling directly to consumers and through Health Insurance Exchanges must come to the table with the technology that enables competition. It will be a wide-open landscape for the payers who make the investment in process, analytics, pricing, cloud, social and mobile.

Process agility

The changes that are coming, regardless of the outcome of the Supreme Court decision, will require development of new processes throughout organizations. Just as the rest of the world moved to business process management systems, payers will need to develop business process governance and deployment capabilities. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Analytics and Optimization, Automation, Cloud, Cloud, Event Processing, Healthcare, Loyalty, Mobility, Social, Tech Trends, Two-Second Advantage

How We Prevent and Predict Power Outages

June 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Picture by Sheffield Tiger

Today, the power infrastructure has evolved into an automated and intelligent network of information that enables real-time balancing of electricity supply and demand.  This information helps electric utility companies provide energy reliability and service quality at the best prices. In addition to the challenges of aging infrastructure and increasing compliance needs, energy companies must be able to measure demand accurately, compare with supply resources and possible faults, predict outages at any point of time, and accordingly set procedures for transmission of reliable electricity to customers.

PJM Interconnection (PJM) operates in the largest wholesale power market in the world and coordinates the continuous buying, selling, and delivery of electricity across 13 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 60 million people. For PJM, real-time operational visibility of regional conditions and reliability issues is essential when you consider that data is drawn from nearly 74,000 points on the grid. [Read more...]

Filed Under: CEP, Event Processing, Transform Tagged With: , , , , , ,

5 Ways to Turn the Healthcare Consumerism Revolution Into a Competitive Advantage

June 20, 2012 by 1 Comment
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With millions of previously uninsured healthcare consumers entering the marketplace, a dramatic shift from group to individual sales, and the impending launch of public Health Insurance Exchanges, the competitive landscape of healthcare is in the midst of a seismic shift.  This represents a jump ball for health plans – with millions of members and billions of dollars up for grabs.  How effectively health plans attract and retain those members will determine their success.

This creates a significant opportunity for the health plans that can turn this changing environment into a competitive advantage.  The most successful healthcare businesses are the ones that influence clinical, financial, and patient experience outcomes, versus analyzing them after they occur, then mapping a response.  In marketing, that means enabling contextual customer management – having the ability to respond more quickly with the right offer to a targeted individual or a group, based on multiple factors that determine the optimal mix of product, channel, pricing, and promotion.  The prize for plans that embrace this approach is increased market share at a lower cost of acquisition.

Here’s how to do it:

 

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Healthcare, Loyalty, Mobility

Patterns and Real-Time Response in Healthcare

June 18, 2012 by 1 Comment
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We can expect significant changes ahead in healthcare as a surge of digitized data becomes available to healthcare providers and insurance payers alike. The data sets will be large and diverse, requiring filtering, analysis, and a way to deliver information to the right place or person in the moments when decisions need to be made. Only with real-time capabilities can an organization make proactive moves, like stopping payments before reimbursements when fraud is discovered or catching a patient safety issue the first time it happens and not the nth. This will play out in three key areas:

Seeing patterns

Sifting through data to find exceptions is an old science, but always associated with small groups. In today’s real-time, data-rich environment, the volume and velocity of information allows outliers to emerge more easily and earlier. Identifying treatment that goes off course, showing up as a complication or readmission to hospital, is much easier and faster. Crunching real-time data at scale essentially puts every instance of treatment into a virtual, immediate clinical trial.

Large scale data capability is very promising for finding financial exceptions as well. For starters, fraud is often found in aggregate data and not in any one invoice. Looking across a practice or a network, payers can more easily see patterns for waste and fraud. Secondly, payers can look across structured and unstructured information to see identity patterns and other ways information aligns that were never visible before. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Analytics and Optimization, Automation, Healthcare, Industries, Integration, Spotfire, Two-Second Advantage Tagged With:

How to Give Sports Fans the Ultimate Mobile Experience

June 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Professional sports teams, from the 49ers to The Golden State Warriors, are releasing mobile apps for sports fans. Basic apps include player stats, game schedules and promotional offers. But, to build real fan loyalty, the apps need much more. What’s the secret to driving fan loyalty from a mobile app, the so-called second screen? 

Fan loyalty means building a community around the team, to make the fans feel like stakeholders. If they’re given a voice, that platform to make a connection, then that’s where their loyalty lays. The formula for fandom in a mobile world is creating a social layer, connecting fan to fan, fan to team, and team to fan. To really drive fan loyalty, mobile apps need to be social.

TIBCO just released the Golden State Warriors app. From a fan loyalty “give to get” perspective, it gives fans the usual news updates, player stats, a calendar of events, tweets and promotional offers. But, we’re adding the social layer as well. For example, fans can access a fan page with interactive polls where they can vote for the best player of the night. In return for “likes” and “dislikes,” the Warriors receive feedback and data from their fans to improve their experience. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Mobility, Social, Tech Trends, Two-Second Advantage

Localiza Rent A Car Speeds Up with IT Modernization and Visual Analytics

June 13, 2012 by 1 Comment
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There are so many places in the world to visit and explore – what better way to explore them all with the freedom of a rental car? Localiza, which provides car rental services, is one of the top businesses in the transportation sector of major Latin American countries. As Localiza grew aggressively, it had to ensure that existing operations did not suffer. To provide customers the same experience everywhere, Localiza emphasized a high standard of maintenance across all locations. IT modernization enabled Localiza to automate many of its manual processes and promote adherence to customer experience quality standards across all locations, including the location maintenance process.

Enabled by TIBCO, Localiza’s Location Maintenance Process is an automated system operating in a uniquely manageable and measurable way. In an instant, maintenance work from any location is assigned to Localiza headquarters for budget review, approval, scheduling and contracting. New efficiencies eliminate executional lag time. Lighting is repaired instantly, walls are painted promptly, and clean-up crews arrive before customers see the mess. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Analytics and Optimization, Automation, BPM, Integration, Spotfire, Transform, Transportation and Logistics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Election Campaign of the Future is Happening Now

June 12, 2012 by 1 Comment
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The way we do everything is different… so why are we still running election campaigns and voting relatively the same way we did 200+ years ago? Imagine if we could bring the process into the 21st century using the technologies that are innovating today? Guess what?  We can.

Filed Under: Analytics and Optimization, CEP, Event Processing, Government, Mobility, Social, Spotfire, Tech Trends, Two-Second Advantage
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