by Meredith Galante | Aug 4, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
Since the death of George Floyd in May, Black Lives Matter protests have flooded the streets across the country. In Corporate America and across a multitude of industries, companies are pledging to devote more resources towards and focus on Black brands, Black entrepreneurs, and Black-owned businesses.
In the wine industry, there are only about 11,000 Black-owned wineries, but this small contingent is powerful, and they are making unique, delicious vintages.
“Wine and the wine industry has historically been a white man’s world, and that’s changing quickly,” Robin and Andréa McBride, who founded The McBride Sisters, told Forbes in 2018. “We encourage the wine consumer to explore outside of the old expectations of wine.”
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by Lindsey Berke | Aug 3, 2020 | Healthcare
Racism has been a major societal issue since the beginning of time, and unfortunately, it’s not a thing of the past. Today especially, it’s speaking just as loud as it was decades ago. But now with COVID-19 in the mix of the current social justice movements, it’s important to talk about how the two intertwine with each other and how racism is very relevant to the healthcare system. In the newest Smarter Healthcare podcast, episode 8, Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH Dean, of Boston University School of Public Health discusses the social determinants of health, as well as COVID-19 and racism in healthcare.
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by John Sucich | Jul 30, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
About the only thing organizations were certain about when the pandemic hit was that the future of the supply chain was uncertain. Different government responses at different times around the world meant that companies needed to figure out where they would experience problems…and then anticipate what might become a problem next.
Reliable data that companies had culled for years became less reliable as the pandemic wore on, and companies needed to adjust. They began to look for any ways they could make their data usable again. Part of the solution for many organizations was turning to innovative technologies to get the information they needed to make sure their business could survive COVID-19. Here’s a look at some of those technologies and how they’ve been used effectively.
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by Parker Jones | Jul 28, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
In times of economic turmoil, the wine and spirits industry has typically been one of the most resilient sectors. Even now, with the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the U.S. economy, sales of alcoholic beverages remain strong. However, that is not to say that the pandemic hasn’t had some profound and unexpected effects on sales.
Although it’s already been said ad-nauseum, these truly are unprecedented times. As such, sticking to current methods, or basing decisions on what worked in the past, is a recipe for failure. The best way to quickly determine what is going on, and how to respond, is to follow the data.
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by Teddy Craven | Jul 27, 2020 | Healthcare
A pandemic lights the fire for change at a health system in a way that no other entity could ever accomplish. For years, experts have been calling for greater data integration and implementation across health systems. Now that caregivers have been forced to socially distance themselves from patients, the call has been answered in ways that were previously unheard of in the world of health data analytics and telehealth communication.
The prevalence of smarter and more data literate hospitals means that patients receive a safer and more personalized experience with healthcare. But let’s back up a minute to see how health systems have changed in the last four months and how data integration is key to all of these initiatives.
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by John Sucich | Jul 23, 2020 | General BI
It’s safe to say the 2020 Major League Baseball season will be unlike any other. Games will be played with no fans in attendance, and the fans watching from home will see a game that is at times completely different from what they’ve come to expect. Playing the game during a pandemic has resulted in rule changes as well as a shortened season and changes to the schedules teams play.
There are a number of effects the pandemic has had on baseball as an industry: no fans in the stands means there’s been a disruption to the ballpark vendor supply chain, and the sport will be dealing with financial repercussions for years. But as for the game on the field, it is one flush with statistics, and the analytics portion of baseball has to adjust for the 2020 season as well.
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by Lindsey Berke | Jul 22, 2020 | Healthcare
In a world of ever-changing, advanced technology, face-to-face conversation as well as empathy and compassion may be fading away among individuals. However, one place that empathy and compassion must not fade is within the healthcare industry.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the topic of empathy in healthcare, and the main takeaways from episode 1 of the Smarter Healthcare podcast: Empathy in Healthcare with Chris DeRienzo, MD, MPP. DeRienzo is the author of “Tiny Medicine” a book in which he shares the lessons he’s learned as a neonatologist.
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by Meredith Galante | Jul 21, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many aspects of day-to-day life, including what liquor stores are selling.
Typical buying patterns have changed. Customers have larger ticket sizes to reduce the frequency of their deliveries or avoid having to make multiple trips to the store. Customers are also sticking with big-brand names they can trust.
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by John Sucich | Jul 16, 2020 | General BI
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the entire United States economy for a loop. For some companies the past few months have delivered a blow that they will not be able to bounce back from. Other companies, meanwhile, are trying to figure out a way forward in a situation with very little precedent.
In the modern business landscape, it has become a no-brainer solution that when organizations are looking to plan ahead, they turn to data. But one of the unique challenges of this situation is that it has left many businesses with a lack of data that could help them analyze their way out of a problematic situation. Here’s how that has happened…and what companies might be able to do to try to get back to the new normal. (more…)
by Lindsey Berke | Jul 9, 2020 | General BI
After months of quarantine and new safety regulations, the United States is finally beginning to re-open. It’s clear that COVID-19 has left extreme impacts on individuals and industries worldwide… and is continuing to do so. We often discuss the negative effects that COVID-19 has brought to the healthcare and supply chain industry or the positive impact that it’s had on the tech industry, but how has the pandemic affected the environment and has the environment impacted the pandemic? Let’s examine.
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by Kathy Sucich | Jul 7, 2020 | Healthcare, Product News
COVID-19 has presented hospitals with challenges unlike anything ever seen before. Not only do hospital staff need to understand how many and which patients have tested positive for COVID-19, but they also need to understand local trends for capacity planning and resource utilization, as well as finances for reimbursement.
In Puerto Rico, as in other areas of the United States, there are questions about the number of COVID-19 tests being conducted and whether there are enough, as well as the consistency of reporting numbers to the government. Hospital de la Concepción, based in San Germán, is a world-class hospital in southwestern Puerto Rico that is using Dimensional Insight in its effort to respond to the challenges from COVID-19. Let’s take a look.
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by John Sucich | Jul 2, 2020 | All, Manufacturing & Supply Chain
As states and countries re-open in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hope is that everything will get back to normal. There are certainly aspects of life that will never quite get back to what they were like before the pandemic. The supply chain could very well end up being one aspect that is forever changed.
In a recent survey by BSI, about half of the respondents said that they will be making changes to their supply chain going forward. Just what those changes might look like for these organizations and many others is hard to imagine at this point. Here are a couple of possible approaches businesses could take, and how the supply chain of the future might shape up.
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by Meredith Galante | Jun 30, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
Despite rising COVID-19 cases, most of the governors in the United States have lifted stay-at-home orders. But some states such as Texas have now banned bars from serving alcohol to keep the infectious virus at bay.
The unprecedented stay-at-home orders and whiplash of phased reopening starting and pausing have left customers craving their favorite cocktail, and disgruntled brands looking for new revenue streams.
In response, some state legislatures are working to change their laws to allow alcohol delivery.
Many states forbid shipping wine and spirits, halting the growth of delivery giants such as Drizly and hampering direct-to-consumer efforts from wineries and distilleries.
During the pandemic, residents tried to stay home, but the demand grew for happy hours at home and delivery. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | Jun 25, 2020 | All, Healthcare
States across the country are now easing lockdown restrictions, increasing the number of interactions people have on a daily basis. In order to continue to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections and prevent new stay-at-home orders, contact tracing will increase in importance.
When it comes to contact tracing, quick action is necessary to quarantine potentially infected people to prevent them from spreading the virus. How can public health officials ensure that they have the most up-to-date data to do this effectively? Let’s take a look.
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by Parker Jones | Jun 23, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
While the COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed down purchases of wine and spirits from liquor stores and online vendors, it did eliminate one crucial avenue of beverage sales: restaurants and other social venues. Premium wines have taken an especially big hit, since people tend to order more expensive wine when they go out, but drink the cheaper stuff at home. This shift has had a dramatic impact on the wine industry in the months since the pandemic began.
Even before the stay-at-home orders went into effect, on-premise drinking was experiencing an overall decline. But that may soon start to change yet again. Restaurants in 44 states have reopened, or are set to reopen in some capacity in the near future. While many are still rightfully cautious about the spread of disease, the months of isolation have left others eagerly awaiting the chance to go out to eat and drink, especially taking into account the pleasant summer weather.
Will people risk coming out in numbers this summer for social drinking? And how will outdoor drinking this summer affect the wine and spirits industry? Let’s examine.
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by Meredith Galante | Jun 16, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people work, live, travel, and drink.
All 50 states have started to ease restrictions and stay-at-home orders, but the pandemic may affect the luxury wine industry for years to come. Napa Valley vineyards began opening in early June, but things will look different with social distancing measures in place and likely only local visitors.
Most wineries will now require employees and guests to wear masks, and visitors will need to make reservations. With restrictions and fear of travel, is enotourism dead? (more…)
by Lindsey Berke | Jun 15, 2020 | Healthcare
After almost three months of quarantine and social distancing measures in the U.S., there’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted most, if not all, industries across the nation. But the industry that has been continuously affected the most by COVID-19 is healthcare. Currently, telehealth and telemedicine are hot topics within the industry, and there are a few changes that telehealth will bring into the healthcare industry even after the disease subsides. In this blog post, we’ll examine a few of those changes, including the benefits and concerns of post-pandemic telehealth. (more…)
by Parker Jones | Jun 11, 2020 | General BI
With stay-at-home orders being eased, millions of Americans are returning to work for the first time in months. But the workplaces they return to won’t be the same as the ones they left. Social distancing is here to stay, and it’s going to have a profound effect on the dynamics of the average workplace.
Workers can expect new rules and procedures to be in place when they come back. Masks will be required, communal dining areas will be gone, and work spaces will be spread farther apart. These measures are unfortunate, but they will be extremely important for maintaining health and safety for the foreseeable future. But how do you make sure an entire office or workplace full of people follows these rules at all times?
That is where social distancing technology comes in. Several large companies are exploring options for technology that could be integrated into the workplace which would monitor employees to ensure that they maintain the proper distances. But what that technology will look like, and how it will affect workers’ privacy, is still uncertain. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | Jun 9, 2020 | General BI
The 2020 Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence Market Study is out, which provides an annual look at key trends in business intelligence (BI) and provides user scores on 27 vendors using Dresner Advisory Services’ 33-criteria vendor performance management system.
For the 11th straight year, Dimensional Insight performed very well in the survey, improving upon its results from last year and earning a perfect recommend score. The report had several other interesting insights about the state of business intelligence. Here are the most important takeaways. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | Jun 4, 2020 | Healthcare
Note: This article was originally published on LinkedIn as a summary of ACHE of Massachusetts’ inaugural “Virtual After 5” event. Kathy Sucich is communications chair of the organization.
On Wednesday, May 27th, several Massachusetts healthcare leaders participated in ACHE of Massachusetts’ first “Virtual After 5” event. This event provided a friendly, low-key way for leaders to catch up with each other and share how their organizations have been faring over the last several months. The COVID-19 pandemic was obviously top of mind for attendees, and they shared lessons learned during this time of crisis. Here are some of the most important learnings that were shared between attendees. (more…)
by Meredith Galante | Jun 2, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
Mom and Dad are willing to pay up for a quality cab, but their children are saying, “No more.”
Premium wine, defined as wine priced at more than $10 a bottle, is “nearing its apex as a trend, indicated by the decline in total wine sales volume,” according to Silicon Valley Bank’s annual report on the wine industry.
The category is falling because of the difficulty in passing price increases on to consumers, and too many grapes. The current global pandemic, which is resulting in record unemployment rates, isn’t helping either.
“With an oversupply and the fact that price increases are nearly impossible against the backdrop of slowing sales, the trend and mantra of premiumization that pushed volume and price higher for the past 25 years is nearing an end,” Silicon Valley Bank’s report said. (more…)
by John Sucich | May 28, 2020 | General BI, Manufacturing & Supply Chain
Whether or not they are in a part of the country that is slowly opening back up and resuming day-to-day activities, everyone is grappling with the adoption of a “new normal” post COVID-19. That applies to most industries as well.
Though supermarket shelves are better stocked and it appears the supply chain is recovering, it is possible the global supply chain will never look the same. Here are some changes that have already been put in place, as well as more changes that are on the way. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | May 26, 2020 | Healthcare
We’re still getting in a lot of data about COVID-19, but one thing is already clear: the disease has disproportionately affected people along racial, ethnic, and income lines. The phrase “social determinants of health” has been widely discussed in healthcare circles over the last year or so, and nowhere are the implications of where one lives and works on such stark display as when it comes to COVID-19 outcomes.
In this blog post, we’ll examine some of the racial, ethnic, and income data around COVID-19 outcomes and look at how the data can inform healthcare providers moving forward. Let’s take a look. (more…)
by George Dealy | May 21, 2020 | General BI
The “Practical Analysis” blog series is dedicated to answering the questions: “So what is analysis anyway?” and “How can I apply it in my world?” The first installments focused on the fundamentals from which modern computer-aided analysis and decision support have evolved. They featured topics like visualization, exploratory data analysis, and statistical process control.
In the next posts, we’ll explore the emergence of what we now know as “data science” from those beginnings. Let’s examine. (more…)
by Meredith Galante | May 20, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
Last summer, it was hard to get a reservation at Wolffer’s Vineyard in Long Island, NY. As this summer approaches, the tasting room remains empty because of COVID-19, but the party is still going on.
Wolffer’s winemaker Roman Roth, whom The Wine Industry Advisor named as one of wine’s most inspiring people, now hosts virtual wine tastings for the Hamptons’ elite and beyond. It’s a trend that’s picking up across the wine industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s take a look. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | May 18, 2020 | Healthcare
There have been some disturbing new developments as it relates to children and the COVID-19 pandemic, with several children in North America and Europe coming down with an inflammatory response to COVID-19. That development is now top of mind when it comes to how children’s hospitals are treating kids during this pandemic.
We previously examined how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected operations at children’s hospitals. It has also changed several aspects of clinical care to children. And analytics is helping children’s hospitals better navigate the challenges. Let’s examine. (more…)
by John Sucich | May 14, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
There are certain products that have seen an increase in demand in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canned goods, for example, have been flying off store shelves, meaning that the companies that produce the cans for those goods have been ramping up production.
Just as important as the places producing the cans are the trucks getting them from the plants to the food companies, and then from there to the grocery stores to be sold. Here’s a look at some of the adjustments the transportation industry has had to make in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)
by Parker Jones | May 12, 2020 | Healthcare, Wine & Spirits
Distilleries across the country have stepped up their production in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the increase is not just due to a rising demand for alcoholic beverages. These distilleries have begun producing sanitizer products to help prevent the virus from spreading.
While this might sound strange at first, it actually makes a lot of sense. Ethanol, the type of alcohol used in beverages, is also the primary ingredient in most sanitizers. The stills that are used to distill the liquor are also capable of brewing up large quantities of sanitizer at once.
Many companies are facing difficulty due to complications in the process or regulations on sanitizer products. But even in the face of economic uncertainty, they are willing to take on these expenses and challenges for the good of the public health. (more…)
by John Sucich | May 7, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
With some states lifting stay-at-home orders and allowing certain businesses to reopen, focus has shifted to the supply chain. What will be available and what will be missing because of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?
The meat processing industry has been one of the industries most affected by the coronavirus. In a late-April full-page ad in the New York Times, the chairman of Tyson Foods Inc. warned that the United States “food supply is breaking” due to plant closures. That same week, President Trump declared meat processing plants “critical infrastructure.” But it will take more than that government order for the industry to stay ahead of demand. (more…)
by Meredith Galante | May 5, 2020 | Wine & Spirits
Most of America has been under a “stay at home order” for the last six weeks because of COVID-19, the Novel Coronavirus. While Americans are confined to their homes, they’re coping by cracking open a few more bottles of wine or pouring more than just a few extra cocktails.
Americans already enjoyed drinking at home, but now that they’re forced to stay in, they are buying more alcoholic beverages online than ever before. In fact, online alcoholic beverage sales increased 387% for the week ending April 11, according to CNN. The week prior, sales were up a whopping 441%.
Online sales are not booming solely because restaurants and bars are closed. Total alcohol sales grew 26.2% compared to the same week last year, according to Nielsen. (more…)
