Over the past couple of weeks, the baby formula shortage in the United States has dominated headlines. Much of the reason for the low infant formula supply is the ongoing global supply chain crisis impacting countries worldwide.
The baby formula shortage is at a crisis level, leaving many parents scrambling to find ways to feed their babies. Some parents have decided to take advantage of breast milk banks located nationwide. Breast milk banks have long played an important role in feeding vulnerable babies, especially those born prematurely or in the NICU.
Breast milk banks, among other organizations, are leveraging the power of big data and data analytics to enhance their operations and streamline some of the processes that help mothers during their time of need. Learn more about data analytics and its role in a breast milk bank.
The Rise of Big Data and Data Analytics in Health Care
Generally speaking, the health care sector has spent the last few years adopting new and emerging technologies to improve patient care. The industry produces massive amounts of patient data, which would be too time-consuming and tedious for a human to process.
With new machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, health care facilities can parse their data and use it to drive decision-making. Big data enables doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to gain a more comprehensive picture of a patient’s situation and make more informed decisions.
Big data and data analytics are expected to revolutionize health care. For example, doctors may be able to draw conclusions from a large data sample to identify warning signs of a serious illness before it progresses. This results in more effective and efficient treatment for the patient, allowing the facility to keep costs down.
Additionally, big data may be essential in helping doctors avoid making dangerous, sometimes fatal, mistakes. It’s estimated that around 440,000 Americans die yearly due to preventable medical errors, ranking third on the list of causes of death behind heart disease and cancer.
Because breast milk banks help organize the collection, processing and distribution of donor breast milk, they are another type of facility that can benefit from data analytics and other advanced technological solutions.
The Importance of Breast Milk Banks
In 2020, there were an estimated 756 milk banks across 66 countries, with an increasing number placed in middle-income and low-income communities.
For some mothers, feeding their babies would be challenging if it were not for their local milk bank. Aside from the current formula shortage, milk banks are used to provide donor milk to vulnerable babies, such as those in the NICU, born prematurely and those who need human milk, but their mother cannot provide it.
Many breast milk banks have experienced a massive surge in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and the formula shortage. For example, the New York milk bank typically receives one or two requests for donor milk on a normal day. However, CBS News reported in May that the bank sometimes received over a dozen calls requesting donations.
How Breast Milk Banks Use Data Analytics
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted how milk banks operate, especially in countries like Italy, China and India. As a result, milk banks are now emphasizing the importance of developing safe operational guidelines and opportunities to collate and communicate data for improved services.
Among milk banks, data collection and analysis can vary. The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), the accrediting body for milk banks, does require donors to provide their medical history and demographics and banks must note who will receive the milk donation.
The WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank, located in North Carolina, takes its data a step further. The bank uses a software program that tracks other critical information about donations, including:
- How many batches are processed during a period of time
- What donors donated to a specific batch
- Characteristics of the batch
- Volumes of dispensation over time
- Waste
By gathering data about wasted milk, banks can determine the causes of waste and formulate solutions to minimize wasted milk in the future.
With the power of big data, milk banks can run more tests on donations, analyze batches and even remove milk that tests positive for bacillus, a type of bacteria that is a major cause of waste in milk banks. This could allow milk banks to optimize their donation output and provide more mothers with milk to feed their babies.
Additionally, WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank collects relevant data regarding drop-off sites, how often they’re used and what initiatives could help garner more donations.
Lastly, milk banks can benefit from advanced data analytics by optimizing their dispensation process. Banks can leverage big data solutions to support a priority dispensing model if there is a shortage or reduced supply of milk donations. In other words, if a bank is short on milk, it can rely on this dispensing model to cater to NICU babies, who are considered more vulnerable than outpatients.
Leveraging data does not come without its fair share of challenges, though. Natalia Summerville, Ph.D., data scientist at SAS and lecturer at MIT and Duke, has played a major role in helping WakeMed’s milk bank.
Summerville acknowledges that organizing all types of unstructured data is no easy feat, especially for a milk bank using legacy systems and relying on hard copies of documents. However, many milk banks are interested in sharing data to improve operations.
The Importance of Milk Banks Using Data Analytics
It will be interesting to see how data analytics carves out its place in all industries, from health care to retail and everything in between. Human breast milk banks play a crucial role in helping parents feed their babies during a formula shortage, so they must use the latest technology to power their operations.
By Shannon Flynn, ReHack