Wolfgang Renner
Heads the health market and medical technology department of KUMAVISION and is also responsible for quality management in this function
Skilled labor shortage, cost pressure, growing complexity: In medical supply stores, the question is no longer whether artificial intelligence is used, but where it really makes a difference.
This article provides an insight into how the use of artificial intelligence is currently changing in medical supply stores. We also explore why the real challenge lies not in the AI model itself, but in understanding the processes involved.
From assistant to agent
After AI assistants that answer questions, AI agents will take the next step: In the future, they will make decisions, initiate processes, and determine how digital team members collaborate – depending on the scenario, with human approval or fully automatically. In the day-to-day operations of a medical supply store, this means specifically:
- Process and check incoming invoices
- Dispatch and tour planning support
- Compare e-prescriptions with contracts and lists of medical aids.
- Schedule appointments and monitor supplies
- Create reports for controlling purposes
- Answering questions from patients and their families around the clock – in their respective native languages
The real game changer lies in the process.
In our view, the tangible competitive advantage does not arise from individual AI functions, but from consistent end-to-end processes within the ERP industry software. KUMAVISION healthcare365If data is missing, it is researched. If follow-up questions are needed, the agent initiates them independently. If subsequent processes are required, they continue directly in the industry software. The result is not only faster, but above all more consistent processes, with fewer reimbursement issues and improved quality of care.
Digital colleagues, human strength
Precisely because experienced staff are hard to find in medical supply stores, AI is becoming strategically relevant: It helps new employees to quickly grasp the intricacies of assistive device directories, contracts, and manufacturer catalogs, and to guide customers clearly through product alternatives. The real challenge for the teams: to learn to confidently lead these digital colleagues.
Not every task is an AI use case.
The uncomfortable part of many AI consultingA significant portion of customer requirements can already be better met today with our industry software or proven automation solutions such as Microsoft Power Automate – entirely without AI.
Therefore, the crucial question before every project is not "Where do we use AI?", but "Where do we want to improve?"
Was das für Sie bedeutet
Whether it's e-prescription integration, data security in generative AI solutions, or choosing the right software partner: the answers are more nuanced than the current AI hype suggests, and this is precisely where medical supply stores have the opportunity to truly differentiate themselves.
"Because one thing practice clearly shows: Not every task needs AI. But many become much better with AI."
Wolfgang Renner - Sales Division Manager Healthcare, KUMAVISION
With a viable AI strategy that generates sustainable added value in day-to-day operations. We would be happy to advise you on this.
You want to delve deeper
We wrote this article in collaboration with Thomas Kugel, Principal Consultant for Digitalization at KUMAVISION, as a detailed technical article for the magazine GesundheitsProfi. In it, we discuss, among other things, the role of the electronic prescription as a catalyst for digitalization, how AI security can be ensured in practice, and what requirements will be placed on software partners in the future.
Read the article "AI in medical supply stores" in GesundheitsProfi 07/2026 (PDF)
