How Data Can Be Used To Predict Upcoming Seasonal Allergies

There’s no science to predicting allergy season flare-ups, but the good news is that there’s plenty of data that helps analysts make accurate forecasts. Pharmaceutical companies can use weather data to strategize their supply and demand plans to ensure smooth operations throughout allergy seasons.

Weather Data and Medicine

Allergens are present year-round, but the spring season is particularly rough on U.S. allergy sufferers. Weather data plays a key role in ensuring pharmaceutical companies have a sufficient stock of popular allergy medications. Seasonal shifts are often to blame for itchy eyes and runny noses, though annual weather patterns can result in different allergy symptoms. Heavy rains and low temperatures alleviate allergy symptoms, but they become worse with strong winds and dry air. Monitoring and predicting fluctuations in daily weather conditions helps pharmaceutical companies ensure their supply of allergy medications can meet demand.

Collecting different types of data from various sources can quickly lead to poor data quality, incomplete data, and duplicate data. Data management is key to leveraging actionable insights that improve business intelligence and decision-making. The MDM Magic Quadrant has recognized TIBCO as a leader in master data management (MDM) solutions for the sixth time.

The implementation of a comprehensive data management solution to manage, share, and govern master data assets and generate real-time insights results in accurate views of business functions across an organization. There are several benefits of MDM, including increased revenue growth, improved productivity, supply chain optimization, identification, acting on insights faster, improved customer satisfaction, and improved compliance.

Supply Chain Optimization

The traditional life sciences supply chain takes a “push” approach to supply. Push supply chains focus on the product rather than the patient, which means pharmacies can run out of necessary medicines during busy times of the year. The industry is beginning to shift toward a patient-centric supply chain model that focuses on the “pull” of patients and health care providers. Pharmacies need to find insights that improve patient outcomes to create predictable, compliant, and secure supply strategies when and where there’s demand.

Suffering from seasonal allergy symptoms impacts your quality of life. Watery eyes, a runny nose or stuffy nose, sneezing, and asthma are just some of the inconvenient seasonal allergy symptoms people suffer at different times of the year. Seasonal changes trigger allergies of all kinds. You can discover if it’s spring allergy season with the digital allergen calendar from Aspire Allergy. The calendar shows which allergens are in season each month of the year, including indoor and outdoor allergens. You can learn about tree pollen, grass, ragweed, cedar, mold, elm, and cottonwood allergens and determine a treatment plan to eliminate seasonal allergies.

Maintaining a Competitive Advantage

Pharmaceutical companies can’t run out of stock of in-demand allergy medications if they hope to stay competitive. Being out-of-stock of popular medicines can lead to a loss of customers to competitor brands that are in stock. Even more, customers may leave negative feedback online that can damage a brand’s online reputation and impact future business. Research has shown that a common side effect of seasonal allergies is a weakened immune system. The ability to predict spikes in allergy season also helps pharmaceutical companies predict cold outbreaks. They can use weather data to predict the pull of cold medicines during non-cold seasons to ensure supply. Associating allergies with colds helps pharmaceutical companies see a higher ROI during more than just flu season.

Weather apps have a pollen count that helps allergy sufferers monitor which days will have a higher pollen production and trigger symptoms. Apps also help sufferers track their allergic reactions according to different levels of allergens.