| | April 20168CIOReviewShaping a Healthcare IT System to Support Customer and Patient OutcomesBy Dale Danilewitz, EVP & CIO, AmerisourceBergenThe benefits of technology and data are undeniable. With technological advances, companies can make more informed, strategic decisions and monitor outcomes, and information technology can be a driver of connectivity and innovative business solutions. As everyone from IT managers to marketers to CEOs know, having data is not the same as effectively capturing, managing and analyzing those numbers. What to do with all the data is a confounding and exciting question. The IT team at AmerisourceBergen has historically delivered data to help pharmaceutical manufacturers gain visibility into the supply chain and inventory management. As we've grown through acquisitions and become smarter about integrating our systems, we sought to unlock the value of the data and build an integrated technology platform that allows our company, seamlessly and effectively to partner with our customers as an enterprise organization. The healthcare industry is consumed by integrating better information technology into every day practice. EMRs, wearable technology, automation in pharmacies, and regulations such as the recent Drug Quality and Security Act require exponential innovation in our industry's IT systems. To help our customers succeed in today's dynamic healthcare landscape we've built our IT operations on three pillars ­ customer-centricity, talent, and connectivity. Practicing Customer CentricityWe believe we are most successful when our customers are able to execute their strategies and ultimately support patients. Sharing supply chain and inventory data with the manufacturer is table stakes for a distributor. By taking a customer-centric approach and seeking answers, we've learned that we need to build real-time online access, which is a part of the roadmap for better integration with our customers' systems. When state and federal legislation was introduced to track pharmaceutical products through the supply chain, we realized the benefits for manufacturers if the implementation was strategic and coordinated. To ensure our customers were represented and that we could offer the best solution, we've become an active part of discussions with regulators as they sought to develop a law that would track medication in order to facilitate recalls and reduce the prevalence of counterfeit products. As the legislation evolved and implementation was on the horizon, we partnered with SAP to create a new data management solution, Advance Track & Trace, to help manufacturers establish compliance with the law ahead of schedule. In addition to compliance, our solution foresaw data storage needs that will allow manufacturers to better understand the functionality of the supply chain and make it more efficient. By focusing on customer needs, we were able to create a valuable new IT solution that reinforced our dedication towards our partners.Hiring and Listening to High-Quality TalentIT can often play a singular role, but creating a team that is guided by customers' and patients' centricity adds purpose to the tasks at hand and encourages collaboration. While we look for a certain set of skills and training, it's also important that our IT team can understand the clinical nature of our work. That might mean familiarity with HIPAA to ensure compliance of how our data is segregated and blinded, or it might mean working closely with a Ph.D. to extract clinical insights. To recruit and retain the best, it is critical to empower associates by listening to suggestions and Dale DanilewitzIn My OPINION
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