Technology is providing the world with a unique opportunity to develop robust healthcare systems in terms of delivery, outcomes and reducing costs. Further, the healthtech industry is being transformed through tools and technologies which can seamlessly leverage data, personalize engagement, and improve collaboration for better outcomes. In the Indian context, aspirants from the country are undertaking many technical jobs for major global companies through the establishment of GCCs. According to EY’s GCC Pulse Survey 2021, 3 out of 4 India-based GCCs are acting as Global Hubs for digital skills & delivery. Most GCCs see themselves as an incubation engine with structured ideation processes where 68% of GCCs are operationalizing their parent organization’s digital strategies by providing scale. With the abundant skilled digital talent in India, healthcare GCCs can successfully deliver on their digital transformation agenda.
Cardinal Health International India (CHII) is positioned as a global hub for IT, augmented intelligence, product software engineering and business process management, augmenting internal capabilities to support Cardinal Health’s growth through technology enablement. The hub’s aim is to create a service and technology network that will enable scale across the enterprise. CHII’s focus will be the 3 A’s of artificial intelligence, automation and analytics – which are together called augmented intelligence. Mr. Nagaraj Bhat, Vice President and Managing Director, Cardinal Health International India in a discussion with CXOtoday shared more insights on the same.
- Can you please elaborate on the global digital health solutions that Cardinal Health offers?
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. is a distributor of pharmaceuticals, a global manufacturer and distributor of medical and laboratory products, and a provider of performance and data solutions for healthcare facilities. With a team of approximately 44,000 mission-driven partners striving each day to advance healthcare and improve lives, Cardinal Health provides performance and data solutions for the entire healthcare industry.
Cardinal Health offers a crucial link between the clinical and operational sides of healthcare, delivering end-to-end solutions and data-driven insights that advance healthcare and improve lives every day. With deep partnerships, diverse perspectives, and innovative digital solutions, Cardinal Health builds connections across the continuum of care. From a scale standpoint, we serve 90% of U.S. hospitals, more than 60,000 U.S pharmacies and more than 10,000 specialty physician offices and clinics. We provide more than 3.4 million patients with more than 46,000 home health care products. Cardinal Health’s digital ecosystem to support medication adherence currently reaches more than 23 million patients and more than 60 payers.
- How important it is for CHII to drive innovation for a healthcare/ health-tech company? What is the role of CHII towards building global efficiency?
The launch of Cardinal Health International India (CHII) as a new capability center is a step toward providing more innovative healthcare products and solutions and enabling digital transformation. CHII is positioned as a global hub for IT, augmented intelligence, product software engineering and business process management, augmenting internal capabilities to support Cardinal Health’s growth through technology enablement. CHII marks one of the largest investments by Cardinal Health to create a service and technology network that will enable scale across the enterprise.
CHII will play a meaningful and key role in Digital Transformation across our internal operations, customer experience and health tech solutions. CHII has technology talent focusing on several key areas including eCommerce platforms, Omnichannel Sales and Service enablement, Patient engagement, Data Management and Governance, Digital Intelligent automation etc.
- What is the importance of tech-innovation and learning in the current health-tech landscape?
The adoption of technology in healthcare has peaked in recent years, especially due to the pandemic. Out of all the benefited sectors from technology adoption, healthcare is perhaps the foremost important one. Consequently, it improved the standard of life over time, and it has saved many lives.
As one of Cardinal Health’s five values, being innovative is at the core and a key factor in our success. By challenging the status quo and making shifts in the way Cardinal Health does business, the company will help customers adapt and lead the healthcare industry through change.
Becoming a more innovative healthcare products and solutions provider will require significant investment in digital. Teams across the company are using digital tools to transform logistics, procurement, sales, and marketing and much more.
At Cardinal Health, we are reimagining patient journeys through advanced technologies to cure rare and ultra-rare diseases. A lot of work is going on to make our supply chain and logistics capability intelligent by leveraging data and modern technologies. We can solve complex problems in the healthcare industry and some of these products for pharmacies, biopharma companies, healthcare professionals, as well as direct to patients, are being built in Cardinal Health’s India delivery sector.
Cardinal Health has identified more than a dozen areas of opportunity using digital to improve our core business, customer experience and create a new benchmark for digital healthcare.
- How can health-tech providers use data to draw robust insights and engage effectively with customers?
As the industry shifts to value-based care, healthcare providers need actionable insights to make informed clinical decisions, manage patient populations and maximize clinical outcomes. Data analytics and decision support can provide more meaningful insights and predictive indicators that will increase speed and accuracy for these clinical decisions that positively impact the overall health and wellbeing of their patients.
With the advancement in data science, we are seeing opportunities across the care continuum to make digital health products and services more intelligent and prescriptive. Artificial intelligence and machine learning is being embedded into products and services to get patients on life-saving medications as quickly as possible and ensure hospital systems optimize their drug spend.
There are many software solutions in the marketplace to help health systems monitor and optimize spend but its essential healthcare technology providers understand the health care setting end to end, as well as offer interconnected solutions that can be acquired based on value and need. This understanding and empathy of the providers’ experience ensures they will receive not only robust data and insights, but also valuable recommendations on the key actions they can take each day to drive meaningful change for their customers and patients.
Data driven insights are the key enablers of value-based healthcare. For example Decision Path developed by Cardinal Health is a first of its kind solution to be built into the electronic health record (EHR) workflow, allowing oncologists to easily compare cancer treatment options, both by clinical indication and cost, at the point of care. Prior to Decision Path, many systems provided cost data outside of the EHR, requiring more time and effort for the physician and care team to locate the necessary information.
Another area where data can be used to draw meaningful insights is around patient engagement spanning across the ecosystem of pharmacies, payers, and pharma companies. Rooted in the pharmacist-patient relationship, Cardinal Health’s Outcomes™ is a unified ecosystem that brings together patient engagement, clinical intervention, and pharmacy workflow solutions to enhance patient outcomes.
- How is CHII using digital tools to transform logistics, procurement, sales & marketing?
CHII is integral part of many major global initiatives aimed at process modernization and business model innovation with digitalization as a core differentiator. CHII team leverages Cloud based ERP systems, Cloud Data Engineering, eCommerce platform modernization and apply data science capabilities to help position Cardinal Health as a healthcare’s most trusted partner. Our 450+ member team at CHII are focused on delivering what matters most for our customers.
- How can companies help drive growth in evolving areas of healthcare through customer insights, data, and analytics?
Value based healthcare is emerging as new business models and patient outcomes are at the center of the future healthcare delivery model. Leveraging customer insights, data and analytics can help drive customer intimacy and a personalized experience that can result in new revenue models through data monetization.
