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In 1966 the Star Trek television series introduced us to the Medical Tricorder - a hand held device used by doctors to diagnose diseases and collect vital medical information about a patient.   Forty-five years later this object of an active imagination may in fact become reality.

The X PRIZE Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation recently announced the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize - a $10 million global competition to develop devices that will give consumers access to their state of health by using mobile technology.  Some of the technology needed to meet this goal has already been developed.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Rick Valencia, VP and GM of Qualcomm Life about the Tricorder X Prize, Qualcomm Life’s 2net^TM Platform and its impact on Healthcare.

“Up to 90% of health care spending today goes to managing chronic diseases,” commented Valencia.   There is a shift to a new model of health care delivery based on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).  The ACO mission is to keep patients healthier (and out of hospitals) through coordinated care.  Mobile communication devices play an important role in supporting this shift and making this goal more realistic.  “Hospital readmissions are a $25B problem in this country,” added Rick - enabling mobile devices to transmit medical data to health care practitioners on a periodic basis would enable early intervention.   Lower readmission costs will enable the market to support transformation to new health care models.

“Qualcomm’s 2net Platform and Hub were developed to be used in connection with wireless medical devices to support this transformation, “Rick stated.  It is important to note that both the 2net Platform and Hub are listed with the FDA as Class I Medical Device Data Systems (MDDS), which makes Qualcomm a medical device manufacturer.  The 2net Platform allows medical devices to connect via USB, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to so that their data can be available across the continuum of care - an issue with managing chronic diseases.

“The beauty of the 2net ecosystem is that it provides medical device manufacturers with a one stop shop for wireless enablement of their devices.  It is also an open forum that encourages the creation of new healthcare apps,” noted Rick.  Using the 2net technology, data could be aggregated and analyzed for trends or anomalies.  The Platform connects patients with caregivers, family, and clinicians providing timely feedback.

Rick also pointed out that there are several benefits to device manufacturers around implementing this new technology:

• It provides a means of getting data out of devices outside of the clinical setting:
• It creates an interoperable ecosystem with medical devices, mobile medical applications and health service providers like hospitals; and
• It provides system support for tracking and tracing.

“Wireless technology is the biggest platform on earth.  We need to leverage it in health care,” declared Rick.  That is reason why the Qualcomm Foundation joined with X PRIZE to challenge the industry to develop a global customer platform.

I concur with Rick, mobile devices are the most exiting tools available today to improve health care.

By Desmond Hunt, Ph.D., Senior Scientific Liaison at USP

As the pharmaceutical industry continues to globalize, the challenges of securing complex supply chains and protecting patients from counterfeit medicines have mounted, as have the consequences of lapses in security or proper handling. In an effort to encourage comprehensive public standards across the pharmaceutical industry, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is proposing a set of recommended best practices that will help ensure that medicines can be traced back to their original manufacturer, are not adulterated or counterfeited, and are transported to their intended destination with their quality intact.

Supply chain integrity involves minimizing risks that arise anywhere along the supply chain, from sourcing pharmaceutical raw materials to their manufacture and distribution. The new standard being proposed is not mandatory, and is contained in the proposed USP General Chapter <1083> Good Distribution Practices-Supply Chain Integrity. The proposal is intended to serve as a guideline document outlining the essential elements of an effective strategy. The proposed standard covers four main areas: importation, counterfeit drugs and medical devices, best practices to combat counterfeit drugs and medical devices, and diversion and theft.

The draft general chapter and comments submitted to USP will be a central topic of a Supply Chain Integrity Workshop that USP is convening May 22-23, 2012, in Rockville, Md. This will be a further opportunity to provide input, including whether additional information needs to be included in the chapter.

Some highlights of the workshop include:

• Supply Chain Members: Role, Responsibilities and Risks
• The Role of Logistic and Transportation Providers in Supply Chain Integrity
• FDA Update: Track and Trace
• Technologies: Impact and Implementation Issues for Wholesalers, Pharmacies, Pharmacists
• Regulations and Guidances Impacting the Supply Chain

More information about the workshop is available at www.usp.org/meetings-courses/workshops/supply-chain-integrity-workshop.

The expo hall stage was the setting for my interview with Daniel Matlis, the President of Axendia, an analyst and consulting firm for Life Sciences and Healthcare.  

During the interview Dan touched on:

• The hottest challenges facing healthcare providers in the current economic times, centered around asset and facilities management
• The increased pressures for managing a sophisticated mix of devices, tools & equipment, systems & technologies and all asset classes
• How there is no shortage of data within healthcare organizations, the key challenge is in the analytics to drive intelligence from that data
• The challenges of locating assets throughout healthcare facilities
• The recent series of articles published by Axendia based on conversations with industry executives on the impact of new FDA regulations on healthcare providers and
• The importance of a smarter physical infrastructure within healthcare organizations

Take a look at this insightful interview:  http://livestre.am/1k5KH

 
This interview was a nice precursor for the IBM Maximo Asset Management for Healthcare Organizations flash demo (required registration): 

We all like to think our industries present unique challenges to overcome. While that may be the case, it’s also true that in the world of high-tech manufacturing, we have far more in common than it seems. Whether you’re producing a drug, pacemaker, or an airplane, you’re probably facing many of these requirements:

• Outsourcing/offshoring significant portions of the manufacturing process to reduce cost;
• Accounting for regulatory mandates to promote security and quality standards across the supply chain;
• Obtaining visibility across a broad and deep supply chain to track and manage inventory;
• Integrating with suppliers with vastly different operating environments to enhance communication;
• Gaining overall logistics control, from in-transit visibility to load consolidation and 3PL integration, to speed deliveries;
• Conducting demand and supply planning that incorporates manufacturing floor-based pull systems to coordinate current and future needs; and
• • Dashboarding large-scale transaction volume by commodity, buyer, or other aggregation criteria to deliver the intelligence necessary for all constituencies to assess performance.

The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is no stranger to these circumstances. In fact, firms throughout A&D are addressing them head-on, including Exostar’s founding partners: BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Rolls-Royce. The Life Sciences industry can benefit from the lessons we’ve learned in A&D as you look to tackle many of these same problems.

Here are my top five suggestions:

1. Don’t fight outsourcing, embrace it. Yes, there are times when you’ll want and need full control of the manufacturing process, but not always. For example, combining outsourced IT services along with mainstream manufacturing can drive down cost and increase competitiveness.
2. Look to the cloud. The scalability and flexibility of cloud-based solutions complements and accommodates dynamic outsourced demands.
3. Automate wherever possible. E-enabling the supply chain procurement lifecycle creates efficiencies and opportunities for collaboration beyond limitations of manually-intensive execution. It also promotes standardization across organizations with disparate on-premise systems and processes, while mitigating the risk of human error.
4. Expand B2B integration. Automation paves the way for integration. An “any-to-any” integration model empowers buyers and suppliers by facilitating procurement document exchanges and optimizing operating efficiencies without requiring substantial capital or workforce investment.
5. Leverage identity federation. There’s no doubt that outsourcing, the cloud, automation, and integration can be scary propositions when you’re trying to protect intellectual property and other sensitive information. Eliminate the fear factor by implementing a strong identity management solution that controls access to systems, documents, and data regardless of the number of partners in your community.

Many of the largest players in A&D have realized that the legacy approach of going it alone and relying on manual intervention and on-premise systems simply won’t work in a 21st century economy. They are reaping the benefits from making the transition to a new way of thinking. For example, one firm increased on-time delivery of goods from its suppliers by more than 10 percent, while another slashed its purchase-to-pay cycle times and freed resources to focus on its highest priority tasks.

These companies are succeeding in providing mission critical products while complying with tight regulatory environments, similar to those you experience in the Life Sciences industry. Now, it’s time for you to take a cue from A&D and get started yourselves.