We’ve Blurred the Lines Between Data, Insights, and Reporting — Walgreens Head of Pharmacy and Healthcare Data

(US & Canada) Sashi Venkatesan, Head of Pharmacy and Healthcare Data at Walgreens, speaks with Marty Poniatowski, Director at AMD, in a video interview about the future data plans at Walgreens and real-time streaming of data provides significant value to the business across various use cases.

Venkatesan shares that Walgreens is undergoing a transformation, with plans over the next 6 to 18 months to enhance the maturity of its data capabilities. This involves ensuring no mistakes are made regarding patient data — avoiding loss, duplication, or unnecessary outreach. He emphasizes the need for all data capabilities developed over the last five years to undergo review and upgrades. The goal is to make the tech stack more seamless, mature, and reliable while also being cost-effective and timely in delivering results to the business.

The next step Venkatesan says involves experimenting with AI and machine learning, though with a strong focus on patient safety. While Walgreens limits the exposure of AI and ML directly to patients, Venkatesan notes that they are heavily utilized within data engineering to predict incoming data and curate it accordingly. The priority will be on improving maturity and integrating more AI and ML into data engineering processes.

Further, Venkatesan emphasizes the critical importance of handling patient data with the utmost care, especially given that the business operates within the retail pharmacy and healthcare sectors. He explains that every piece of data is treated as a potential medical record. To support the operations and enhance patient outcomes, the team developed a streaming data platform with robust capabilities.

For those embarking on similar initiatives or seeking to advance their data maturity, Venkatesan suggests starting with a clear strategic goal and a well-founded hypothesis. In Walgreens’ case, the goal was to create data products that go beyond analytics and reporting, focusing instead on operational data that is safe, secure, and avoids unnecessary duplication. This strategic approach enabled them to build essential capabilities.

He also highlights the importance of gradually adding maturity layers and developing products before deploying them in real-world scenarios, such as in stores, to assess their effectiveness. Venkatesan encourages various lines of business within the company to leverage these capabilities, whether for patient safety, asset protection, 340B program management, or real-time prescription status tracking. He believes that these fundamental principles can benefit organizations beyond the healthcare and regulated sectors.

Elaborating further, Venkatesan says that Walgreens’ success lies in seamlessly merging data, insights, and reporting. Delivering curated insights at the same speed as the original data provides significant value to the business across various use cases. Whether the data is from 10 years or 10 seconds ago, it can be swiftly delivered when the business needs it.

In conclusion, Venkatesan notes that he is open to showcasing the effectiveness of the initiatives.

CDO Magazine appreciates Sashi Venkatesan for sharing his insights with our global community.

*Note: This interview was originally recorded on June 25, 2024.