ServiceNow in Action: Revolutionizing Medical Device Management and Pharma Lifecycle Implementations

Address the Needs of Increasing Patient Volumes and Aging Populations

Life sciences organizations are increasingly facing complex challenges in medical management, including growing product complexity, regulatory compliance, operational inefficiencies, and device security vulnerabilities. These challenges are compounded by clinical burdens, cybersecurity issues, and rising patient volumes, particularly from an aging population.

The need for an integrated enterprise platform that supports both business and technology processes while providing a unified solution for cross-functional needs is more critical than ever to help:

• Address the Needs of an Aging Population:
  Life sciences organizations can use ServiceNow's unified platform and pre-built workflows to meet the growing demands of an aging population. It streamlines healthcare management, covering patient care devices, clinical trials, and regulatory compliance. The platform also supports efficient device tracking and predictive maintenance with AI, vital for handling increased patient volumes.
• Enhance Care at Alternative Sites:
  As healthcare models decentralize, ServiceNow enables efficient care delivery at alternative sites like home surgical centers and senior care facilities. Its AI, IoT connectivity, and integration capabilities streamline infrastructure management, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance patient care in these settings.

Innovation in the AI Era

In 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved more than 185 AI/ML-based devices^[1], reinforcing the need for technology innovation to stay ahead in the healthcare ecosystem.

ServiceNow first introduced intelligent chatbots on its platform, more than six years ago. Today, its robust AI capabilities deliver responsible, generative, and predictive intelligence-dedicated language models which can be integrated into existing medical device management processes.

"With a human-centric, transparent, and accountable governance model, ServiceNow also allows organizations to deploy custom large language models, while maintaining stringent data control. ServiceNow's integration with next-gen AI Ops and our GenAI capabilities are taking healthcare innovation to a new level."

Bill Holt

Partner Technology Strategist – ServiceNow

The rise of AI-powered medical devices presents new opportunities and challenges for life sciences companies. ServiceNow's robust AI capabilities can automate maintenance schedules, streamline incident management, and create detailed audit trails leading to greater efficiency in drug development, reduced compliance risks, better resource allocation, and improved device reliability.

Leveraging strategic partnerships with Microsoft, NVIDIA, SAP and many others, and its leadership position in the market, ServiceNow addresses the specific needs of global life science companies.

How NTT DATA is Helping Life Sciences Organizations Meet Stakeholder Needs

NTT DATA's medical device management solution, featuring ServiceNow effectively supports stakeholders in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors by streamlining device management, ensuring regulatory compliance, and optimizing operational processes.

The solution caters to three diverse groups in the life sciences value chain:

• Healthcare Providers Managing Clinical Devices:
  The solution provides a centralized and efficient device tracking and management system for hospitals. This includes automated maintenance schedules, an effective incident management platform, and detailed audit trails.
• Medical Device Manufacturers:
  The solution helps better manage the lifecycle and compliance of medical devices, ensuring regulatory compliance and device integrity.
• Pharma Companies Managing Internal Equipment Related to Drug Development:
  The solution addresses challenges around tracking and managing devices, ensuring proper maintenance, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

The solution's comprehensive features enhance process efficiency, contributing to reduced compliance risks, improved resource allocation, better cost management, and enhanced device performance.

Our Successful Use Cases: Transforming Japan's Pharma Industry with ServiceNow 

As one of the largest pharmaceutical markets globally, Japan's complex regulations and fluctuating processes have slowed industry progress in recent years. ^[2]

Our custom-built ServiceNow offerings are tailored to the unique needs of Japanese pharma companies in compliance with the local laws and regulations.

• A Streamlined Shipment Inspection System* was implemented at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.to enhance work efficiency, prevent wrong shipments, and reduce information-gathering costs. With this solution, Otsuka decreased operation times, minimized human error, and enhanced quality assurance through digitalized information.
• an Adverse Reaction Reporting System for Takeda Pharmaceutical Company to enable post-marketing surveys and adverse reaction reporting for COVID-19 vaccines. This system enabled online operations and seamless reporting to Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) during COVID restrictions.
• Clinical Trial Drug Information Management System for Chugai Pharmaceutical Company Limited, to address the changing GCP regulations. The company achieved automated workflows for managing drug information in clinical trials, reduced workload for pharmacovigilance, clinical development, and regulatory affairs.

Key Takeaways from the ServiceNow Hour

Tune in to the panel discussion panel discussion to see how ServiceNow is the differentiator when it comes to making work smarter for people. The platform delivers unmatched efficiency gains in the pharma industry, making it the ideal choice for NTT DATA's medical device management solution.

The robustness of ServiceNow's platform, combined with AI Ops and our GenAI capabilities offer a huge advantage to life science organizations.

"While most point solutions are usually working in silos, scalability and incorporating newer technologies becomes a challenge. Our solution is built ground-up on the ServiceNow platform to utilize its seamless integration and interoperability with other technologies and workflows. We strongly believe that our offering will transform customer support and regulatory processes with streamlined workflows, reduced administrative work burdens, and make a significant impact on customer experience and patient care."

Rajiv Varyani

Senior Manager Life Sciences Consulting at NTT DATA

In terms of the differences in the Japanese and North American Pharma Markets, Bill Holt noted that the Japanese market is a lot different from the U.S., mostly around the regulatory environment, government regulation of pricing and the narrower availability of workflow. The Japanese pharma market needs drive efficiency to be more profitable and successful. With ServiceNow's data model and unified workflow platform, companies can become more efficient at scale and continue to deliver and expand their offerings.

Yuki Nakamura emphasized on the two key challenges across Japan's pharma industry. Firstly, the need to accelerate R&D, and the need to enhance pharma value chains efficiently, owing to regulation amendments, high R&D costs, and so on. ServiceNow contributes to solving these issues from an operations perspective by integrating process data, systems, and infrastructure.

With a tightly governed and optimized approach, ServiceNow is making investments in responsible AI to deliver real operational intelligence to life sciences companies with a specific purpose. It caters to the evolving needs of the industry and controls information in and out of the intelligence solution which is a gamechanger and a requirement in sensitive industries like pharma.

Rajiv Varyani and Abhi Joshi shared the roadmap for a unified ServiceNow implementation and how we are strategically positioning our offerings to be a global leader in the life sciences industry.

Conclusion

NTT DATA recommends a comprehensive approach to the effective implementation of ServiceNow solutions. This involves a three-step process, beginning with Discovery. During this initial phase, stakeholders within the organization thoroughly assess customer feedback, and evaluate device management protocols. This is followed by Internal Alignment among leaders and stakeholders on pertinent issues that need resolution. Lastly, Solution Identification to find the right fit for the organization's objectives and needs.

It Is our priority to solve complex client issues and drive awareness of the value that each solution brings. Potential solutions are rigorously evaluated through client use cases and Proof of Concepts (POCs) prior to the development of a comprehensive roadmap for larger-scale innovation and transformation.

NTT DATA and ServiceNow are at the forefront of addressing the multifaceted challenges of life sciences organizations in medical management. The ServiceNow Hour summed up the importance of integrating technology, strategic partnerships, and customer-centric approaches to enhance patient care across various scenarios.