Is it necessary to explicitly focus and call attention to the obvious fact that I am a woman in technology? You might not think so these days. Women have accomplished so much since the first bra was burned, that it would be understandable if you believed that we have established and gained enough ground to just be people in technology.

The reality is, unfortunately, there remains a staggering degree of inequality. Last month, the New York Times published an article titled “The Top Jobs Where Women are outnumbered by Men Named John.” The article reveals that there are fewer women among Chief Executives of Fortune 500 companies (5%) than there are men named James (5%); fewer female Venture capital investors in the largest tech deals of the last five years (9%) than there are men named David, James and Peter 11%.

You may giggle at first when reading the article, but its conclusion is stunning: it is more likely that the names of the men in charge will change sooner — fewer Johns and Roberts and more Liam’s and Noahs — than the number of women.

This is a reality that we cannot ignore, and one that exists all over our industry. While some of us women may not “feel it” as much as others, we are all still subject to “it.”

The World of Economic Forum’s 2016 Industry Gender Gap report recognizes that in “nearly all industries and geographies there has been a marked shift away from deliberate exclusion of women from the workplace, there continue to be cultural beliefs that lead to unconscious biases. This includes perceptions that successful, competent women are less “nice”; that strong performance by women is due to hard work rather than skills; and assumptions that women are less committed to their careers.”

We women have all felt this. The one woman that can be “tough enough” always gets through, but not all of us. We internally debate with ourselves whether to be more like our male counterpart in order to simply be heard in a meeting. Sometimes it is a question of style, but more often than not, we don’t have a seat at the table. And when we “power through it all” we still struggle to find a lot of role models to look up to.

I personally attribute my success to relentless stubbornness, shameless self-confidence (which often gets mislabeled since I am a woman) and sometimes blunt confrontation. Still, many times throughout my career I was asked to sit on the sidelines. I was encouraged to “focus on my wedding planning activities, rather than worrying about a promotion” which by the way I well deserved and earned.

At Magellan, we have decided that the only way to overcome these inequalities is to take them on proactively. That is why, in 2018, we have formed an internal ‘Women in Technology’ (WIT) change leadership group.

Being at a company that is not only willing to discuss and support a Women In Technology group, but is actually ready to “put their money where their mouth is” is refreshing.

The WIT group we established has taken off and I am so happy to see the responses, the community and the peer (gender agnostic) support we are offering to women across Magellan IT and beyond.

Our group is not exclusive to women, in fact we need everyone involved to truly make a difference, because our goals are critically important:

• We are focused on fostering female employee development and growth across the IT organization.
• We want to see more of us out there – we want our talent pipeline and the recruiting tactics to bring women to the table.
• We aim to encourage young women in the middle and high schools our communities to consider, try and stick with STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).
• We want to support each other through peer-mentoring.
• We want to bring role models forward to provide insights into the possibilities.

Ultimately, we want a future where being a woman in technology is not a heroic accomplishment, and super powers are not needed to claim our earned and well-deserved seat at the table.

Exponential Organizations (ExOs) deliver outcomes (or impact) that are disproportionally (10x) greater than their traditional competitors through the use of innovative business models, organizational techniques and digital technologies. Over the past two years, we at Magellan have developed, implemented and are continuously improving a new approach for managing IT in ExOs. Magellan Exponential IT (ExO IT) is a digital and cloud-first healthcare strategy that is enabled by agile operational processes and implemented by a highly engaged learning organization. These three basic components of ExO IT – Digital Strategy, Agile Operations and Learning Organization, work together in a cadence to deliver iterative technology enabled capabilities that build on each another to deliver business agility, 10x results and be adaptive to meet the evolving needs of today’s healthcare industry.

Earlier this year, we started to automate Magellan’s ExO IT model through a highly scalable, secure and always-on system called DREAMS (Digital Real-time Management System). DREAMS has six modules that are built on ServiceNow (Kingston) platform using a customer focused low-code, no-code approach. With DREAMS, we aim to deliver minimum efficient scale through the use of today’s cloud-based technologies, ubiquitous access, real time insights and lean processes. It is highly influenced by Design Thinking, Lean Thinking (The Toyota Production System), Agile Methods, and the Amazon Way (Customer first, develop press releases, two-pizza team etc.). The broad scope of DREAMS includes:

1. Lead IT – This module operationalizes and automates our ExO IT strategy through focused and highly visible initiatives and expected outcomes. It does this through several Lean Thinking work products such as the X-Matrix, Leader Standard Work, Visual Management Systems, Initiative Press Releases, Project A3s and OKRs. At the center of Lead IT is a Digital 5S System. 5S (Sort, Standardize, Set-in-order, Shine and Sustain) is a Lean Thinking technique that makes the most frequently used and current and properly configured tools available to the right people, at the right time and at the right place. The Digital 5S is used to enable a highly engaged, productive and collaborative IT leadership team.
2. Manage IT – This module aims to maximize the throughput of IT by continuously aligning demand with the supply of IT at the most optimal cost. Manage IT standardizes and automates IT Service Delivery capabilities such as demand, resource, capacity, portfolio and financial management. This module is built around the Magellan Asset Portfolio (MAP) and it provides an easy to use and easy to search repository of infrastructure and application assets used within Magellan. MAP is enabled and operationalized through Service Owners and Solution Owners within our ExO IT organizational model.
3. Ask IT – This module aims to improve employee productivity by helping them request and receive IT solutions and services through simple, secure, easy-to-use, reliable and context-aware experiences. Ask IT implements a Services Portal and Services Catalog that can be used by employees to order, track and receive solutions and services in a way that is similar to leading online services such as Amazon.
4. View IT – This module focuses on driving continuous improvement within ExO IT by providing access to real-time dashboards, interfaces, benchmarks, metrics and outcomes used to measure the effectiveness of IT and its operations.
5. Secure IT – This module automates Security Operations, GRC, adherence to standards, audit controls and other mission critical functions related to protecting the security and privacy of healthcare information and
6. Operate IT – This module focuses on delivering predictable, secure, always-on operations using standardized and automated IT Service Management capabilities in the areas of Incident, Problem, Change, Event, Release and Capacity Management.

We are currently in flight with rolling DREAMS V1.0 out to the leadership ranks within Magellan IT. This release provides limited scope across all six modules and represents a significant step forward. We have 4 more releases planned for 2018. These releases will add more functionality and roll these capabilities out to a broader audience within Magellan.

Our own Seth Feuerstein spoke recently at the APA annual meeting about how Digital Mental Health Care is increasing access and delivering positive outcomes.

“Here’s what’s interesting…subjectively, patients described [the digital program] as by far the most positive experience they have when they go to that center,” said Feuerstein. “Their engagement with it was kind of off the charts.”

You can read about Seth’s comments and more at the American Journal of Manage Care by clicking here

April is Autism Awareness Month and another opportunity to promote inclusion and self-determination for those on the autism spectrum. Like many impacted by this challenging disorder, my family has our own story and my hope is that by sharing it, we can help others.

Our now nine year old son, Vaughn, was diagnosed with autism at 18 months. A mere 13 months younger than his typically-developing sister, my husband and I could tell that something was not quite right with our son. Vaughn wasn’t walking or talking and was overly-obsessed with anything that spun. He wouldn’t make eye contact with people and wasn’t motivated to engage with our family. It was both scary and heartbreaking and we knew we needed to do something. Little did we know how much our next steps would change, and continue to shape, our lives.

Artwork by Vaughn

The day we were given the diagnosis was one of the hardest days of my life. I worried about my son’s future and whether he would ever learn to communicate his needs, make friends or even live independently. As a mother, you want those things for your children and you worry when the future path isn’t clear. Thankfully my husband and I parked our tears and bonded together to do everything we could to change the trajectory of Vaughn’s life. We quickly immersed ourselves in learning all we could about this complex and wide spectrum disorder, discovering just how important it was to intervene early and often for the biggest impact. And we did just that; fully determined, we dove in and never looked back.

While most children were enjoying the freedoms of exploration and play, Vaughn was working as many as 35 hours a week for years on things that would seem so simple to some—things like learning how to speak and shape sounds, how to play appropriately with toys and even how to properly engage other children and people. My husband and I often marveled at how hard Vaughn worked and how little he complained. However, as parents, we often struggled to strike the balance between being therapists consistently executing interventions and being just a regular mom and a dad to both of our children.

Fortunately, and with the help of many wonderful people and organizations, we were able to effectively navigate the system and provide Vaughn with comprehensive services and support, some of which he still receives today. Vaughn is in a typical classroom, participating in typical activities and has many friends. He is a talented artist with a creativity and sense of design well beyond his years. And, most importantly, he has a loving and supportive big sister that celebrates his success, despite the years of being in her brother’s autism shadow. We are fortunate.

In an effort to honor those that have helped us and to give back to our community, I have joined the board of directors at Arizona Autism United as they have played, and continue to play, a key role in Vaughn’s treatment and success. It is my goal to do whatever I can to support this organization that has done so much for my family and share what we have learned to help other families struggling with autism in our community.

I’ve said it a million times, and will say it again. If I could go back in time to the day Vaughn was diagnosed and change things, I wouldn’t. He is such a special and creative person that has positively shaped how our family sees the world. Our journey has made us who we are and we are grateful for the lessons we’ve learned and the people we’ve met along the way. This Autism Awareness Month, take the time to learn more about autism and what you might be able to do to help those in your own community.

In honor of World Hemophilia Day, Magellan Rx Management has released results from the first six months of its hemophilia management program launched in collaboration with Health New England, a non-profit health plan serving the commercial, Medicaid and Medicare markets.

Hemophilia is a rare genetic bleeding disorder, for which treatment is expensive and difficult to manage. The average annual cost per member with severe hemophilia can exceed $250,000, and may be upward of $1 million for members who have developed inhibitors. Personalized care programs for patients with hemophilia aim to reduce unnecessary costs while improving the overall quality of care.

“As April 17 is World Hemophilia Day, we’re excited to bring hemophilia care into the spotlight and highlight the early results achieved with Health New England through our hemophilia management program,” said Haita Makanji, vice president, clinical specialty solutions at Magellan Rx Management. “Through personalized interventions, we’re able to better determine the individual member needs and coordinate across key stakeholders to deliver a truly personalized care program that ensures members with hemophilia receive best-in-class care and achieve optimal outcomes.”

Since launching the hemophilia management program in August 2017, Magellan Rx Management and Health New England have standardized care across various stakeholders without compromising patient outcomes, resulting in:

• Optimized doses through assay management or pharmacokinetic (PK) testing in 50 percent of members
• Reduced average assay dispensed in prophylaxis patients from 5 percent to 1 percent, reducing the potential for waste
• No breakthrough bleeding reported from members who had a dose reduction

“In the past eight months of collaboration with Magellan, we’ve achieved our goals of ensuring high quality of care for members with hemophilia while minimizing potential waste created through excess dispensing and inappropriate dosing,” said Andrew J. Colby, R.Ph, MBA, Health New England’s pharmacy director. “By announcing our hemophilia management program results on World Hemophilia Day, we hope to raise the profile of this condition and look to continue to make strides in standardizing best treatment practices to benefit members across the country.”

The hemophilia management program aims to enhance overall quality and personalization of hemophilia care by coordinating with prescribers, members and pharmacies while reducing unnecessary costs. Key elements include:

• Helping payers analyze information related to member bleed history and hemophilia treatment patterns.
• Standardizing dispensing and optimal dose protocols to promote best practices and improve transparency in hemophilia care.
• Updating policies to encourage individualized treatment regimens based on member-specific metabolic factors.

Magellan Health today announced the launch of a new thought leadership website, www.MagellanHealthResources.com.

With a curated assortment of materials, focused around individual topics, Magellan Health Resources was designed as a repository of research, information and materials for healthcare professionals, members of the media and researchers.

To launch, Magellan Health Resources is showcasing information and materials around the opioid crisis.

The site includes videos  webinars, downloadable white papers, research, a news archive and more.

You can take a look here

By Carol Sickler, Screen Liaison Supervisor, TMG by Magellan Health

April is National Donate Life Month, and in honor of this, we would like to share a story from Carol Sickler, a TMG by Magellan Health Screen Liaison Supervisor. Fourteen years ago, Carol gave a life-saving gift to her brother, and she’s proud to be a living organ donor. Here is Carol’s story.

On March 18, 2004, I donated my kidney to my brother Lee. He had been in kidney failure for a year due to Berger’s disease (also known as IgA nephropathy) and was on dialysis. Berger’s disease causes the kidneys to become inflamed, which can affect how the kidneys filter waste from the blood. Since only 50 percent of people on dialysis live beyond 5 years, Lee’s best bet for long-term survival was to find a new kidney. I wanted to give Lee a fighting chance.

Our dad had also been on dialysis due to what we believed was Berger’s disease (it was never confirmed because he had other health issues, too). Unfortunately, our father was not a candidate for a transplant, and passed away in 2002 at the age of 72. My brother Steve also has Berger’s disease, but fortunately he has not experienced kidney failure (not everyone with Berger’s does).

Lee and Carol Sickler

Since this disease is hereditary, you might be wondering why I decided to donate one of my kidneys – wasn’t I at risk of Berger’s disease, too? Thankfully for me, Berger’s is primarily a disease found in males. It also tends to show up by the time a person is 40, and I was 40 at the time. So, for me, the risk of developing Berger’s disease was relatively low.

When I first considered donating my kidney, there were so many questions that were going through my mind about both of our futures, and if this was the right choice for us. However, my decision was solidified when the doctors at UW Hospital in Madison told us I was a match for Lee. And not just a match, but an identical match, with all six antigens matching as if we were identical twins, even though Lee is seven years younger than me. The doctors were baffled by this and had never experienced anything like this before. For me, though, I knew then that it was part of my life’s path to move forward and give my kidney to my brother. So, fourteen years ago we hugged and went into surgery together, becoming connected in a way we had never before imagined.

Today, we are both fully recovered and doing well. I personally have no regrets, and no health issues or ill effects from the donation. What I do have is an amazing bond with my baby brother Lee – the depth of this bond is unexplainable, and it’s something I would gladly give my kidney for again if I had to. Because organ donations are treatments and not cures, the kidney donation didn’t cure Lee of Berger’s disease, but it has allowed him to live a fulfilling, healthier life off of dialysis. Also, this gift of life allowed him to have a daughter, Jazmyn Carol, for which our entire family is grateful.

For anyone who is interested in becoming a living donor, there are a lot of great resources at both the www.organdonor.gov and at the University of Wisconsin Living Kidney Donor page. One of the most important things to know is that as long as the donor is evaluated thoroughly and cleared for donation, they will most likely lead a normal life after the surgery. And should a health condition arise because of the donation, there is a priority system in place on the National Transplant Waiting List so that living donors move to the top of that list.

I’m grateful that I had the chance to give my kidney to my brother, and love sharing my story in hopes it will inspire others to give the gift of life.

The following is an excerpt from an article appearing in the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC)

More than 46 Americans die from prescription opioid overdoses every day, while the number of deaths from prescription opioids has more than quadrupled since 1999. Lack of expertise on how to measure and treat pain is a large factor driving the crisis. In addition, challenges in identifying those who are at risk for opioid abuse or who are already dependent on opioids adds further complexity.

Americans consume 80% of opioid painkillers produced worldwide. Yet the amount of pain reported hasn’t changed since in the past 2 decades, according to the CDC. For physicians, this points to the need to reconsider when to prescribe an opioid—if at all. Providers face intense pressures to adequately treat pain and may not know the data that supports nonopioid therapies.

Breaking the cycle of prescription opioid abuse requires new thinking around pain management and alternative options for helping patients deal with chronic pain. The following are 6 things physicians should consider before prescribing an opioid.

You can read the rest of this article in the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC)