In Brief: August 2008

Nearly two dozen Avnet Technology Solutions Inc. VARs recently spent five days at Scottsdale Arizona Healthcare facilities observing hospital personnel admit patients, perform surgery and organize records, all in an effort to better understand how technology is used in the field. It was the latest initiative in Avnet's HealthPath University to educate VARs on how to sell to health-care customers.

"From the first day, this was an experience like no other," said Joe Roslansky, director of sales and business development for Capital Data Inc., one of the VARs who attended the session. "I've been at OEMs, I've had health-care trainings. It was very clear Avnet put themselves up 10 notches with this."

Avnet spent several months with Scottsdale Healthcare to work on the curriculum and get the hospital to agree to give the solution providers a rare, behind-the-scenes look into numerous departments.

After first meeting with the hospital CFO, Avnet structured the program for VARs to view the hospital through the eyes of a patient, starting with the admissions department, said Tony Vottima, vice president of vertical market solutions at Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas.

"We went to the medical records department to see how information is captured. From there we went to the emergency department, through IT, through the lab, then through radiology," he said. "We spent a fair amount of time in the nursing department to see how they keep track of things around the patient."

The group also visited the pharmacy, supply department, supply chain management and even surgery, he added.

"They got to dress up in scrubs. They were watching actual surgeries to understand the technologies in that department," Vottima said. "They got to see and talk to personnel live, and they can go back to their territories now and have a good, solid understanding of what the challenges are."

All the attendees had previously attended HealthPath University, but the classroom session is not the same as experiencing real-world drama, Vottima said.

Avnet worked with Jim Cramer, vice president and CIO, Scottsdale Healthcare, to develop the program.

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