Omnicell is a leading provider of systems and software solutions targeting patient safety and operational efficiency in healthcare facilities. Recently, Ascension Health, based in Evensville, Indiana, the leading provider of healthcare system chose Omnicell, Inc's OmniBuyer as sole-source for providing missing link in their supply chain.

Chambersburg Hospital, an affiliate of Summit Health, located in south-central Pennsylvania announced that Omnicell Workflow 5.0 central pharmacy automation solution has reduced Chambersburg Hospital cart-fill time from 16 man-hrs to 90 mins

Anurag Dubey, Industry Analyst with Frost & Sullivan's Healthcare Practice in conversation with Omnicell Chairman, President and CEO, Mr. Randall A. Lipps for the Frost & Sullivan Movers and Shakers Interview. He will share with us about Omnicell's business strategy and views regarding the industry.

Good Afternoon Mr. Randall A. Lipps,

Mr. Randall A. Lipps

Randall A. Lipps (Randall): Good afternoon, thank you for providing me the opportunity to be a part of your Movers and Shakers Interview. From an organizational standpoint Omnicell is competing against some of the top Fortune 20 companies. With our competitors being such large companies, we have found that we are much more nimble, which further translates to being more responsive and focused. We're also able to address opportunities in the marketplace that a lot of larger entities wouldn't spend their time on. Omnicell is also able to develop unique customer relationships that span our entire company; from the CEO to the people we have on our production line. We work to turn our competitor's size and breadth into our strengths and make sure we're the opposite. Our focus is on the customer experience. We are finding that people in the healthcare industry are technology fatigued – it's wearing on the clinicians, pharmacists and nurses to learn new technology on top of all that they already do. Our goal is to have our customers have the best healthcare experience with technology. The benefits of adopting medication automation are easy to understand and the absorption of the technology can be simplified.

Randall: I started my career as an industrial engineer and worked for American Airlines through 1980. While working at American Airlines I had various jobs including driving new business lines, which they eventually leveraged into core competencies like reservation services being expanded into travel services. At that time, the airline industry was undergoing deregulation, identifying ways to do business and expanding on the automation of their services overall was key. Omnicell was founded in 1992 when my daughter was hospitalized and I had an encounter with the healthcare system and was exposed to how little automation existed in the hospital. I founded Omnicell on the idea that automating the workflow for pharmacy automation would be important in order for hospitals to provide a safe patient environment. Since founding Omnicell in 1992, the company has had many firsts including being recognized by key industry organizations MD Buyline and Klas Enterprises as they continued to recognize Omnicell as the #1 vendor in the industry.

Randall: One of the most challenging experiences was when we changed our business model in 2004. It meant an entire year in which we didn't grow but set our company up for success in future years. We essentially took a short term loss for a long term gain. This allowed us to move our business from tactical to strategic, which has fueled company growth since.

Randall: Medication management is core to the overall clinical treatment of people. We knew that improving the efficiency of medication management and safety would improve the outcomes. Most medical treatments include medications and moreover, medical devices are becoming more complex and more sophisticated. Clinicians need systems to simplify the process and get desired results. Automation is the perfect solution to the simplification of this complex problem.

Randall: The whole industry will be moving from paper to computer over the next 10 years. Whenever, you're moving from paper to automation it's the biggest leap of change. After that it's software revisions. The challenge is, there is so much to automate that it has made the process complex. The opportunity we continue to look for is how we can simplify the process. It takes a lot of engineering and research to make a process or product simple. Healthcare needs simple solutions to help with complicated issues.

Randall: We'll be adding services and products to our solution set. We see healthcare institutions lacking analytics and system management capabilities. Our offerings will enable these institutions to get the analytics they need faster and in the least expensive way since, our solutions touch every drug and every supply passing through their healthcare facility.

Randall: We leverage our key sales call points or contact points inside an institution. There is a high correlation between how the hospital's most recent experience with automation was and what their trust in vendors going forward was. We've focused on helping our customers have a great experience with all our solutions and product offerings.

Randall: We see growth opportunities and recognize the importance of investing in our company leadership to understand and promote our company culture and at the same time, focus on creating a differentor through the experience our customers have with our technology and our people. We will be investing in our leadership so that our company culture is well understood and exhibited across the entire company.

Randall: We were convinced we wanted to go into India. We wanted a partner that could get us there. It was important that our partners understand our company culture and that all of our employees, even those in India understand the culture. We also wanted the contact points with our customers to come from actual Omnicell employees. Our success is to have all our employees understand our mission, our strategy and our values. Omnicell Inc was quite new to understand the working model in the Indian market. There was no precedent in this industry besides the presence of a Development centre in India. So Omnicell approached a seasoned Product Outsourcing Company to initiate its operation in India, tested the model and then opted to come in as Omnicell India after the success of the BOT.

Randall: We're just beginning to explore our international opportunities and doing test sites with local hospitals. Healthcare is something that is needed worldwide. Our systems can benefit healthcare environments around the globe; it's just a matter of how they design their systems to meet their market needs. India is growing in the areas of Medical Tourism as well as well established hospital chains from the U.S setting up shop here. As these make their presence felt there will be a huge opportunity for Omnicell products in India as well as increase in the work which Omnicell India is doing for Omnicell Inc.

Randall: We continue to target the automation of key areas of the healthcare industry particularly those areas that lend themselves to the design of our hardware and smart software. We also know that hospitals need to have the systems they install add immediate value.

Randall: I think it is improving healthcare for all of us - our kids, our grandkids, our parents. If we do all this to save one life it will be worth it and hopefully in five years we will have saved many, many lives.

Thank you Mr. Randall A. Lipps, for your precious time and for sharing your insightful views