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Employee Spotlight

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While all Norstella employees share the same passion for improving patient access to life-saving therapies, they bring a wide array of experiences and skills to the table.

Employee spotlight

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Ruchi Chawla

Assistant Manager - Data Ops at Norstella’s site in Delhi, India

Ruchi Chawla is Assistant Manager – Data Ops at Norstella’s site in Delhi, India. She is part of a 26-strong team responsible for working with teams in the US to track market data and ensure its accuracy.

Tell us a little bit more about your role.

It’s been four wonderful years now working with MMIT, a Norstella company. I joined as an assistant manager for the training profile, but now I’m working as an assistant manager for data ops. I handle the formulary data, formulary cycle and launch teams. My primary responsibilities include validating the accuracy of drug information on a weekly and monthly basis to ensure that it reflects the current market status. We usually track new-to-market drugs, update the database for accuracy, and provide coverage of the drugs on the market. My team and I work as a data entry team, so our core job is to ensure the accuracy of the data we maintain.

 How did you join the company? What in your background brought you to pharma?

I actually began my career in US healthcare, starting as an assistant accounts receivable specialist and in end-to-end revenue cycle management. We used to work on behalf of the providers, calling customer service or the insurers to take the claim statuses of the patients. I have eight years of rich experience in this domain. I realized during this period the vast opportunity there was within healthcare, and I wanted to explore it further, but I was delayed by a sabbatical break and COVID. I first learned about this organization back in 2020 during the pandemic. My related background and the flexibility of remote work led me to apply and ultimately, I joined the team.

What does your day-to-day role usually look like?

I start at 11.30 a.m. Indian Standard Time (IST). In the afternoon, I brief the team, talking about their weekly closures, recent updates, and the daily challenges they might be facing. Our process is not a standard process, it’s a very dynamic one. We usually get day-to-day updates. We mostly get emails from the Eastern Standard Time (EST) teams on drug updates or other updates crucial for the process. We exchange a lot of emails, and I ensure that everything that has been introduced new to me I am imparting to my team as well. I start with that brief, then I begin analyzing the reports, following up with the other team members, and then I get on calls with the EST team as soon as they join to collaborate towards closure, because we have the same monthly goals.

What are some of the larger projects you’re working on?

Apart from managing monthly cycles and the launch team, we are currently working on source classification. This is one of the biggest projects going on with the team right now and I really hope this will be in our system very soon. The purpose of doing source classification is to reduce the manual effort of collecting documentation. I am hoping that, if things go well with the classification and formulary integration, which will automize our process, it will have a major impact.

What’s been your career highlight to date?

One of the biggest has been getting involved in many processes we have started from scratch. There was state Medicaid comprehension, then we had the launch process for which we had a monthly cycle. My own biggest accomplishment was becoming an assistant manager. In the training role, I had limited access to this data. I wanted to learn everything from the ground. I showed my interest in the operations role to my supervisors. I’m glad that I opted to be in the operations role because this change provided me with many valuable learnings, and it definitely marked a significant step in my career as well.

 What trends are you seeing across the industry right now that Norstella is in a unique position to help with?

The overall experience in India has been very positive. We are working with the ‘power of one’, because we provide all the different services to our patients. Someone in our organization who specializes in data science can explore their expertise, a person with a healthcare background can find various other opportunities, and so on.

Which company principle resonates most with you?

I have 26 members in my team, and I feel that, working with a team, it’s very important for you to be empathetic. Being empathetic means you earn the trust of your team. I always ask myself: have I provided enough resources and training for my team members? Have I given them enough support and empowerment? If I don’t feel that I have, I go back and start again. Being empathetic means a lot to me, because an employee has to trust their supervisor a lot because they are the one guiding them through the journey of learning the process. I believe that the world needs more random acts of kindness as well. Maybe somebody, somewhere really needs it. That kindness, that empathy will help you to have this feeling and then you can definitely deliver the same way. 

What do you like most about working at Norstella?

I enjoy working with Norstella because the culture is different to the organizations I worked with before. The team and the supervisors both create the environment to work. Another reason is the flexibility, because we are not restricted to one area and workplace, we can expand our expertise into different processes as well.

And finally, what do you like to do outside of work?

I like to spend it with my daughter because she’s now five years old, and she likes to play with me, go on outings with me, and shop with me. This is the only priority thing I am doing right now. Apart from that, I have a huge interest in playing table tennis.

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