If pharma cannot get its basic IT right, what about the hard stuff?

Information technology and healthcare have never been an easy mix even under ideal circumstances. IT implemented inappropriately can create nightmares in healthcare and other fields as well, harming patient care and the providers themselves (email stress, anyone?)

Here is another example where an "inappropriate overconfidence in cybernetic miracles" may be harming health care. This is related to the issue of pharma hiring I wrote about recently at "GSK, Avandia and Medical Informatics: More on Why Pharma Fails".

I regularly receive frivolous, automated job solicitations from a number of pharmas where my resume is on file, like this one last week from Merck, automatically generated by their hiring computer system:

Application Services Associate-INF003557

The incumbent is responsible for customizing and supporting systems that collect, analyze, store and allow the querying and mining of MRL drug discovery data.

Qualifications:

• Requires a B.S in Biology.
• Minimum 2 years experience in IT or an IT support role.
• Experience with Oracle databases/SQL.

This is a low level position, basically a computer programmer.

Now, I consider such solicitation, which I receive on a regular basis, to demonstrate significant gaps in informatics areas such as controlled vocabularies, artificial intelligence, automated decision support, knowledge management among others. Here's why.

On my resume is "MD ... Director of ... in Merck Research Labs ... managed group of 50+, budgets of $13 million, expertise in Medical Informatics, EMR" etc.

A "Merck Director" is a Grade 4 management position where 0 is CEO, manager is 5 or 6, and low level positions are 7-9+. Several questions arise:

• Is it too much of me to expect that a resume parser in use in a company be tuned to recognize its own corporate terminology (e.g., the keyword "Director") used by the company specifically for mid management positions, and then have the computer respond accordingly?

• Is it too much for me to expect the parser to recognize "MD" or "Boston University School of Medicine/Yale University School of Medicine" in my resume and not send me positions requiring a bachelor's degree only?

• Is is too much for me to expect the parser to recognize "Medical Informatics" (a term I introduced to the HR talent management lexicon ca. 2002) to be interpreted more broadly than "programmer" - a word NOT in my resume - say, perhaps, for involvement in clinical trials data initiatives or more importantly, post marketing surveillance?

• The online job site states "All expressions of interest in employment must be received through this website ... If you are considered for a position, you will be notified directly." Could a poorly-tuned or malfunctioning eRecruiting parser, which probably works in both directions (i.e., alerts not just outside candidates but also people internal to Merck of incoming resumes it identifies as "interesting") adversely affect the "apparently available" talent pool across many disciplines?

• Can Merck afford a few human beings to evaluate resumes manually?
  

• Might doing so serve as a safeguard against bad IT systems?

• Does this automation of HR functions demonstrate an "inappropriate overconfidence in computers", resulting in a decreased talent pool for the company?

• Is IT incompetence behind such application behavior?

• Is anyone at Merck monitoring this performance?

To the last question, I inquired about this some time ago. I wrote to the VP of HR and an HR associate, both of whom I knew, in Dec 2006:

Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 10:45 AM
To: Levine, Howard
Cc: Lewis, Drew B
Subject: Merck eRecruiting system malfunction

Dear Howard,

I maintain a resume on Merck's eRecruiting site. I rarely get alerts, but recently I received the automated alert below for " Multi-Channel Management Campaign Manager" as below.

It is a profound mismatch to any keyword or context in my background (I am an MD & information science specialist, formerly Director Published Information Resources & The Merck Index.)

The eRecruiting system is apparently broken. It is likely others are getting similarly mismatched results. Suggest repair.

I was thanked for my email, and instructions received on how to turn off auto-notification by their job site. This was something I already knew how to do, and obviously was not a helpful or meaningful suggestion vis-a-vis "doing business."

Nothing more was received, and considering I continue to get frivolous solicitations regularly, apparently nothing much was done. Another question arises:

• Is this how state-of-the-art biomedical companies might be expected to manage their recruitment?

One final question, and this is perhaps the most critical:

If there are flaws in fundamental IT applications such as those for which a company depends on recruitment, can other aspects of the company's IT be trusted?

I report, you decide.

-- SS