William McCormick
Philip Dietz, general manager of Military and Veterans Health at Cognosante, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz regarding the work the company is doing to support the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Military Health System.
In addition, Philip Dietz also discussed the importance of strong business ethics and giving back to the great community during the latest Executive Spotlight interview.
“Cognosante is a growing, innovative company making a significant impact on the missions of our customers. We have a number of programs in critical domains including with the VA.”
You can read the full interview with Philip Dietz below:
ExecutiveBiz: What can you tell us about how Cognosante is supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Military Health System?
Philip Dietz: “First and foremost, it’s a real privilege to partner with VA and the military health system. At Cognosante, we pride ourselves on our strong working relationships with our customers.
We support our customers in developing and refining their vision; then we pull the right people, processes and technology together to recommend and implement the best solution to help realize that vision. Our technology implementations are uniquely informed by clinical subject matter expertise and practitioners in enabling capabilities, such as Human Centered Design and change management; never just technology for technology’s sake.
For VA in particular, we are helping the agency with their cloud modernization strategy. Our team has helped advance the VA Enterprise Cloud and migrate over 200 applications to the cloud through our support of the COMS program.
The cloud modernization effort also includes leveraging and implementing enabling technologies so that VA applications deploy quicker, better, and easier. The VA has seen performance gains and efficiencies, ultimately resulting in service improvements for veterans.
We’re also very excited about some of the more recent programs that Cognosante is supporting, including VA’s Supply Chain Management Product Line DevSecOps and Integration program. We are integrating and modernizing all VA supply chain products to improve the VA’s overall supply chain ecosystem.
ExecutiveBiz: Technology is changing so quickly. What do you anticipate will be the biggest driver of successful implementations like those you’re currently managing for the VA?
Philip Dietz: “Obviously, there are a wide range of challenges to address. That’s something that Cognosante thrives on and is excited to be a part of. We have developed a number of strategic partnerships to bring innovative data ecosystem enabling technologies to the forefront.
I believe the biggest driver of successful technology implementations is the impact of culture and how the change is managed. The technology is typically the straightforward part – considering the human side of how you move an entire enterprise through changes in process, in tools, to acceptance is the real challenge.
To help with change adoption, we are investing heavily in building our team’s change management skills to support large enterprise transformations. The human-centered design aspect is an area Cognosante has really emphasized in our company mission and focus.
I believe that’s a big part of how we’re keeping our staff at the cutting edge of the latest technologies. We are strong advocates for ensuring that our staff is empowered and well trained to bring the best of those technologies to our clients.”
ExecutiveBiz: An important part of a company having strong business ethics in the federal sector is about helping and giving back to the greater community. Can you speak to the various charities and work with other organizations that Cognosante does to make a difference and how people can get involved?
Philip Dietz: “I’m a big culture type of guy. I really believe in fostering a culture of collaboration and agility that also gives back to the community. That’s something that truly resonates with our people here at Cognosante and we are committed to growing the human side of our business.
For instance, we established an HBCU Partner Alliance and Scholars program to help empower students of Color and develop the next set of leaders at Cognosante and across the federal sector. In addition, we support local health and wellness-focused organizations such as Innova Life with Cancer and Bain Injury Services.
Another area that is a priority for me is the work we do with the veteran community. I am very passionate about supporting our veterans. From a delivery standpoint, Cognosante is absolutely committed to hiring veterans and providing them with opportunities. We have a wide number of partnerships with various veteran organizations like the Military Spouse Employment Partnership program, Hiring Our Heroes, Skillbridge, and many others.
We’ve also established an Employee Resource Group that is focused on veterans and bringing that community together within our culture. A lot of great ideas have come out of those forums and it’s inspiring getting the group together to discuss how we all can get better. There’s a tremendous amount of passion and expertise within the veteran community.
In addition, Cognosante supports a nonprofit organization called Final Salute, which provides homeless women veterans with safe and sustainable housing. It’s focused specifically on female veterans and their children, which is often an underserved population.
I believe giving back to the community helps build teams and a connected and collaborative culture – inspiring people to help those who need it and creating bonds through a common company mission.”
