Elena Iacob, CEE Regional Senior Legal Counsel at Cencora/ Alliance Healthcare Romania, shares her professional journey, how she navigates different regulation and business practices across multiple jurisdictions, her approach to managing relations with outside counsel, and how her team strikes a balance between innovation and ensuring compliance.
CEEIHM: Could you walk us through your professional journey, and share what lessons from your early years at Interbrands or Coca-Cola HBC have stayed with you as you took on broader regional responsibilities?
Iacob: Nothing happens by coincidence. It is one of the most powerful lessons I have learned. My professional journey has started and grew naturally. I have always kept alive curiosity and creativity; I learnt that mistakes were the best opportunities for growth. One of my strong beliefs is that to achieve completeness, one must accept and go through each phase with openness and courage to walk the path.
Each company I have worked for has a special place in my heart. Each of them was a place where I dared to be bold, dreamt that anything is possible, touched other people’s lives, had an impact on a larger scale. Working with these companies I always felt that I was part of something much bigger than me. All these were possible because of the wonderful people, true professionals from whom I learned a lot and with whom I did extraordinary things.
When a new professional chapter started for me in 2018 joining Cencora/ Alliance Healthcare Romania, I had a time of reflection on those “golds” I was taking with me from the previous “lives”.
- “Festina lente.” To achieve greatness, you do not need to rush. One must go the path with the openness to receive and learn from everything that comes in the way.
- “We all have the right to progress.” Progress is about never losing curiosity, nourishing our knowledge, integrating mistakes and lessons into our evolution.
- “Measure and balance.” Measure in all aspects of life is the key to a harmonious cohabitation of different roles we have.
- “Fair play.” The lack of fair play “comes at a cost” (it’s just a matter of time, and the “bill” is generous).
- “Make heaven out of what you are.” I had the privilege of learning the valuable lesson of giving without expecting anything in return.
By taking on the role of CEE Regional Senior Legal Counsel in 2024, I have stepped into an unknown yet challenging and rewarding adventure. I was about to find out few months later. Collaborating with colleagues from several countries in CEE is like learning multiple lessons at once: history, geography, geopolitics, economics. But the most special one is the lesson of humanity. I hope to be remembered not for the projects I contributed to with my skills and expertise, but for the impact I had on people’s feelings during our interactions.
CEEIHM: How is your legal team structured at Cencora/ Alliance Healthcare, and how does your role integrate with regional and local teams?
Iacob: Our operating model addresses most of the legal areas with a small, yet best-in-class in-house team across CEE Region. We focus on distributing areas of responsibility among team members to business partnering across all functions, while promoting the ongoing development of specialized legal know-how and business acumen to provide high-quality support across all business lines. The in-house teamwork is complemented on a by-need basis with external consultancy in areas that require specific, niche expertise (competition/anti-trust; data privacy/cybersecurity). I see the external consultants as an extension of the in-house team.
When I stepped into the regional role, I already knew the local legal teams and most of the people in the management team of the countries in the region. This made my integration very smooth, and I felt fully supported. This helped a lot with my goal to integrate a cohesive CEE Regional Legal Team to support business strategies, nurturing trusted partnerships across functions and geographies, and fostering a culture of continuous learning.
CEEIHM: How do you navigate differences in regulation, culture, and business practices across multiple CEE markets?
Iacob: Since I embarked on the regional role, few key strategies helped me a lot navigating the complexity of operating across different CEE markets and getting people working together:
- Build alliances, trusted partnerships across all functions and geographies. Set the tone for a collaborative environment at all levels and rule by own example.
- Collaborate with local in-house teams and external consultants who are familiar with the specific regulations and cultural context of each market. Foster collaboration among the CEE country legal teams.
- Keep constantly informed with and adapt to regulatory changes across jurisdictions to ensure compliance and minimize legal risks.
- Be flexible to adapt the strategies and align with local customs and regulatory requirements.
- Never stop learning and stay informed about changes in the legal framework and market trends by attending the relevant workshops and industry events.
- Implement a robust compliance framework that addresses the regulations of each market while maintaining overall corporate standards.
- Leverage wellbeing and mental health concepts in the people agenda to ensure long term sustainable ways of working.
- Use feedback to gather insights from local teams and stakeholders.
CEEIHM: How do you approach situations where business priorities may conflict with compliance requirements?
Iacob: We can’t talk about sustainable growth in a company without bringing Ethics and Compliance into the equation.
Long-term business strategy and sustainable growth should work hand-in hand with consistent Ethics and Compliance mindset translated into attitude.
Ethics and Compliance governance start with the tone from the top, but this is not enough. It is not solely the responsibility of the C-suites or the Office of Compliance. It is an imperative across the organization. Each team member plays a vital role in upholding Ethics and Compliance. Organizations must find the best fit tools to ensure that compliance is embraced by the team members, and its goal is truly understood and integrated by everyone.
An effective Ethics and Compliance program is also about understanding that an ethical business approach is more likely to bring sustainable growth on a long term, while increases the employee sense of belonging.
Companies with a strong culture of Ethics and Compliance, either is anti-trust, anti-bribery and anti-corruption or data protection, have a competitive advantage in the market, are more profitable and attractive for their customers and they are also respected by their employees.
A compliance program is an imperative for a business’ sustainable growth. A successful compliance program should address at least the following essentials:
- Comprehensive compliance codes, policies and regulations drafted in simple straightforward language, customized for the functions, business lines, based on examples from the case-law of relevant authorities;
- Regular training program (in-person and online) for employees, focusing on functions or business lines posing substantial risks;
- Regular internal updates on new case-law and trends, new pieces of legislation or amendments;
- Periodic audits, monitoring and key-metrics behind.
CEEIHM: In managing external counsel across different markets, what approaches have worked best to ensure both effective partnership and control of costs?
Iacob: I have constantly adopted a strategy of having direct and open conversations about both parties’ expectations. I consider several criteria when developing the strategy for collaborating with various law firms: trust; level of understanding the business and the industry in which the company operates; ability to work across different areas of expertise and jurisdictions, providing comprehensive solutions; availability and adaptability; understanding the Company’s operational costs, allowing them to tailor financial offers to provide effective legal support at a fair price; constant feedback. These are ingredients for a long-standing partnership with external law firms complementing the company’s need for legal assistance, in areas that require specific, niche expertise.
CEEIHM: What do you think are the most pressing regulatory or legal challenges in the healthcare sector today?
Iacob:
- The regulatory framework lacks predictability and raises lots of challenges for companies playing in the pharmaceutical sector.
- Legislative framework regulating medicines pricing, reimbursement, access to medications, various taxes, can create legal challenges for healthcare organizations striving to balance profitability with patients access to medication and therapies.
- The pandemic highlighted the necessity of creating strategies to respond swiftly and effectively to public health emergencies.
- Protecting patient data from breaches is a critical legal and ethical concern, with significant financial and reputational consequences for organizations that fail to meet data security standards.
- Solid Compliance programs and fraud prevention strategies are essential for healthcare organizations to prevent significant penalties and legal consequences and to mitigate reputational risk.
CEEIHM: With AI, digital tools, and process automation being increasingly integrated in the healthcare sector and distribution processes, how is your legal function adapting to support these innovations while managing regulatory and operational risks?
Iacob: Digitalization and AI solutions are ‘the name of the game” across all industries.
Legal has a pivotal role in ensuring compliant and ethical utilization of AI and digital tools:
- Deep understanding of the applicable legislative framework regulating AI and digital technologies, continuous monitoring of the legislative changes to anticipate potential legal impact and guiding the management and the relevant stakeholders navigating the legal landscape, including ethical implications.
- Legal professionals are invited at the “table” in early stages of technology development and implementation, to identify potential risks and contribute with solutions to mitigate risks.
- Contracts incorporate clauses about liability, data protection, and compliance with regulatory standards that help mitigate risks associated with digital initiatives.
- Interactions with regulators to contribute to discussions around the legislative framework, advocating for balanced legislation and ethical utilization of AI and digital technologies.
CEEIHM: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice starting out in legal, what would it be?
Iacob: Put ethics and fairness at core of your agenda. They will serve you far better in the long run than any short-term wins.