• CHIME Launches New Organization to Serve Professional Needs of Chief Security Officers in Healthcare

    ANN ARBOR, MI, July 31, 2014 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) announced today the launch of a new organization to serve the education and professional development needs of healthcare executives in senior information security roles.

    The Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS) is the first professional organization representing chief security officers (CSOs) in the healthcare setting. Formed to address an unmet need in the industry, AEHIS will provide educational resources on important healthcare security issues, as well as an environment where CSOs can communicate with, inform and educate one another.

    “As patient data breaches and cyber security threats continue to rise, there has never been a greater need for accomplished and skilled professionals to safeguard our industry’s most sensitive information,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO. “The CHIME Board recognized our industry’s void in supporting the professional development and peer-to-peer needs of CSOs, and that educational resources for key members of the CIO’s executive team were lacking.”

    “We are pleased to be able to assist in the establishment of this important new organization,” said CHIME Board Chair Randy McCleese, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO. “With hundreds of data breaches being reported, and a shortage of security professionals with a background in healthcare, it has become increasing clear that this group could greatly benefit from the kind of opportunities that CHIME provides CIOs.”

    AEHIS will operate as a separate membership association under the umbrella of CHIME, a professional organization dedicated to serving healthcare chief information officers (CIOs) and other senior IT leaders. AEHIS members will benefit from CHIME’s twenty-two year history in delivering valuable, high-quality executive education and networking opportunities.

    “In light of today’s ever-changing digital world, chief security officers in healthcare are under immense pressure to protect their organization’s information assets and architecture, while adhering to HIPAA-related privacy and security mandates,” said CHIME Executive Vice President of Membership and Professional Development George McCulloch, MA, MBA, FCHIME, CHCIO. “Our goal is to help provide the education and collaborations necessary for CSOs to progress their knowledge, solve issues, and form meaningful, supportive relationships with their peers.”

    Interested CSOs that apply and are accepted before December 31, 2014 will be recognized as AEHIS founding members and will receive a one-year complimentary membership. For more information, please visit www.aehis.org.

    About CHIME
    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 130 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org.

    Contact
    Stephanie Fraser
    Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, CHIME
    734.665.0000
    [email protected]

    Updated: 7/31/2014 2:46:24 PM

    Posted 7.31.2014

  • Rush Program Helps Military Vets Gain Health IT Skills

    ANN ARBOR, MI, July 23, 2014 – A Rush University Medical Center initiative provides six-month internships for veterans and their family members, offering training and work experience in healthcare information technology.

    The EN-Abled Veterans Program is the subject of a new case study released by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based professional association. The case study highlights some of the positive accomplishments of IT and CHIME members’ efforts to better serve their communities.

    The program was developed by Jaime Parent, associate CIO and vice president for IT operations at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center. The healthcare organization also hosts the Road Home Program, which provides support, counseling and health services for veterans and their families.

    With the grant-supported Road Home Program on the horizon last fall, Parent came up with a specific approach to offer IT training to veterans, which they could parlay into a job. Experience within the hospital setting is valuable for veterans because so many healthcare organizations need IT staff to implement electronic health records and other digital technologies.

    More is involved than simply providing training, Parent says. It is estimated that at least 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder, and hundreds of thousands have returned from Gulf War battles with traumatic brain injuries. Anticipating these challenges and helping to equip veterans with a range of skills is at the heart of Rush’s EN-Abled Veterans Program.

    The program provides vets with training on basic IT tasks that fit current needs at Rush. As they continue in the program, they look for specific areas of IT that interest them for a career. Vets also receive assistance with their resumes and job-acquisition skills, which they typically have not needed in their military careers, Parent said.

    “What we offer is an opportunity” says Parent. “We don’t guarantee a job but offer a lot of flexibility and a lot of tools at their disposal. In the last two months of the program, veterans get assistance in improving their resumes and interviewing performance – skills that most veterans have not had to worry about in their lives in the military.”

    The specifics of the program are being outlined so that the approach can be used by other healthcare organizations. Parent believes that other healthcare IT executives could adopt the program for use in their organizations, thus multiplying the effect of the Rush initiative and meeting two significant needs at once.

    The case study, entitled “Helping Heroes: Training Program Helps Vets Gain Health IT Skills,” can be accessed here.

    About CHIME
    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 130 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org.

    About Rush
    Rush is a not-for-profit enterprise comprising Rush University Medical Center, Rush University, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Health. Rush’s mission is to provide the best possible care for its patients. Educating tomorrow’s health care professional, researching new and more advanced treatment options, transforming its facilities and investing in new technologies—all are undertaken with the drive to improve patient care now, and for the future. Rush has more than 6,000 employees and faculty. Visit www.rush.edu, for more information.

    Contact
    Stephanie Fraser
    Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, CHIME
    734.665.0000
    [email protected]

    Updated: 7/23/2014 9:52:49 AM

    Posted 7.23.2014

  • Healthcare IT Leaders See Interoperability as Key to Solving Patient Safety Challenges

    CHIME, AMDIS identify EHR certification as primary means to ensure patient safety through the use of health IT

    ANN ARBOR, MI – July 8, 2014 – The government’s proposed, risk-based approach to regulating healthcare IT provides federal regulators an opportunity to adapt its health information technology certification program to focus on the dual goals of improving patient safety and interoperability, the nation’s senior executive and physician health IT leaders said in recent public comments.

    Responding to the tri-agency “FDASIA Health IT Report,” the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) filed joint comments yesterday, supporting most of the federal government’s strategies to improve patient safety through health IT and develop an environment of continuous learning. The healthcare IT leaders said the biggest gains to patient safety could be obtained by re-tooling ONC’s Certification Program to require more rigorous interoperability testing.

    Developing a comprehensive framework to regulating healthcare IT gives the government “a unique opportunity to address some key challenges,” CHIME and AMDIS said. “ONC should reconsider the role and composition of its certification program to address patient safety risks and interoperability.”

    The health IT report was issued in a draft version in early May by the Food & Drug Administration, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Federal Communications Commission and posed several questions to industry stakeholders. CHIME’s and AMDIS’ comments were in response to the request for comments.

    The current approach to certification has been too closely tied to arbitrary deadlines related to the EHR Incentives Program. “This has led to a market dynamic that incentivizes data silos, vendor lock-in and rewards developers who are first to certify, rather than a market characterized by usable, safe and mature health IT products,” the comments noted.

    CHIME and AMDIS recommended that ONC retool the certification program to focus on beta-testing, post-certified performance and standard adherence in live settings.

    “Designing a certification program that more closely resembles the software development lifecycle would have a tremendously positive impact on both interoperability and patient safety,” said Russell Branzell, president and CEO of CHIME. “The single biggest action federal regulators could take to improve patient safety is to identify clear standards and require strict adherence to those standards. We think certification is the lever and now is the time to reevaluate what is working and what is not.”

    “By relying heavily on existing policies and programs, we believe federal regulators have articulated a sound strategy to help the private and non-profit sector establish a learning health system, characterized by continuous improvement and consistent accountability,” said Randy McCleese, CHIME board chair, and vice president and CIO at St. Claire Regional Medical Center, Morehead, Ky. “The industry has made great strides towards improving patient safety, and we must continue this trend by leveraging innovative technology, supported by consistent standards and best practices.”

    In other recommendations on the FDASIA Health IT report, CHIME and AMDIS recommended that federal officials:

    • Engage with private-sector testing bodies who are developing tools to more consistently test and continuously monitor adherence to standards;
    • Identify and incorporate key interoperability tests that have implications for patient safety, especially those related to transitions of care and the management of chronic care;
    • Develop, as part of certification, a mechanism to monitor post-market use of health IT in live settings;
    • Form a public-private partnership to develop an adaptable process for identifying standards and best practices, especially related to local implementation, customization and maintenance of health IT;
    • Understand that different stakeholders have varying degrees of influence on the safety of health IT and should be expected to conform to different levels of rigorous assessments;
    • Ensure that providers have an open pathway to report technology failures with implications for patient safety before such failures inflict patient harm; and
    • Work to bolster a national network of patient safety organizations to help achieve a continuous learning environment.

    The full text of the CHIME/AMDIS comments can be found on the CHIME web site or are available upon request.

    About CHIME
    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and more than 100 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org.

    About AMDIS
    Founded in 1997, the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems is the premier professional organization for physicians interested in and responsible for healthcare information technology. AMDIS has more than 2,800 physician members worldwide, 250 associate members and 40 provider organization members. AMDIS members are the thought leaders, decision makers and opinion influencers dedicated to advancing the field of Applied Medical Informatics and thereby improving the practice of medicine. For more information, visit www.amdis.org.

    Contact
    Fred Bazzoli
    Senior Director of Communications, CHIME
    630.485.5193
    [email protected]

    Updated: 7/8/2014 3:23:46 PM

    Posted 7.8.2014

  • CHIME, iHT2 to Collaborate on Cyber Security Regional Forum Education Series

    ANN ARBOR, MI, July 1, 2014 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT2) announces a new collaboration to host a series of regional one-day educational programs. The 2014 program series, entitled Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Forums, will focus on cyber security and privacy issues targeting healthcare CIOs, IT executives, and other senior information security executives.

    This collaboration represents a new partnership for CHIME, enabling it to focus on the deployment of regional educational programs on key healthcare IT topics—expanding its outreach to CHIME members across the country.

    The organizations announced the following dates and locations for cyber security CHIME LEAD Forums, entitled “The Health Information Executive’s Guide to Cyber Security.”

    • September 15, 2014: New York, NY
    • October 6, 2014: Washington, DC
    • December 9, 2014: Houston, TX

    This series is designed specifically for CIOs and Information Security Executives who are working to ensure their organization’s valued data assets and technology are protected before a cyber attack occurs. The forums will explore cyber security threats, attacks and challenges while addressing the latest successful strategies, trends and solutions. The events will highlight case studies and lessons learned by fellow IT leaders working with cyber security.

    Under the partnership, CHIME will host the Forums in conjunction with selected iHT2 Health IT Summits. CHIME will provide overall program structure, topics, and speaker faculty. For its part, iHT2 will work with CHIME to plan, produce, and execute the cyber security forums.

    “We are excited about this new partnership with iHT2, a highly respected organization in the industry for presenting important content in the healthcare IT space,” said Russell P. Branzell FCHIME, CHCIO, President and CEO of CHIME. “This relationship advances CHIME’s intent to disseminate key knowledge from subject matter experts on cyber security, and making it more accessible by offering it at regional events.”

    The focus of these forums on security and privacy also dovetails with CHIME’s announced efforts to provide professional support and education to executives that work closely with CIOs and are shouldering increasingly heavy roles in healthcare organizations. In February, CHIME announced that its first efforts in this area will be to provide resources for chief security officers, to be followed by chief technology officers and chief application officers.

    “The partnership with CHIME is an excellent opportunity for iHT2 to continue its mission of providing timely and critical information to healthcare IT executives,” said Waco Hoover, CEO of iHT2. “As the leading organization representing c-suite health IT executives, CHIME continues to lead the industry in forward-thinking programs providing critical resources to provider organizations.”

    More information on the LEAD Forums can be found at www.chimecentral.org/events/lead-forum.

    About CHIME
    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 130 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org.

    About iHT2
    The Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT²) is the leading organization committed to bringing together private and public sector leaders in fostering the growth and effective use of technology across the healthcare industry. Through a variety of collaborative efforts, the Institute provides programs that drive innovation, educate, and provide a critical understanding of how technology applications, solutions and devices can improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. In December of 2013, Healthcare Informatics announced its partnership with iHT². This partnership provides the most effective, timely and complete strategic healthcare planning and healthcare IT resources needed for today’s emerging healthcare landscape. For more information, visit www.ihealthtran.com.

    Contact
    Stephanie Fraser
    Director of Communications, CHIME
    1.734.665.0000
    [email protected]

    Updated: 7/1/2014 9:41:05 AM

    Posted 7.1.2014