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CHIME Submits Comments on Proposed Rules to Meaningful Use
Organization applauds modifications to Stage 2, calls Stage 3 of the EHR Incentive Program too ambitious
ANN ARBOR, MI, May 27, 2015 – In official comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) called federal plans for the third stage of meaningful use too ambitious and in need of several important changes. In the same breath, the nation’s leading professional organization of healthcare CIOs and senior IT executives voiced overwhelming support for a corresponding CMS proposal that would shorten meaningful use reporting in 2015 from a full year to any continuous 90-day period.
While recognizing the agency’s effort to streamline program participation through a reduced number of objectives and harmonized reporting periods, CHIME deemed the sum total of proposals for Stage 3 of the EHR Incentive Program “unworkable.”
“Were all requirements finalized as proposed, we doubt many providers could participate in 2018 successfully,” CHIME said. “And with so few providers having demonstrated Stage 2 capabilities, we question the underlying feasibility of many requirements and question the logic of building on deficient measures.”
CHIME urged CMS to make several changes to the proposed rule for Stage 3, including:
• A 90-day reporting period for the first year of Stage 3 compliance, at least for payment adjustment purposes;
• Modify requirements for and retain the 90-day reporting period for providers attesting to meaningful use requirements for the first time, whether in a Medicare or Medicaid context;
• Eliminate patient action thresholds for the care coordination objective;
• Reduce the number of required measures in multi-measure objectives, health information exchange and care coordination;
• Create hardship exceptions for providers switching vendors;
• Allow providers to take a 90-day reprieve during any program year for upgrades, planned downtown, bug fixes related to new technology or optimizing the use of new technology within new workflows; and
• Allow, in limited circumstances, paper-based means to achieve measure thresholds.Patient action requirements related to care coordination and “unrealistic” thresholds for health information exchange requirements were of particular concern for CHIME. Additionally, the organization said it was troubled over the requirement that all providers must attest to meaningful use Stage 3 by 2018, regardless of prior participation and experience with the program.
“While we acknowledge policymakers’ intention to make each Stage more difficult than the last, we are concerned with the strategy that envisions Stage 3 serving as both the apex of MU requirements and as a starting point for those providers with no experience at Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the EHR Incentive program,” CHIME stated. “We worry some of the objectives pose too great a stretch for seasoned meaningful users, let alone those who have never participated in the program.”
CHIME CEO and President Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO said though CMS has proposed limited flexibility for meeting objectives, many providers face a significant chance of falling short and incurring substantial penalties.
“In order to realize the network effects of meaningful use, we need as many providers as possible participating in the program,” he said. “As proposed, this rule may do more to deter, rather than encourage, on-going participation.”
“We question the value of setting thresholds for technology and process not yet invented, let alone widely deployed in healthcare,” said CHIME Board Chair Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO, Vice President of Technology and Engagement with the Indiana Health Information Exchange. “From the heavy reliance on APIs to an assumption that patient-generated health data will flow in standardized ways, our industry has a long way to go if it is going to catch-up with this rule by 2018.”
Separately, CHIME submitted comments on two other pending regulations, the ONC 2015 Edition HIT Certification Criteria NPRM and the CMS proposed rule to change meaningful use Stage 2 criteria.
In its comments on the proposed rule to modify meaningful use requirements from 2015 to 2017, CHIME commended CMS for leading a series of changes to the program, specifically the provision to shorten the EHR reporting period in 2015 from 365 days to 90 days.
“The additional time afforded by this modification will help hundreds of thousands of providers meet meaningful use requirements in an effective and safe manner. Further, it will serve as positive incentive for those who optioned alternative pathways to meet MU in 2014 to continue their work in 2015 and beyond,” CHIME said.
The group also supported modifications pertaining to Patient Electronic Access, Secure Messaging & Summary of Care measures, stating that it opposes requirements that place accountability for patient behavior beyond what clinicians or providers can control, but that CMS must address patient engagement more innovatively.
“As our industry continues the discussion of how best to engage the patient through technology, and how best to measure these efforts, we encourage CMS to think more innovatively around the concept of patient engagement, how to differentiate between those that do it well and those who do not, and how to incentivize laggards,” CHIME stated.
Two provisions in the modified rule not supported by the organization were the proposed exclusion pathways associated with the public health objective and the requirement for bi-directional exchange for immunizations registries, both of which CHIME urged CMS to revisit in Stage 3.
“While much work remains to address misalignment between the positive changes proposed in the modifications rule and what will be required in Stage 3, regulators have clearly taken heed of providers’ concerns,” said Branzell.
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 140 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.To serve the education and professional development needs of healthcare executives in senior information security, technology and applications roles, CHIME recently launched the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS) for chief security officers, the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Technology (AEHIT) serving chief technology officers, and the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Applications (AEHIA) representing chief application officers (CAOs).
Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 5.27.2015 -
Introducing Health Catalyst Academy: An Innovative Approach for Accelerating Outcomes Improvement
May 27 webinar to introduce innovative educational program for provider organizations
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MAY 26, 2015 — Health Catalyst, a leader in healthcare data warehousing and analytics, today launched Health Catalyst Academy, an immersive educational offering designed to help health systems build the internal capacity to exponentially improve their clinical quality and operational efficiency.
Health Catalyst Academy is the latest offering in Health Catalyst’s comprehensive suite of outcomes-improvement solutions and services. Together with the company’s market-leading technology, Health Catalyst Academy’s AMA-accredited offerings focus on helping healthcare providers to nurture a data-driven culture of continuous improvement leading to higher quality, fewer unnecessary procedures and greater patient safety.
“Healthcare organizations today face unprecedented pressures to improve both clinical and financial outcomes to adjust to changing reimbursement models,” said Health Catalyst CEO Dan Burton. “Our best customers are accomplishing that goal by combining technology re-invention with innovative new approaches to generating transformative outcomes. We are pleased to introduce Health Catalyst Academy, a new form of services designed to share these best practices and help both customers and non-customers to accelerate their outcomes improvement efforts.”
Accelerated Practices Program
Health Catalyst Academy’s first offering for healthcare provider organizations is the Accelerated Practices (AP) Program, a highly immersive, project-based learning experience. Taught by clinicians, quality improvement experts, and hospital executives with decades of outcomes improvement leadership, the AP Program prepares healthcare and quality improvement professionals to accelerate outcomes improvement by teaching them how to engage others in improvement work. Healthcare professionals who will benefit most from attending the AP Program include physicians and clinicians, clinical operations leaders, senior leaders, and quality improvement professionals.“In healthcare, everyone wants to improve quality to save lives and become more efficient but it has been a disjointed effort based mostly on trial and error rather than proven best practices, with few sustainable improvements,” said Health Catalyst Chief Medical Officer Bryan Oshiro, MD, formerly the clinical leader of Intermountain Healthcare’s first quality improvement initiative. “Our experience has shown us that increased knowledge and understanding of quality improvement principles and techniques has improved our ability to help our clients, and the same knowledge has helped our clients to implement and accelerate outcomes in their systems.”
The AP Program consists of series of three-day workshops taught over the course of several months. Recognized industry experts provide attendees with tools and methodologies to:
- Facilitate system-wide change by using proven leadership principles
- Appropriately use data to measure improvement, drive change and encourage learning
- Improve quality, cost, and patient satisfaction outcomes
AP Program faculty include Sherry Martin, a healthcare executive and quality improvement expert who was most recently vice president of performance improvement at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston; Val Ulstad, MD, MPA, MPH, an award-winning healthcare educator and process consultant; John Haughom, MD, author of “Healthcare: A Better Way,” and formerly senior vice president of clinical quality and patient safety at Peace Health; Bobbi Brown, vice president of financial engagement for Health Catalyst and formerly vice president of financial planning and performance at Kaiser Permanente; and Dr. Oshiro, among others.
CME Credit for AP Program
Through the sponsorship of the University of Texas Health Science Center’s San Antonio School of Medicine, participants in the AP Program are eligible for continuing medical education (CME) credits – up to 55.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for the live program and up to 20 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits™ for the PI CME activity.Webinar Information
Health Catalyst will host a webinar on Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time to introduce the Health Catalyst Academy’s AP Program. Register for the free webinar here.To learn more about Health Catalyst Academy and the AP Program, including a schedule of upcoming courses and online registration, visit www.healthcatalyst.com/hca, email [email protected], or call 801.708.6800.
About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a mission-driven data warehousing and analytics company that helps healthcare organizations of all sizes perform the clinical, financial, and operational reporting and analysis needed for population health and accountable care. Their proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 50 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. For more information, visit www.healthcatalyst.com, and follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.Posted 5.26.2015 -
Health Catalyst Chief Clinical Officer Recognized by Utah Business Magazine as a Top Woman Executive
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MAY 21, 2015 — Health Catalyst, a leader in healthcare data warehousing and analytics, today congratulated Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Holly Rimmasch on being named one of Utah’s top woman executives by Utah Business.
In its May 2015 cover story, the magazine praised the award winners as “dynamic, influential leaders shaking up Utah’s business scene.” Among several hundred nominees, winners were selected for their contributions to the Utah business community, for their professional accomplishments, and for giving back to the community. Rimmasch will accept the 2015 “30 Women to Watch” award today in a ceremony at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
“We congratulate Holly on this well-deserved honor,” said Dan Burton, Chief Executive Officer of Health Catalyst. “She is a pioneer in clinical improvement initiatives whose expertise about the healthcare setting and healthcare operations has contributed to the health of people across Utah and beyond. We’re lucky to have her on our team.”
Rimmasch brings nearly 30 years of clinical and healthcare management experience to Health Catalyst, supporting its mission of eliminating waste and systematically standardizing best practices across US hospitals and health systems. She has spent the last 17 years pioneering systems for improving clinical care through implementation of clinical and operational best practices, most recently as an Assistant Vice President at Intermountain HealthCare responsible for Clinical Services.
In her three years as a senior executive at Health Catalyst, Rimmasch has been instrumental in driving the company’s growth and maturing its product offerings. In particular, she has spearheaded the creation of Health Catalyst’s Three Systems approach to performance improvement: a combination of 1) data warehousing and analytics technology, 2) organizational change management, and 3) the consistent integration of evidence-based best practices into everyday care delivery.
“I am extremely grateful to Utah Business for naming me one of Utah’s Women to Watch, especially in light of the amazing work done by the other executives on the list,” said Rimmasch. “To the extent that I’ve been successful, however, the credit really belongs to our extraordinary clients, whose commitment to making US healthcare a better, more efficient and cost-effective system for all Americans is truly something to watch.”A Utahn by birth, Rimmasch received a bachelor’s of science from Brigham Young University and a master’s of science from the University of Utah.
About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a mission-driven data warehousing and analytics company that helps healthcare organizations of all sizes perform the clinical, financial, and operational reporting and analysis needed for population health and accountable care.Their proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 50 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. For more information, visit www.healthcatalyst.com, and follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.Posted 5.22.2015 -
Health Quest to Advance Value-Based Care with Health Catalyst Data Warehouse & Analytics Platform
New York health system believes data-driven approach holds key to improving health of patients
SALT LAKE CITY, UT & LAGRANGEVILLE, NY – May 19, 2015 -– Health Quest, the largest family of nonprofit hospitals and healthcare providers in New York’s Hudson Valley, and Health Catalyst have partnered on a strategic initiative to improve the health of patients using a new data-driven approach to quality and performance improvement.
Health Quest will implement Health Catalyst’s Late-Binding™ Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) and Analytics platform to take advantage of proven advances in data collection and analytics. The technology will help Health Quest discern clinical and operational insights from the terabytes of raw data collected by multiple software systems across its three hospitals, and eventually across its multispecialty medical and urgent care offices located in 17 Hudson Valley communities. Health Catalyst also will help to organize multidisciplinary teams of Health Quest physicians, nurses, IT specialists, administrators and finance experts to use these insights to enhance the quality and efficiency of care delivery provided across the health system.
“Most health systems today are starving for timely, accurate information as well as the means to use it to significantly improve the quality and efficiency of patient care,” said Claudine Fasse, Health Quest Vice President of Operations, Project Management and Business Intelligence. “When you’re dealing with people’s lives you need to be able to make decisions based on information you can trust. We’re excited to partner with Health Catalyst to create a single source of data truth that we can use to improve our delivery of high quality value-based care.”
Fasse said Health Quest will initiate the new data-driven improvement program by focusing on reducing readmissions, improving sepsis management, safely lowering length of stay and providing executive dashboards with near real-time data from operational areas to “help our leaders make good decisions and drive day-to-day activity.”
“We are proud to have been selected by Health Quest to help advance the science and process of quality and performance improvement,” said Dan Burton, CEO of Health Catalyst. “Health Quest’s commitment to this extensive multiyear effort to enhance its quality and drive efficiencies is a clear testament to their devotion to delivering the best outcomes for the patients of their communities.”
Ray Pankuch, Health Quest Director of Business Intelligence and Data Services, said previous attempts to integrate data to drive performance improvements at Health Quest produced information that was as much as two months old. “We need to be very agile to react to the fast-changing regulatory environment in healthcare,” Pankuch said. “Health Catalyst gives us an enterprise data warehouse that can quickly adapt to changes in the regulatory environment without having to rebuild the whole warehouse.”
Health Catalyst’s healthcare-specific EDW and analytics applications will provide a unified view of clinical and performance data from Health Quest electronic health records (EHR) and other enterprise applications. Built using a late-binding architecture proven to deliver quick time-to-value and flexibility for the changing nature of healthcare data, Health Catalyst’s data warehouse and content-driven analytics applications can be quickly adjusted to answer pressing questions in minutes instead of the days or weeks required for most decision support tools and processes. Once implemented, opportunities for care improvements will be at the fingertips of Health Quest clinicians and administrators, leading to better quality at lower cost.
About Health Quest
Health Quest is the largest family of integrated nonprofit hospitals and healthcare professionals in the Hudson Valley. Health Quest combines talented physicians, state-of-the-art technology and compassionate caregivers dedicated to providing quality care across a variety of service lines, including Cancer Care, Cardiac Care, Orthopedics, Neurosciences, Women’s and Children’s Services and Surgical Services.Health Quest has a network of convenient locations throughout Columbia, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Putnam and northern Westchester counties, including three award-winning hospitals — Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie — plus multiple Health Quest Medical Practice primary care and specialty locations, two Urgent Care locations and affiliates including the Thompson House, a 100-bed skilled nursing facility on the Northern Dutchess Hospital campus, Hudson Valley Home Care and The Heart Center, a leading provider of cardiology services in the region.
About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a mission-driven data warehousing and analytics company that helps healthcare organizations of all sizes perform the clinical, financial, and operational reporting and analysis needed for population health and accountable care. Our proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 50 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. For more information, visit www.healthcatalyst.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.For more information contact:
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications for Health Catalyst
916.346.4213
[email protected]Posted 5.19.2015 -
Delaware Health Net Selects SA Ignite to Help Member Organizations Attain Meaningful Use
Leading health center controlled network to leverage SA Ignite’s cloud-based technology to better manage eligible provider quality performance processes
CHICAGO, IL – May 12, 2015 — SA Ignite Inc., a provider of a cloud-based software solution that automates and simplifies the Meaningful Use (MU) program processes for eligible providers, today announced that Delaware Health Net (DHN) will implement its MU ASSISTANT software, giving Meaningful Use program managers as well as healthcare executives greater visibility into the quality performance of the organization’s healthcare providers.
Based in Wilmington, Delaware, DHN is a health center controlled network (HCCN) that helps member organizations improve access to and quality of care for underserved populations through the enhancement of health center operations. SA Ignite’s MU ASSISTANT software will help DHN’s federally qualified health centers to more efficiently access quality performance data within each member organization’s electronic health record (EHR) as well as improve the ability to monitor providers’ progress toward meeting MU requirements. This increased visibility into the MU program will become even more vital to the organization’s bottom line as MU incentives end.
“SA Ignite gives us the unique ability to track our network providers’ progress toward meeting MU measures and even pull in historical attestation data directly from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),” said Craig Law, CEO at DHN. “We can also now put scorecards in the hands of physicians, giving them the opportunity to compare progress against their peers thereby giving them a clear understanding of where there are opportunities for improvement. And all EHR source documents along with screen shots of each page of the provider’s attestation are automatically captured and saved in the MU ASSISTANT software, which improves our audit preparedness.”
For DHN and other eligible providers reporting MU through the Medicaid program, incentives will be available through 2021 or for a maximum total of six years depending on the provider’s MU program start date. With a total of $63,750 available per provider in MU Medicaid incentives, it’s important for organizations to automate their processes for improved visibility into performance, which directly impacts the dollars at stake. Organizations that use MU ASSISTANT software will see a significant decrease in staff time spent determining eligibility, gathering data from the electronic health record (EHR), and monitoring and communicating to the organization individual provider performance. This information enables organizations like DHN to extend efficiencies beyond the MU program to improve other quality initiatives, such as patient-centered medical home (PCMH) initiatives.
“In working with our many clients, we’ve found that there is significant crossover between MU and FQHC reporting programs,” said Tom Lee, CEO and founder of SA Ignite. “Both initiatives leverage similar data, so it makes sense to establish a sustainable model whereby healthcare organizations have an automated repeatable process by which to manage their pay for performance requirements, especially with so many incentive and penalty dollars at stake.”
About Delaware Health Net
Delaware Health Net (DHN) is a nonprofit organization that is pioneering a more coordinated approach to patient care through advances in data management and enhancements in administrative, clinical, and financial information systems. Recognized by the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a health center controlled network (HCCN), DHN enables its members to focus on providing direct clinical health services to the most underserved communities and populations.About SA Ignite, Inc.
SA Ignite is the leading source for healthcare provider pay-for-performance automation. The company’s proven EHR-agnostic, cloud-based solutions and services simplify and automate the processes associated with pay-for-performance programs. SA Ignite’s flagship offering is the MU ASSISTANT® software, the leading enterprise platform for automating Meaningful Use processes for eligible providers. SA Ignite currently serves 60+ customers across more than 14 EHR brands and has processed more than 12,000 eligible provider attestations for a total of $140M+ in Medicare and Medicaid incentives. For more information, visit: www.saignite.com.Posted 5.14.2015 -
Impact Advisors’ Todd Hollowell Named to Consulting Magazine’s “Top 25 Consultants” List
Chief operating officer recognized for excellence in healthcare
Chicago, IL – May 14, 2015 — Todd Hollowell, Chief Operating Officer of Impact Advisors, a leading provider of healthcare information technology services, was named one of the “Top 25 Consultants” of 2015 by Consulting Magazine. Hollowell is being recognized in the “Excellence in Healthcare” category.
Consulting Magazine’s “Top 25 Consultants” list, which began in 2000, is announced every May and recognizes consultants making the greatest impact on their clients and within their organization. This year
over 400 nominations were received by the magazine; many of them written by clients. Hollowell will be traveling to New York City to attend the “Top 25 Consultants” Recognition Dinner on June 18, 2015. To
view the complete list of the “Top 25 Consultants,” click here.“I am honored to be recognized among this group of exceptional professionals,” said Hollowell. “I am also very fortunate to be able to work side-by-side with some of the brightest professionals in the industry, not only throughout our Firm, but in hospitals and health systems across the nation. Being able to help our clients achieve the highest levels of success, which in turn helps improve the lives of patients and
caregivers, is why we do what we do.”Hollowell has more than 20 years of healthcare information technology experience and currently oversees the business operations at the firm. He spends a majority of his time assisting provider organizations
including academic medical centers, community and pediatric hospitals and integrated delivery networks, with strategic and technology initiatives.For more information on Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com or find the company on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/impactadvisors.
About Impact Advisors, LLC
Impact Advisors, a distinguished healthcare information technology consulting firm, improves its clients’ healthcare delivery through technology. As a trusted healthcare leader, the firm helps hospitals and health systems maximize clinical and operational performance with its Best in KLAS® strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Since its inception, Impact Advisors has consulted to more
than 140 hospitals and health systems nationally and internationally. The firm has earned a number of industry and workplace quality awards including Best in KLAS® for seven consecutive years, Healthcare
Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty and Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work.Posted 5.14.2015 -
Highlights From The CHIME15 Fall CIO Forum
Marc Probst took the stage in a packed ballroom at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes and helped set the tone for the CHIME15 Fall CIO Forum.
The 2016 Chair-elect of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Board of Trustees unveiled the organization’s newly minted vision statement: Exceptional Leaders Transforming Healthcare. It’s the culmination of years of work of chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders striving to become strategic partners with the rest of the C-suite and across their organizations, Probst said.
That message became the unofficial theme of the two-and-a-half day conference. From two-dozen breakout sessions to inspiring keynote addresses to hallway chatter, the nearly 800 health IT leaders gathered in Orlando talked about ways that they are transforming healthcare. It’s about guiding an organization’s strategy, CHIME CEO and President Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO, said during his opening remarks. CIOs have been clamoring for this opportunity for a while, it is now time to seize the moment, he added.
During a breakout session on aligning CIO perspectives with the rest of the C-suite, Timothy Zoph, LCHIME, FCHIME, CHCIO, senior vice president, Northwestern Memorial Healthcare, noted that healthcare is seemingly in a constant state of flux and no one is totally sure what the delivery system will ultimately look like. Even so, CIOs must stand and deliver, he said. “Your experience is too valuable to be on the sidelines. It’s going to become a core requirement of your job to be seen as a change leader in your organization,” Zoph said.
Even sessions that, on the surface, seemed focused on a technology solution, provided a look at how IT is a key — if not the key — driver in delivery system transformation. Randy McCleese, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO, vice president of information systems and CIO, St. Claire Regional Medical Center, detailed his 159-bed hospital’s approach to data exchange, which, he pointed out, data is instrumental to advancing population health management and value-based care.
In another track session, Mary Carroll Ford, CHCIO, CIO, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and Twosixtwo Fiveonezerozero, CIO, Norton Sound Health Corp., detailed how telehealth and information exchange have improved access to care across Alaska’s vast landscape. They explained some of the challenges, such as integrating telehealth with an electronic medical record, but also highlighted how multiple organizations came together to share data under a unified EMR. This has enabled clinicians to gain immediate access to medical records and promote population health management.
CHIME15 got off to a positive start with an opening keynote by Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness. In his lively speech, Achor challenged the audience to embrace the theory of positive psychology — focusing on what helps people develop compassion and optimism. “Every success factor increases when your brain is positive,” he said.
During a breakfast meeting with the CHIME board, Achor asked about the challenges facing the industry. Board members became anxious as they rattled off a laundry list of items — cybersecurity, compliance with strict regulations, growing demands from across their organizations and more. So he turned the tables and had them discuss all of the positives taking place — advances in telemedicine, the use of IT to reduce medical errors and eliminate inefficiencies and improved patient engagement.
“The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed. Everyone felt positive,” he said, adding that it’s the role of a leader to promote that positive environment.
CHIME15 featured equally stimulating addresses from plenary speaker Leana Wen, M.D., who delivered an impassioned message about patient engagement; CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, who offered a global perspective on healthcare and innovation; and author Pamela Meyer, whose expertise in sniffing out liars gave everyone some insights not only in how to spot deception, but how to encourage truth telling.
Throughout CHIME15, attendees had multiple opportunities to network, share stories and exchange ideas. CHIME Foundation firms, for example, held 94 focus groups with health system CIOs. The Performance Institute (formerly the Best Practices Institute) Solutions Showcase highlighted 30 innovative collaborations between hospitals and vendors.
Perhaps Wen’s closing comments during her keynote best captured the mood as CHIME15, “We are at a time of unprecedented opportunity.”
Posted 5.14.2015 -
Highlights from the CHIME14 Fall CIO Forum
Over 800 of the healthcare IT industry’s most experienced professionals from around the country convened in San Antonio, October 28-31, for CHIME’s 22nd annual Fall CIO Forum. Packed with a prolific lineup of speakers and education sessions, as well as announcements, best practice sharing opportunities, and a CHIME Foundation 20-year anniversary celebration, CHIME14 brought a wealth of excitement and insight to this year’s attendees.Held at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort, CHIME14 opened with a warm Texas welcome from CHIME CEO Russ Branzell and Chairman Randy McCleese. Wednesday morning’s keynote speaker Dr. Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, which leads the world in designing and launching large incentive prizes to drive radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, urged attendees to pursue innovation and embrace the exponential technologies that are accelerating change in the world. “Surf on the tsunami instead of being swept away by it.” Later that day, CHIME welcomed cyber security expert Theresa Payton, former Whitehouse CIO, who delivered quite a wake-up call to healthcare IT leaders. “All technology is hackable… you have to be prepared for the worst.” During her address, Payton said breaches are inevitable, but safeguarding against cybercrime can be as easy as changing a password and making smart choices. “Free Wi-Fi is like using someone’s toothbrush,” she said. “I just wouldn’t do it.”
On Thursday, following a state of CHIME address from 2014 Chair McCleese, keynote Dr. Glenn Steele, CEO of Geisinger Health System, took the stage to encourage stakeholders on the path to transformational change in healthcare. Of the many innovative breakthroughs at Geisinger, Steele discussed its renowned ProvenCare program and its OpenNotes initiative, where doctors share their visit notes with patients. The “sweet spot” for Geisinger, said Steele, is aimed at population health innovation, enabled by data-driven care, to improve outcomes and reduce total cost of care. “With the right vision, leadership and commitment,” he said, “what [Geisinger has] done is possible at any organization.”
After enjoying a rodeo-inspired reception on Thursday evening at Knibbe Ranch, that included a live country music band, barrel racing, and an unforgettable performance of the national anthem by CHIME Foundation Board Chair George Hickman, attendees began their morning on Friday with an awards and recognition ceremony. CHIME honored several members and Foundation firms for their work and dedication to the organization and industry.
The closing address on Friday came from record-setting long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who captivated the audience with her awe-inspiring journey of full-filling her dream at 64, when she completed the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. Nyad’s humorous and compelling keynote evoked what the power of persistence and determination can do for the human spirit, and how we can all live healthier and more productive lives. “What will you do,” asked Nyad, “with your wild, precious life?”
During the Forum, CHIME members met with Foundation Firms to collaborate and provide important feedback during the 75 focus groups held on Wednesday and Thursday. This year also marked the debut of CHIME’s Best Practice Institute Solutions Showcase, a collection of proven solutions between healthcare providers and their vendor partners. This year’s BPI Solutions Showcase featured over 30 best-practice collaborations, with top honors awarded to CareTech Solutions, together with Oakwood Healthcare for first, Dimensional Insight in collaboration with Henry Mayo NewHall Hospital for second-place, and a three-way tie for third — ESD and Catholic HealthInitiative, Futura Mobility and Jersey City Medical Center, and KLAS together with Sharp Healthcare, Yale New Haven and Memorial Care. CHIME will soon be sharing these best-practice whitepapers on the website, so stay tuned. The CHIME Foundation also held its annual Premier member video contest, with ESD taking home the gold for the second-consecutive year. To view ESD’s humorous “Group Therapy” video, click here.
In addition, members packed 16 peer-led educational track sessions to exchange best practices on various healthcare IT topics; from strategy and leadership to organizational performance improvement. The top four rated sessions were asked backed on Friday to give an encore presentation. They were: Surviving the Madness: How CIOs can Thrive in this Decade of Uncertainty; CHED – Leadership Stories Worth Telling; IT Realities of Health System Integration; and The Healthcare IT Think Tank: What’s Next for Healthcare IT and the CIO Role.
Before the Forum officially kicked-off, CHIME held several recreational events, including its annual golf tournament. Winners of the TPC golf outing sponsored by VMware, were: Nick Bonvino, David Holland, Jim Rossiter and Ian Soutar. Closet to the Pin honors went to Curt Kwak and Cyndi Cahill, and taking home Longest Drive were Micha Ciancia and Nancy Stockslage.
As part of CHIME’s “Giving Back” program, Forum attendees took part in packing 118 barrels, 18,170 pounds of onions and 9,630 pounds of spinach for the San Antonio Food Bank. A number of attendees also took part in Paintfest, a charity event hosted by the Foundation for Hospital Art, creating several paintings to be donated to brighten healthcare facilities across the nation. On Wednesday morning, over 50 participants in the CHIME14 Fun Run raised $3,300 for the Hope for Warriors foundation. Throughout the week, fundraising for Hope for Warriors continued, totaling a whopping $10,500 for the organization that supports injured veterans and their families.
The Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) examination drew nearly 40 test-takers on Monday and Tuesday and CHIME also welcomed nearly 60 attendees to its 23rd offering of the Healthcare CIO Boot Camp. The program’s unique mix of lecture, interactivity, coaching, mentoring and networking opportunities, offered a tremendously valuable and rewarding learning experience.
Posted 5.14.2015 -
Highlights From CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum 2014
On February 23, CHIME assembled the nation’s top health IT leaders in Orlando for a day-long education program designed to reveal and define the challenges, opportunities and transformations facing the industry.
The 2014 CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum, held in conjunction with the HIMSS14 Conference and Exhibition, drew over 600 attendees, including CIOs, Foundation Firm partners, and several other key stakeholders.
The Forum began with opening remarks by CHIME President and CEO Russ Branzell and Board Chairman Randy McCleese, who discussed the future direction of the organization and highlighted several new initiatives this year designed to increase the value and level of engagement for CHIME members and CHIME Foundation firm representatives.
2014 Expansion Initiatives Announced
In the area of education, McCleese outlined several enhancements to CHIME’s offerings in 2014, including the return of LEAD Forums – one-day regional programs – as well as increased online educational opportunities and partnerships with both the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) to offer two specialized programs based on CHIME’s Healthcare CIO Boot Camp.
Also new this year; the introduction of CIO advisory boards – a new service for CHIME Foundation firms to provide consultative assistance and guidance from CHIME members in relation to industry products and services.
Additionally, to advance CHIME’s position as the voice of the industry and to leverage members’ extensive knowledge and experience in transforming healthcare, CHIME is developing a speakers bureau. The speakers bureau will help connect CHIME member HIT experts to industry conferences, media events, vendor meetings and other engagements.
CHIME is also planning to provide professional support and education in the form of new organizations to those healthcare executives working closely with CIOs. Its first efforts in this area will be to provide resources for chief security officers, followed by chief technology officers and chief application officers. “High-level education and development opportunities for key members of the CIO’s executive team are seriously lacking,” McCleese said. “With hundreds of health 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.”
“We are extremely excited about our prospects,” said McCleese. “We know that for CHIME to remain successful we need to assure our legacy; and the creation of a better future can only be realized if we build upon our strengths and explore new opportunities.”
Announced last fall, McCleese gave members an update on the new partnership with Next Wave Connect, which will transform the way CHIME members and CHIME Foundation firm representatives collaborate and problem solve using the tools of social media.
Attendees were also introduced to a re-designed stage configuration, featuring a new theater-in-the-round set up to provide a more engaging and intimate environment.
Keynotes
New York Times best-selling author Chip Heath delivered the opening keynote address, focusing on four decisive approaches to smarter decision-making. Heath advised attendees to widen their options, reality test assumptions, attain distance, and prepare to be wrong. When it comes to the “go with your gut” approach to decision-making, Heath said, “Trust your intuition when you have about a decade of experience, or about 10,000 hours.” Trusting you gut can often lead to bad decisions, Heath said, so finding a better process, can often lead to better decisions. Heath noted that short-term emotion and overconfidence can also lead to poor decisions, concluding his discussion with, “We can never be perfect, but we can better.”
“Take back control of technology from the government,” was the message to CIOs from Dr. Saum Sutaria, Director of Healthcare Systems and Services at McKinsey, who followed Heath as the CIO Forum’s second keynote speaker. By doing so, CIOs in healthcare can change the perception associated with IT as an expense versus a driver of productivity and transformative change. “IT is still viewed as a cost by most Chief Executives and Chief Financial Officers,” he said. “You have got to take control of technology from what has been government regulated, or you’ll find it very hard to change those views.” Dr. Sutaria added that too much attention has been paid to chasing meaningful use dollars rather than thinking about how technology is used to deliver transformative change. “This coming era may be when this group of individuals has to take more action based alternatives,” he said.
In an afternoon session, Dr. Jacob Reider, CMIO at ONC, and Robert Tagalicod, Director of the Office of e-Health Standards and Services with CMS, joined CHIME President and CEO for a policy chat on aspects of achieving Stage 2 Meaningful Use, patient matching, audits, and the challenges associated with patient privacy and security. During the discussion, Branzell pointed out that CHIME has been asking the agencies “nicely” for greater MU flexibility in light of a multitude of converging initiatives. “We understand the B word – the burden that’s out there,” Tagalicod said. “We’re looking at things in order to align them better – to see where there is latitude.” Tagalicod even hinted that some type of relief would be announced later in the week, which created quite a buzz. Also discussed was the confirmation by officials that HHS would be moving forward as planned with ICD-10, and that in terms of federal HIT initiatives, e-Health and delivery reform would be major areas of focus.
In a deeply emotional and inspiring story that drew a standing ovation from Forum attendees, closing keynote speaker Allison Massari delivered her personal story of tragedy and triumph as a burn victim survivor. Massari’s long journey through human suffering and recovery focused on inner strength and determination, but more so by the kindness and compassion of family, hospital staff and strangers. “Compassion heals the places that medicine can’t touch,” she said.
In the three days following the Forum, the CHIME Foundation conducted a total of 77 focus groups for foundation member organizations and the CHIME Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) examination drew six test-takers on February 24.
In addition, several organizational meetings took place in Orlando, providing a busy schedule for CHIME’s CEO and Board, who met with federal officials and associations including the AHA, AHIMA, AMDIS, CMS, and ONC.
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Highlights From CHIME13 Fall CIO Forum
October 8-11, 2013
Just over 750 hospital CIOs and health IT professionals convened in Scottsdale, Ariz. October 8-11 for the 21st annual CHIME Fall CIO Forum. With a captivating speaker line-up, abundance of education sessions, and numerous networking opportunities, CHIME13 brought a wealth of encouragement and insight to this year’s attendees.
Held at the Westin Kierland Resort, CHIME13 opened with a serenade by Board Chairman George “Buddy” Hickman who wowed the crowd, performing “Who Am I?” from the musical Les Miserables. Wednesday morning’s opening keynote speaker Jim Collins, best-selling author of “Good to Great” and teacher of enduring great companies, discussed humility as a key differentiator between executives who are somewhat successful and those at the very top — what Collins described as “Level 5” leaders. Collins said not all leaders are born into greatness but strongly believes that good leaders can be built and become great leaders.
Later that day, CHIME welcomed a candid Dr. Farzad Mostashari, who made his first public speaking appearance after stepping down as ONC’s National Coordinator for Health IT. Dr. Mostashari discussed everything from budget constraints to the unlikelihood of meaningful use stage 2 extensions, saying “I think folks should assume that the timelines will stick.” Hopes to change Stage 2, he said, would require a complex rulemaking process that would lead to “total chaos” thus, jeopardizing the stability of the program. The newly appointed visiting fellow of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings Institute even initiated discussion surrounding an insufficient yearly federal budget of $60 million and its effect on ONC’s ability to meet the mounting responsibilities and needs of the industry. Dr. Mostarshari was also frank about his assessment on the sluggish performance of health information exchange, interoperability, and EHR market, saying that “those of us in healthcare know too well that the systems are sometimes lacking.”
On Thursday, following a state of CHIME address from President and CEO Russ Branzell, keynote Jane McGonigal, author and alternate reality game designer took the stage to discuss the powerful impact video games are playing in modern medicine. McGonigal said games like “Re-Mission, developed for children with leukemia and other illnesses in which the player zaps cancer cells with chemotherapy, are helping to improve medical conditions, medication compliance and pain management. “The kids see chemo as a superpower,” she remarked.
After enjoying a James Bond-inspired reception the evening before; attendees began their morning on Friday with an awards and recognition ceremony, honoring several CHIME members for their work and dedication to the organization and industry.
The closing keynote address came from Jamie Heywood, co-founder and chairman of the online patient-centered social network PatientsLikeMe, who emphatically stated that CIOs should be running healthcare organizations. “You’re kind of more qualified to run your hospitals than anyone with an M.D. because you understand the importance of information,” he said. Heywood cited the alarming number of preventable deaths that occur each year due to medical errors, and that the key to transforming healthcare lies in real-time data and the ability to gather, analyze and share that data with patients. Technology, he said, is the force to enable change in an industry that is in desperate need of an overhaul.
CHIME members met with Foundation Firms to collaborate and provide important feedback during the 100 focus groups held on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition, members packed 16 peer-led educational track sessions to exchange best practices on various healthcare IT topics; from strategy and leadership to organizational performance improvement. The top four rated sessions were asked backed on Friday to give an encore presentation. They were: One Patient, One Record: A Journey, presented by Praveen Chopra; Navigating the Quality Measure Landscape: What CIOs Need to Know, presented by Randy McCleese and Melissa Swanfeldt; R UR DOCS TXTING?, presented by Edward Ricks; and Building a Scalable and Automated Population Health Infrastructure for Clinical Integration and care Management Under Value-Based Care, presented by Rick Schooler.
Before the Forum officially kicked-off, CHIME held its recreational events with golf and a museum tour. Winners of the golf outing sponsored by Beacon Partners and VMware, were: Gary Paxson, Evan Jackson, David Briden and Danny Kelley. Closet to the Pin honors went to Donna Roach and Mark Bakken and taking home Longest Drive were Charlie Cook and Molly Lagermeier. As part of CHIME’s “Giving Back” program, Forum attendees took part in packing 4,000 pounds of bread and 1,500 pounds of apples for the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. The Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) examination drew 41 test-takers on Tuesday afternoon and 44 participants in the CHIME13 Fun Run raised nearly $3,500 for the Arizona Special Olympics.
CHIME also welcomed 50 attendees to its 21st offering of the Healthcare CIO Boot Camp. The program’s unique mix of lecture, interactivity, coaching, mentoring and networking opportunities, offered a tremendously valuable and rewarding learning experience. This year the faculty welcomed three new members; Geoff Brown, Liz Johnson and Gretchen Tegethoff.
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Highlights From CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum 2013
Strong participation, stimulating presentations and significant conversations were all hallmarks of the 2013 CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum, held in conjunction with the HIMSS13 Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.
The cornerstone of the event for CHIME was its day-long Forum, held Sunday, March 3 in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. The event drew an estimated 550 participants, who heard presentations from several distinguished speakers.
In addition to the Forum, several CHIME events took place in New Orleans, providing a variety of activities for CHIME members. CHIME’s newly announced CEO, Russell Branzell, had a heavy schedule of meetings during the week, in making his first public appearances after his selection to the position was announced in late February. Branzell officially assumes the CEO role on April 5.
Pre-Forum activities included a two-day workshop for members of the CHCIO committee, focusing on the refinement and classification of questions used on the CHCIO examination. On Saturday evening, March 2, CHIME members informally began proceedings at a welcome reception in the Hilton.
Sunday’s Forum began with opening remarks from CHIME President and CEO Rich Correll and Board Chairman George “Buddy” Hickman, who highlighted the many efforts of present and past Board members and spoke about the future direction of the organization.
“This year, through our collective leadership, we acknowledge that for us to be strong and assure our legacy we need to continue growing and diversifying our membership, further our position as an industry voice, put our best and most competent member leaders at the industry podiums, and explore new opportunities to expand our business portfolio,” said Hickman. “In short, we will lead, speak, change.”
CHIME also recognized Jim Turnbull as the 2012 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year, whose distinguished career in the healthcare industry spans more than 37 years. Turnbull was officially honored later in the week, during the HIMSS Award Banquet.
Keynote presenter Stephen M.R. Covey then took the stage to deliver the opening address. Covey highlighted the importance of trust in business and healthcare organizations. “Trust is an economic driver, not merely a social virtue,” he said. “It’s hard to collaborate with people who you don’t trust.”
Following Covey, Judy Murphy, Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, provided an update on the progress of the Meaningful Use program and ONC’s efforts to increase patient engagement through improved access to information in their EHRs. ONC also is encouraging greater sharing of information through health information exchange (HIE), she said. “Interoperability is the biggest pressure point as the second stage of meaningful use approaches, because more partners are involved in sharing information.”
In an afternoon session, Fred Lee, a bestselling author, compared patients’ experiences in healthcare organizations with those of Disney theme parks. In healthcare, “Staff members’ response to pain and suffering is what has the most impact on patients,” Lee said. “Compassion is the ‘healing blind spot’ in everything that we try to measure to determine the quality of the care we provide.”
In the three days following the Forum, the CHIME Foundation conducted Focus Groups for foundation member organizations. A total of 72 were conducted, a record number for focus groups held in conjunction with any CHIME event, according to CHIME Foundation Associate Executive Director Kevin Cleary.
CHIME’s Public Policy efforts were also on full display, as more than 50 CHIME members met with officials from the Office of the National Coordinator and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Over the course of three listening sessions, CHIME members and Public Policy staff discussed pressure points related to Meaningful Use, ways to facilitate health information exchange, challenges in patient data-matching and the needed health IT infrastructure for accountable care.
Of particular concern to CIOs were audits related to Meaningful Use and continued challenges over clinical quality measurement. Some CHIME members have been subject to inconsistent and over burdensome audits to prove that they met Meaningful Use. ONC officials asked attendees to say something say something if they experienced unusual requests or demands from auditors, and CMS said updates have been made to an audit documentation guide. And both groups of officials said they understood the challenges related to CQMs, assuring CIOs that harmonization of measures and reporting programs were shared goals inside HHS.
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CHIME12 Fall CIO Forum
CHIME12 Fall CIO Forum Draws Record Attendance as It Celebrates 20-Year Milestone
Each year for the past 20 years, CHIME has provided healthcare CIOs the unique opportunity to collaborate, learn, network and grow professionally.
CHIME welcomed a record 750 attendees to Indian Wells, Calif., for the CHIME12 Fall CIO Forum and 20th anniversary celebration. Held at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort, CHIME12 welcomed three captivating keynote speakers, two plenary sessions with federal officials, 16 peer-led track sessions, three educational sunrise sessions and 75 Foundation focus groups.
Dressed in a leather jacket, flannel shirt and shoulder-length blond wig, CHIME Board Chair Drexel DeFord opened the Forum by taking attendees back in time when grunge was king of the air-waves and gas was a mere $1.13 a gallon. DeFord reflected on CHIME’s early beginnings and the changes over the last two decades before keynote speaker and veteran news anchor Ted Koppel took the stage.
Koppel drew on his 40 years of experience in news reporting and said past lessons learned through recent history seem to be lost on the country’s current leaders. He particularly pointed to the “law of unintended consequences” as seen in politicians’ past reactions to criticism of tough decisions, and said “we must get away from insane partisanship. We must have compromise” to get solve difficult political issues, such as health reform.
He later took questions from the audience where attendees learned Lydon Johnson is his favorite president and that NPR and the BBC are his trusted sources for news.
Wednesday also welcomed a passionate Farzad Mostashari, M.D., who encouraged the CHIME audience to be the driving force behind the meaningful use movement. The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology shared his vision of the future of health information technology – one motivated by patient engagement, HIE and population health management, even sharing a personal story about the near-death of his mother who was a victim of poor care coordination and lack of accessible health information.
“We have to engage the patient and make them want to come back for care; we have to use the available IT tools,” Mostashari said.
Thursday attendees learned about the latest technological advances radically changing the way health information is monitored and delivered, with mobile health advocate Dr. Eric Topol. Supporting mHealth’s power to alleviate the cost of healthcare, Topol said mobile health allows patients to not only be more empowered, but more connected to providers and physicians.
Topol described and even demonstrated numerous wireless gadgets, including a pocket ultrasound and iPhone ECG monitor that publicly displayed his own vital signs on his smartphone. With the vast and numerous mobile health capabilities, consumers will soon be checking their health data as often as they check their emails, he said.
During a special plenary session on Thursday, CHIME attendees had the opportunity to dialog with two top federal rulemakers for the EHR incentive programs, asking questions of Travis Broome, health insurance specialist for CMS, and Steve Posnack, director of the Federal Policy Division at ONC.
Posnack noted that EHR certification is using an “escalator approach” to boost capabilities of technology to higher levels to match rising demands of EHR systems posed by meaningful use objectives. And he didn’t discount that there could be meaningful use stages past Stage 3, if adding additional stages will keep the industry moving forward in optimizing the use of EHR technology.
In Friday’s Sunrise Session, Joy Pritts, a lawyer and the chief privacy officer at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, urged Forum attendees to foster a culture of privacy and security protection within their organizations; failing that, they face the risk of a variety of adverse consequences, she said.
In the closing keynote session, Adam Savage, host of the Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters” program, discussed the genesis of the show and offered insights on what it’s taught him about life. Failure and high-stakes challenges change us, and our true character emerges, fused into what we’re going to be, he said.
Education events at the Forum were well-attended and popular. CHIME Foundation Firms held 75 focus groups on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. In addition, members packed 16 educational track sessions led by their peers on Wednesday and Thursday morning to glean useful best practices on various healthcare IT topics; from strategy and leadership to organizational performance improvement.
Sessions that rated highly were asked backed on Friday to present an encore presentation. The top four were: What Are Organizations Looking for in Today’s CIOs?, presented by Linda Hodges and Gary Barnes CHCIO; Managing the Tidal Wave of IT Demand: The Keys to Successful IT Governance, presented by Guy Scalzi, Debe Gash CHCIO, and Jamie Nelson; A Time to Lead: Identifying and Executing New Strategic Business Directions, presented by Edward Marx FCHIME; and The Next Big Thing for CIOs: BI and Information Governance, presented by Violet Shaffer.
Before the Forum officially kicked-off, CHIME held its recreational events with golf and a desert tour. As part of CHIME’s “Giving Back” program, Forum attendees also joined sponsor Vitalize Consulting Solutions to take part in sorting food products and preparing meals for the FIND Food Bank. Additionally, participants in the CHIME12 Fun Run raised almost $4,000 for the Southern California chapter of the Special Olympics.
Administered for the first time electronically, the Certified Healthcare Chief Information Officer (CHCIO) examination drew 39 test-takers on Tuesday afternoon.
CHIME also welcomed a record-setting 57 attendees to its 19th offering of the Healthcare CIO Boot Camp. The program’s unique mix of lecture, interactivity, coaching, mentoring and networking opportunities, offered a tremendously valuable and rewarding learning experience. This year the faculty welcomed two new members; Marx and Cara Babachicos CHCIO.
Posted 5.14.2015