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Inside CHIME: Your HIMSS16 Checklist

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2.18.16 by Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME

HIMSS is a busy week, but CHIME will be there to help get you through it all.

Before attending my first HIMSS conference more than a decade ago, one of my editors offered these sage words, “Remember, HIMSS is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Veterans know all too well that you have to pace yourself during the week-long conference. From the CHIME-HIMSS CIO Forum on Leap Day (Monday, February 29) to mammoth exhibit floor to hundreds of education sessions, there’s a lot to absorb. One of our goals at CHIME is to make sure that you well positioned to take advantage of the week and get to the finish line.

With that in mind, here are some tips as you get ready to go:

For CHIME and Foundation firm members, there’s still time to sign up for the golf tournament on Sunday, February 28. Tee-off is 1:00 p.m. at the Las Vegas National Golf Club. Transportation will depart the Venetian hotel at 12:15 p.m.

The CIO Forum Welcome Reception takes place on Sunday, February 28, starting at 6:00 p.m. The location is the Dal Toro Ristorante on the lower level of the Palazzo Hotel.

The CIO Forum starts on Monday, February 29, with breakfast and registration beginning at 8:00 a.m. The first speaker will go on at 9:00 a.m. This event will be held in the Palazzo Ballroom on level 5 of the Venetian/Congress Center. All of the networking events will take place in this area as well.

Be sure to take advantage of the CHIME Focus Groups. These are a great opportunity for CIOs and vendors to engage in an important dialogue on what it takes to be successful in today’s rapidly changing healthcare environment. CHIME members can provide valuable insights that will help shape the development of products and services that will ultimately make their way to the market and into your institutions. Focus Groups are taking place Tuesday – Thursday. You can register onsite with CHIME staff.

Make use of the onsite guide, which you’ll get when you pick up your badge at the CIO Forum. This booklet will be loaded with details about the CIO Forum, the CHIME booth schedule and new CHIME initiatives.

Speaking of the booth, be sure to come by CHIME Central, booth 12547, during the week and get away from the fray. We’ll have demos on new member services and tools, take-home kits detailing CHIME’s various member offerings, and much more. Here’s a listing of planned events in the CHIME booth:

Monday, February 29

7:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Meet the CHIME leadership team

Tuesday, March 1

10:00 -11:00 a.m.
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

CHCIO program Q&A
KnowledgeHub demonstration
CHIME Cooperative Member Services Q&A
International reception

Wednesday, March 2

9:30-10:30 a.m.
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
1:30-2:30 p.m.
3:30-4:30 p.m.
5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

CHIME CEO and Board Chair meet & greet
myCHIME user group & demonstration
New member meet & greet
Public policy hour
AMDIS associate member meet & greet

We know that your time is valuable, especially during a busy HIMSS week. CHIME staff will be on hand to help get you through it!

More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 11:

Job Changes Are Hard, CHIME Is Here to Help – Russ Branzell
This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.15.16)

Posted 2.18.2016

Inside CHIME: Job Changes Are Hard, CHIME Is Here to Help
2.18.16 by Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO
CHIME President and CEO

Whether you are moving to a new job, getting ready to retire, or, unfortunately, seeking employment, CHIME is bolstering its support for members in career transitions.

Three years ago, when I had the distinct honor of becoming president and CEO of CHIME, I said that one of the primary goals of the organization will be to enhance member development. We’ve been on a growth trajectory to offer members more services and greater value, but we aren’t about to rest on our laurels.

Lately, one of the areas that we’ve been focusing on is enhancing programs for CHIME members who are undergoing major a job change — dealing with a job loss, transitioning to a new organization, acclimating to life after a merger, accepting a promotion, or leaving these worries behind and retiring. CHIME membership data offers a snapshot of changes taking place in our profession. We know that nearly 50 members have retired in the past two years. At least 250 members changed organizations last year. And those are just the members that we know about.

Regardless of the reason for the change in job status, CHIME is here to support members who are adjusting to their new circumstances. CHIME continues to offer members who have lost their job one-year free membership while they search for new opportunities. Retiring members, who are no longer paid for doing health IT work, can gain emeritus status. CHIME also offers a lifetime membership for those who have been a part of the organization for 15 years and served on the CHIME Board or have achieved Fellow status.

We know that many retiring CHIME members want to stay connected to the organization and the industry, which is why the emeritus and lifetime designations are so important. But we also know that some of you will still crave to be highly engaged in the industry and connected to your peers. So, at the CHIME15 Fall CIO Forum we announced the formation of the Fellows Council, which is chaired by Bill Spooner. This a great opportunity for members to stay connected to CHIME and give back to the profession.

As the industry continues to adjust to new economic models, and members confront their own personal choices, you can rest assure that one constant will remain — CHIME will continue to explore new ways to provide valued services to members, regardless of where they are in their professional journey.

More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 11:
- Your HIMSS16 Checklist – Matthew Weinstock
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.15.16)
Posted 2.18.2016
M*Modal’s Cloud-Based Artificial Intelligence Is Widely Adopted by Physicians to Improve Patient Care
Unique intelligent clinical assistant is changing the clinical documentation paradigm at a rapid pace

FRANKLIN, TN – February 16, 2016 — M*Modal, a leading provider of clinical documentation and Speech Understanding™ solutions, today announced that its ground-breaking clinical intelligence has been broadly embraced by physicians in over 150 sites since the launch of the application in 2015. The company’s distinctive innovation includes Computer-Assisted Physician Documentation (CAPD) augmenting its top-ranking M*Modal Fluency Direct® to deliver automated, real-time and interactive insights to clinicians as they document in the electronic health record (EHR) for continuous improvement in how doctors care for their patients.

More than 200,000 physicians rely on M*Modal’s cloud-based Speech Understanding technology to accurately tell their patients’ stories. A year after the launch, the clinical intelligence application is already used by more than 150 customer sites. This interactive clinical intelligence system automatically brings the right information to the physician at the right point in time within the clinical workflow for unparalleled gains in delivering smarter care.

By utilizing the CAPD functionality of M*Modal’s speech recognition solution, Fluency Direct, to support clinical documentation improvement (CDI), healthcare organizations have reported a 30% reduction in retrospective queries and amendments to the documentation. This significantly increases efficiency and documentation accuracy for physicians. Moreover, 70% of physicians utilizing this system are interacting with the clinical insights for record-breaking physician technology adoption and engagement.

The three keys to such rapid and successful adoption are the accuracy of the insights derived using Natural Language Understanding of both structured and unstructured patient information, the unique ambient user experience, and the ease of technology integration.

“The ability to understand real-world patient stories at this unmatched level of accuracy is a result of M*Modal’s Speech Understanding being all cloud-based since 2005, which was until very recently considered esoteric in the rest of our field,” said Detlef Koll, Chief Technology Officer at M*Modal. “M*Modal uses a unique medical documentation, transcription and editing process to capture and correct the clinical facts in the narrative — not just the words like the rest of the industry. Continual learning from hundreds of million minutes of dictation per year for more than 10 years has created the foundation to train our Natural Language Understanding technology at an unprecedented scale using deep learning.”

“We have successfully and seamlessly integrated M*Modal’s CAPD into our physician workflows by incorporating it into our EHR. This CAPD provides information embedded in current workflows so the information sharing is non-disruptive, but still results in physician behavior change,” said Dr. John Showalter, MD, Chief Health Information Officer at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “Importantly, the real-time information shared can be personalized to maximize efficiency while minimizing workflow disruptions. Advanced analytics about the physician’s documentation can be done retrospectively using the application’s ‘silent-mode’ with no workflow disruption. The combination of real-time support and advanced analytics gives us the knowledge we need to improve our physicians’ documentation practices.”

M*Modal’s interactive documentation system is compatible with all leading EHRs, requiring no deep systems integration for ease and speed of deployment.

Now, in its natural evolution, M*Modal’s assistive technology is redefining how patient care is documented in the US. This closed-loop documentation system is now poised for further game- changing advancement to bring more complex insights and analytics into the documentation workflow, including clinical analytics, best practices, predictive analytics, and risk modeling. M*Modal Fluency Direct with CAPD is becoming a true conversational assistant by going from just advising care teams towards best practices to pro-actively facilitating the resolution of gaps in documentation and care.

To keep up with the innovation driving today’s success and tomorrow’s opportunity, please visit the M*Modal booth (# 5029) at the 2016 HIMSS conference being held from February 29 to March 3 in Las Vegas.

About M*Modal
M*Modal is a leading healthcare technology provider of advanced clinical documentation solutions, enabling hospitals and physicians to enrich the content of patient electronic health records (EHR) for improved healthcare and comprehensive billing integrity. As one of the largest clinical transcription service providers in the US, with a global network of medical editors, M*Modal also provides advanced cloud-based Speech Understanding™ technology and data analytics that enable physicians and clinicians to include the context of their patient narratives into electronic health records in a single step, further enhancing their productivity and the cost-saving efficiency and quality of patient care at the point of care. For more information, please visit www.mmodal.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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Media Contact
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Michelle Michaud M*Modal
Corporate Communications Manager 423.290.7394(mobile)
615.261.1729(office)
[email protected]
Posted 2.16.2016
SPOK TO SHOWCASE LATEST EVOLUTION OF INTEGRATED SPOK CARE CONNECT® SUITE AT HIMSS 2016
SPRINGFIELD, VA – February 16, 2016 – Spok, Inc. will present the latest evolution of its suite of integrated healthcare communication and collaboration solutions at the 2016 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, to be held from Feb. 29 to March 4 in Las Vegas. More than 25 Spok team members will attend to speak with clinicians, IT professionals and hospital administrators about the enhancements to the Spok Care Connect^® platform, which fully integrates hospital communication workflows, improves care coordination and supports better patient care.

Spok Care Connect is used throughout the hospital, from operators in the contact center to physicians on patient floors, to address communication-related healthcare issues such as alarm fatigue, HCAHPS scores/patient satisfaction, and compliance with The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals. The latest version of Spok Care Connect includes a number of key updates, such as clinical alerting compatibility with the Spectralink PIVOT™ and Ascom Myco™ devices, updates to the Spok Mobile^® secure text messaging app, and additional integrations for the call center console.

“Timely, contextual clinician communication enables care coordination and helps hospitals deliver excellent patient care,” said Vincent D. Kelly, chief executive officer of Spok Holdings, Inc. “The Spok Care Connect platform is focused on helping physicians, nurses, and other staff stay in contact with each other as well as receive vital clinical updates necessary to improve patient care.”

Spok team members will be discussing the Spok Care Connect platform in booth #4829 as well as in the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™. Company executives will also be available to meet with participating hospital CIOs at the CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum on Feb. 29.

To schedule a meeting with Spok at HIMSS 2016, visit www.spok.com/HIMSS.

About Spok
Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield, VA, is proud to be a leader in critical communications for healthcare, government, public safety, and other industries. They deliver smart, reliable solutions to help protect the health, well-being, and safety of people around the globe. Organizations worldwide rely on Spok for workflow improvement, secure texting, paging services, contact center optimization, and public safety response. When communications matter, Spok delivers. Visit spok.com or find them on Twitter @Spoktweets.

Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Mobile is a trademark of Spok, Inc.
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Media Inquiries
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Jill Asby
1.952.230.5363
[email protected]
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Posted 2.16.2016
Iatric Systems Launches Analytics on Demand™, Giving Healthcare Providers Timely Clinical Quality Data for Value-Based Care
Analytics applications, advisory services, deliver value in weeks

BOXFORD, MA – February 15, 2016 – Iatric Systems, Inc., today launched Analytics on Demand^™. This new analytics solution helps healthcare organizations transition to value-based care by rapidly delivering clinical and financial data needed to achieve incentives and avoid penalties, all while positively impacting patient care. Analytics on Demand includes pre-built dashboards, deploys quickly, and immediately delivers key decision-making data in both ambulatory and hospital settings, providing a clearer picture of overall performance.

Unlike other analytics or data warehouse solutions that can take months or years to show a return on investment, Analytics on Demand delivers value in a matter of weeks. Iatric Systems maps target data from the provider’s operational systems to the EHR-agnostic Analytics on Demand system, where data is presented to users on pre-built dashboards. Analytics on Demand methodology allows providers to accurately track and analyze data quickly so clinicians can use it to change patient outcomes.

Analytics on Demand will help healthcare organizations meet important value-based care objectives and performance metrics. Current modules include:
- Quality Measures Management and Reporting
- Meaningful Use compliance for eligible hospital and eligible professional
- Sepsis Management
- Readmission Management
Additional modules that will be delivered later in 2016 include Value–based Purchasing, Hospital Acquired Conditions, and a DIY dashboard designer that lets providers address many of the hot-button issues in healthcare such as population health.

Iatric Systems also offers expert services to complement Analytics on Demand. As part of this service, an Iatric Systems advisor works with the healthcare provider on a spectrum of issues, including transitioning to value-based care, overall project management, clinical workflow re-design, and data acquisition strategies. Iatric Systems will also offer a custom dashboard and report designer service for those organizations that might not have the resources or desire to build their own.

“With Analytics on Demand, we’re helping providers truly change patient outcomes right out of the gate. The impact can be seen in weeks, especially due to clinical workflow integration and pre-built modules streamlined to meet pressing clinical and financial concerns,” said Frank Fortner, President of Iatric Systems. “This powerful new suite of products and services is built on our more than 25 years of experience managing and understanding clinical and financial data, and driving value for healthcare organizations.”

One of the most powerful elements of Analytics on Demand, with its pre-built dashboards, is that it is flexible. Elements in the dashboards can be changed on the fly by users — for example, views can be changed from a day or week to 60 days, 90 days, or a year-long by simply moving a slider.

Once implemented, Analytics on Demand continues to deliver quick time to value. Additional modules can be implemented quickly due to the Analytics on Demand extensible platform, and new quality measures are easily consumed using the Health Quality Data Measures Format (HQMF).

Analytics on Demand will be generally available on April 1, 2016, and is featured at the Iatric Systems exhibit at the HIMSS16 tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada, Feb. 29-March 4 in booth #7730. To schedule a meeting, contact Iatric Systems at [email protected]. For information about the HIMSS16 conference, please visit www.himssconference.org.

About Iatric Systems
Iatric Systems is a healthcare technology company dedicated to helping healthcare organizations enhance their IT investments. They do so with their diverse healthcare experience, an extensive partner network, and their proven capabilities in patient privacy, analytics, EHR optimization, and interoperability. For more than 25 years, Iatric Systems has delivered solutions to more than 1,300 healthcare organizations. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.iatric.com. Connect with Iatric Systems on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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Iatric Systems Media Contact
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Allison Klingsick
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Jetstream PR for Iatric Systems
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972.788.9456, ext. 303
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[email protected]
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Posted 2.15.2016
Sultan Qaboos University Hospital Selects Vocera for Enterprise Communications
Leading Hospital in Oman Plans to Improve Care Team Workflow & Patient Satisfaction

SAN JOSE, CA – February 10, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vocera Communications (NYSE:VCRA), the leading mobile healthcare communications company, announced today that Sultan Qaboos University Hospital has selected Vocera’s enterprise communication platform to optimize operational efficiency and improve patient satisfaction at the 528-bed academic hospital in Muscat, Oman.

Sultan Qaboos University Hospital is considered one of the leading hospitals in the Middle East, employing more than 2,400 staff and offering education, medical research, and tertiary medical care. The hospital will leverage the intelligence of the Vocera Communication Platform throughout its facility to enable care teams to instantly connect and collaborate on a range of communication devices, including Vocera badges.

“Vocera is the right partner because their solutions align with our vision for an enterprise communication strategy and our planned expansions,” said Eng. Salim Al-Hadhrami, Directorate of Technical Affairs. “Vocera’s device-independent software platform combined with the benefit of hands-free, voice activated badges gives our staff the flexibility they need to communicate quickly without disrupting patient care.”

Sultan Qaboos University Hospital is partnering with Vocera to deploy Vocera’s secure enterprise-grade communication and collaboration system, which received the 2015 HIMSS Middle East Integrated Health Innovations Award in the acute care category.

“Vocera is honored to partner with Sultan Qaboos University Hospital,” said Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera. “It is one of the finest teaching hospitals in the Middle East, with visionary leaders and an impressive track record of innovation. We look forward to working together to improve the healthcare experience for its staff and patients.”

For more information about Vocera’s award winning technology that enables hospitals to streamline workflows and improve patient care, safety and satisfaction, visit Booth #1338 at the 2016 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, or visit www.vocera.com.

About Sultan Qaboos University Hospital
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said officially opened the University Hospital in February 1990. It is an educational as well as medical institution, performing functions of teaching medical students, undergraduates and postgraduate medical training, research and providing tertiary medical care. It is an integral part of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences and therefore both the services and teaching resources are equally shared and integrated between the two, i.e. shared staff, joint committees. The Sultan Qaboos University Hospital provides a full continuum of care, beginning with complete clinical evaluation, to meet the needs of each patient at each stage of treatment. A comprehensive system of patient services provides flexible treatment options with high quality medical resources to meet a wide variety of needs. The hospitals direction for the future includes a strong commitment to quality healthcare, community engagement and continued support. For more information, visit www.squh.edu.om.

About Vocera
Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. Installed in more than 1,300 organizations worldwide, Vocera delivers secure, integrated and intelligent communication solutions that enable care teams to collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, in the right location, at the right time. Vocera solutions provide hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging, patient engagement tools, and integrated clinical workflow with EHRs, nurse call systems and physiological monitors. These solutions help improve operational efficiency, quality of care, safety and satisfaction across the continuum of care. In addition to technology solutions, Vocera drives thought leadership and new standards in care to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences via the company’s research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network. Vocera is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter.

The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera® is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.
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Contact
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Jessica Donnelly
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Edelman
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323.202.1051
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[email protected]
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Posted 2.11.2016
Clearwater Proud to Announce Partnership with AEHIS & CHIME

February 9, 2016 — Clearwater Compliance is pleased to announce its continued partnership with the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS), and is proud to begin a new relationship with the College of Healthcare Information Management Executive (CHIME) as a partner in 2016.

Clearwater looks forward to developing and providing educational events and resources that are exclusive to members ofAEHIS and CHIME. Clearwater was named a founding premiere member of AEHIS in 2014, a collaboration that expands learning opportunities for leaders in healthcare IT security. Through this affiliation, Clearwater has hosted a series of educational webinars on topics ranging from regulatory requirements and risk management program growth, to best practices in BA management and in-depth explorations of HIPAA security evaluations and risk analyses.

Clearwater CEO Bob Chaput was also recently appointed to a three-year term on the AEHIS Board.

CHIME, the professional organization for Chief Information Officers and other senior health care IT leaders, enables its members and business partners to collaborate, exchange ideas, develop professionally, and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve.

Backed by CHIME, AEHIS launched in 2014 to offer top-ranking information security leaders professional development and networking opportunities. Members can access educational resources and support for addressing key industry-specific privacy and security issues.

Education is a priority at Clearwater, which, in addition to delivering top-rated cybersecurity and compliance software and services, offers a variety of resources to support healthcare information compliance, security, and risk management efforts in organizations of all sizes. You can learn more about our solutions here.

About Clearwater Compliance
Clearwater Compliance helps healthcare organizations ensure patient safety and improve the quality of care by safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity and availability of protected health information (PHI). They have assisted more than 400 customers to operationalize and mature their information privacy, security, compliance and information risk management programs. And in the process, they are raising the bar for safeguarding PHI, protecting millions of Americans and driving real value for the organizations we support and the healthcare industry at large. To learn more about Clearwater Compliance visit clearwatercompliance.com.

Posted 2.9.2016
Introducing Halo Pronto™, the Healthcare Industry’s First-Ever Enterprise-Wide Scheduling & Messaging System
CINCINNATI, OH – February 9, 2016 — The newest feature for Doc Halo’s clinical communication platform is a game-changer for healthcare. Say goodbye to out-of-date paper schedules and unreliable pagers.

Halo Pronto™, the industry’s first-ever enterprise-wide scheduling and messaging system, is now available as part of the Halo Mobile Health Platform. Within the new module, clinical providers will be able to:
- Access enterprise-wide schedules with up-to-the-minute accuracy.
- Instantly find on-call providers anywhere in the health system and message them immediately.
- Activate critical-care teams (Code, STEMI and Stroke teams) within seconds.
- Create customized clinical teams for care coordination.
Clinicians will access Halo Pronto™ teams and schedules from their smartphones. Administrators can input and instantly update schedules through an intuitive web console.

Why have systemwide scheduling tools eluded the healthcare industry until now? Healthcare providers often serve several functions at once, making it nearly impossible to automate healthcare scheduling using a tool designed for another industry.

“This revolutionary technology will coordinate care by connecting healthcare providers in ways never before possible,” notes Jose Barreau, MD, CEO of Doc Halo. “Halo Pronto™ saves time in a setting where time is critical, and this will ultimately save lives.”

Doc Halo will be unveiling Halo Pronto™ at the HIMSS 2016 conference in Las Vegas, Feb. 29 – Mar. 4. A media event is scheduled for 2 pm March 2 in the Doc Halo Booth 661. Appointments are available for individual demonstrations at HIMSS and before the conference. Click here to request an appointment.

About Doc Halo
Doc Halo’s Mobile Health Platform is transforming patient care by streamlining real-time communication and coordinating care between clinical providers. The mobile app and online console provide secure, HIPAA-compliant texting for the safe transmission of protected patient information. Designed around three key pillars—secure communication, care coordination and systems integration—the platform is leading the industry in workflow innovation. With exclusive focus on clinical communication, Doc Halo has customized communication solutions for some of the most prestigious healthcare organizations in the country.
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Contact
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Marnie Hayutin
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Marketing Director, Doc Halo
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513.929.1922
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513.310.5858
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[email protected]
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www.dochalo.com
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Posted 2.9.2016
Vocera Names Kathy English as Vice President of Marketing
New Marketing Leader Brings Clinical Healthcare Experience & Strong Technology Background

SAN JOSE, CA – February 4, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading mobile healthcare communications company, announced today the appointment of Kathy Doub English as its Vice President of Marketing.

English, who started her career as a critical care nurse before turning to technology marketing, has more than 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare, product management and solution marketing. Her nursing path altered after seeing how breakdowns in communication put her patients, fellow clinicians and hospital at risk. The inability for care teams to quickly connect and collaborate with critical information was the tipping point for English, setting her on a journey to find innovations that improve healthcare delivery.

“Finding ways to enhance patient, family and clinician experiences through better communication has been my passion since the beginning of my career. I am elated to renew that purpose at Vocera,” English said. “I have been monitoring Vocera’s success for several years, and I am impressed with the company’s human-centered approach to developing healthcare technology.”

English joins Vocera from Cisco Systems, where she served as the Global Senior Director of Industries and Services Marketing Communications and was responsible for monitoring and managing industry trends, amplifying solution value, leading content strategies, and aligning marketing programs to meet customers’ needs in innovative ways. In addition to a proven track record in global marketing and communications, English has more than seven years of experience in direct patient care and nursing management, earning a nursing degree from George Mason University.

“Kathy brings a powerful combination of clinical healthcare experience, innovation and marketing leadership to Vocera. As a nurse and someone who has walked in the shoes of Vocera’s customers, Kathy deeply understands the communication, collaboration and workflow challenges clinicians face,” said Brent Lang, President and CEO of Vocera. “She also understands the importance of building trusted relationships and connecting people to the right information at the right time. Kathy is an excellent addition to the team and will bring a tremendous amount of value to the company’s mission and message.”

About Vocera
Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. Installed in more than 1,300 organizations worldwide, Vocera delivers secure, integrated and intelligent communication solutions that enable care teams to collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, in the right location, at the right time. Vocera solutions provide hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging, patient engagement tools, and integrated clinical workflow with EHRs, nurse call systems and physiological monitors. These solutions help improve operational efficiency, quality of care, safety and satisfaction across the continuum of care. In addition to technology solutions, Vocera drives thought leadership and new standards in care to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences via the company’s research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network. Vocera is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter.

The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera® is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.
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Contact
Jessica Donnelly
Edelman
323.202.1051
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[email protected]
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Posted 2.4.2016
VCU Health Taps Power of Spok Solutions to Manage Communications for Major International Cycling Event

SPRINGFIELD, VA – February 4, 2016 (BUSINESS WIRE)–Spok, Inc. today announced that VCU Health handled all medical service communications for the 2015 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Road World Cycling Championships with the support of Spok’s critical communication solutions. All personnel and facilities remained continuously in contact throughout the nine-day event in Richmond, VA, thanks to Spok’s powerful, integrated clinical alerting, hospital contact center and secure text messaging solutions.

A qualifier for the Tour de France, the event drew 1,000 cyclists from 75 countries, and more than 640,000 spectators. Close to 500 international media outlets broadcast it live to a global audience of more than 300 million. VCU Health, in collaboration with Spok, provided uninterrupted, secure communications and a safe experience for all race participants and spectators.

“We had to make sure all locations, including outpatient clinics, remained fully connected throughout the event, no matter what happened,” said Don Smith, operations manager at VCU Health. “Mobile communications had to be flawless, even with predicted cellular capacity issues.”

A Spok customer since 1997, VCU Health has a robust communications infrastructure designed to enhance care coordination and staff efficiency. The team recently added the Spok Mobile® secure texting solution to enable reliable, secure communications for clinical staff throughout the extensive health system.

“Our Spok solutions have allowed us to provide a much better patient experience by decreasing call-handling times and streamlining scheduling and clinical communication,” said Smith. “We knew we could count on Spok to help us provide first-rate communications for the cycling championships.”

About Spok
Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield, VA, is proud to be a leader in critical communications for healthcare, government, public safety, and other industries. They deliver smart, reliable solutions to help protect the health, well-being, and safety of people around the globe. Organizations worldwide rely on Spok for workflow improvement, secure texting, paging services, contact center optimization, and public safety response. When communications matter, Spok delivers. Visit them at spok.com or find them on Twitter @Spoktweets.

Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Mobile is a trademark of Spok, Inc.

Contacts
Spok, Inc.
Jill Asby
952.230.5363
[email protected]

Posted 2.4.2016
Inside CHIME: ICYMI – Updates from CHIME’s Washington Team
2.4.16 by Leslie Krigstein, Vice President of Congressional Affairs – CHIME &
Mari Savickis, Vice President of Congressional Affairs – CHIME

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the nation’s capital. Regulators issued timelines for Meaningful Use hardship exemptions and CHIME offered lawmakers its thoughts on key health IT policies.

With the 2016 election season now officially underway, it can be easy to get swept up in the political horse race that’s dominating the airwaves. Back in Washington, D.C., however, several health IT issues remain on the front burner.

We try to keep you abreast of key developments every Monday in the Washington Debrief, but we know that you are extremely busy. So, from time to time, we’ll bring you this ICYMI column in Inside CHIME.

On the Meaningful Use front, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized deadlines for providers to complete Meaningful Use hardship exemption applications. As you may recall, lawmakers in late 2015 gave CMS greater authority to streamline the hardship exemption application process. CHIME developed this fact sheet to help guide members through the key deadlines.

CHIME also submitted comments last week to two Senate committees that are examining critical health IT issues:
- Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: Lead by Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), the committee on January 20 released a draft bill that aims to tackle some key health IT policies. CHIME commended the lawmakers for addressing such topics as patient matching, standards harmonization and EHR certification transparency. You can read CHIME’s formal comments here. The committee is expected to start work on refining the bill next week.
- Senate Finance Committee: A committee work group in late December advanced a policy options paper seeking input on ways to improve care for patients with chronic conditions. CHIME last week submitted its thoughts. We emphasized the critical role that health IT can play chronic care, and pointed out the importance of patient identification, interoperability, telemedicine, and more. You can read CHIME’s comments here.
We would especially like to thank members of the CHIME Policy Steering Committee for their tireless work in helping craft CHIME’s comments to lawmakers and regulators.

More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 10:
- The Value of Thinking Global – George McCulloch
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.1.16)
Posted 2.4.2016
Inside CHIME: The Value of Thinking Global
2.4.16 by George McCulloch, MA, MBA, FCHIME, CHCIO
CHIME Executive VP, Professional Development and Membership

CHIME has seen growing demand for its services internationally. Health IT leaders around the globe are facing many of the same challenges and CHIME is better positioned than any other organization to offer support to healthcare CIOs everywhere.

More than two decades ago, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives was founded on the belief that better information sharing could be a critical part of both an individual’s professional development and their organization’s success.

As we’ve seen over the past 24 years, we all benefit by learning from each other. The growth in and success of CHIME’s programming — CIO Forums, College LIVE, LEAD Forums, Focus Groups, and more — are a direct result of the desire to network and share ideas. Not only do we grow as professionals through information sharing, but we give our organizations a chance to improve.

CHIME has always been about sharing; locally, regionally and nationally. With the globalization of healthcare and healthcare IT, this need continues to grow.

Reimbursement in the United States now has payment and care delivery models that have been utilized for years elsewhere around the world. This is particularly true in the area of population health where other countries have nationalized healthcare delivery and are looking to use information to balance cost, quality and access.

Similarly, there a number of international standards are important to healthcare IT:
- ICD 10: Although a few months old in the United States, other countries have been managing under this classification system for care delivery for many years.
- HL7 as a standard for interoperability.
- ITIL as a model for managing the IT enterprise.
- Technology standards like ISO/IEC and COBIT.
The drive to develop CIO leadership, organizational skills, and learning to innovate is not just a phenomena in the United States. International healthcare IT executives are looking to do this as well. Over the last several years, CHIME has hosted and participated in education and leadership development events in a number of major countries. There’s growing interest from international CIOs in CHIME membership. By expanding these collaborative efforts, we can further elevate the role of health IT leaders worldwide and spread best practices that will ultimately improve patient care.

Please contact me for more information on CHIME’s international activities.

More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 10:
- ICYMI: Updates from CHIME’s Washington Team – Leslie Krigstein
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.1.16)
Posted 2.4.2016