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Thomas Health System Consolidates Hospitals Under MEDITECH’s 6.1 EHR Platform
March 21, 2016 — With support from Parallon Technology Solutions, Thomas Health System (Charleston, WV) recently announced they’ll be implementing MEDITECH. Parallon, a collaborative partner, will host and implement MEDITECH’s 6.1 EHR at the 403-bed hospital system.
“After evaluating a number of EHR systems, it became clear that the best way to meet our strategic objectives was to combine MEDITECH’s new integrated platform with Parallon’s hosting, implementation and operational shared services for technology,” says Thomas Health System CEO Dan Lauffer in a recent press release.
Current MEDITECH customer Thomas Memorial Hospital falls under the umbrella of the larger health system, and will be joined by St. Francis Hospital (Charleston, WV) as part of the consolidation under one, single EHR platform.
Learn how MEDITECH’s state-of-the-art 6.1 EHR platform is ready to power your fully-integrated health network.
Posted 3.21.2016 -
Sectra Announces VNA Win in Connecticut
SHELTON, CT – March 21, 2016 — International medical imaging IT company Sectra (STO: SECT B) announces that Hartford HealthCare (HHC) has entered into a multi-year contract to implement Sectra’s vendor neutral archive (VNA) for the handling of patient imaging throughout the healthcare system. The common archiving platform will promote sharing of images between the hospitals, with the goal of driving efficiencies and improving patient care.
Hartford HealthCare encompasses five acute care hospitals, as well as outpatient services, rehabilitation, and behavioral health networks for residents of Central Connecticut. The initial VNA implementation will encompass integration to radiology, cardiology, and the Epic EMR and will communicate with PACS from four different vendors within the network. HHC will host the archive in its existing virtual environments and data centers. At its onset, the archive will manage 800,000 annual studies and will be the platform for true enterprise image management.
About Sectra VNA
Sectra VNA supports a patient-centered workflow by enabling capture, storage and access to virtually any image and multi-media. The solution offers strong total cost of ownership. Sectra VNA is both storage-vendor agnostic and workflow vendor independent, enabling efficient communication with surrounding systems.About Sectra
With more than 20 years in the business, Sectra develops and sells IT systems and services for radiology, pathology, women’s health and orthopaedics. More than 1,700 hospitals, clinics and imaging centers worldwide use the systems daily, making Sectra one of the world-leading companies for handling digital images. For more information, visit www.sectra.comAbout Hartford HealthCare
Hartford HealthCare (HHC) is Connecticut’s most comprehensive health care network. Its fully integrated health care system includes a tertiary-care teaching hospital, an acute-care community teaching hospital, an acute-care hospital and trauma center, two community hospitals, the state’s most extensive behavioral health services network, a statewide clinical laboratory system, a large primary care physician practice group, a regional home care system, an array of senior care services, and a large physical therapy rehabilitation network. For more information, visit www.hartfordhealthcare.orgContact
Andrea Sowitch, Vice President of Marketing
Sectra North America
[email protected]
203.925.0899 ext 268Posted 3.21.2016 -
Inside CHIME: As Cyber Threats Grow, Industry Must Pull Together
3.17.16 by Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIMECHIME leaders are spreading the word about the immense cybersecurity challenges facing healthcare and the need for all segments of the industry to develop strategies for protecting patient information.
Healthcare is ground zero for cyberattacks. As CHIME members know all too well, the threats are getting more sophisticated and more frequent.
“Your system is under attack right now,” CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell warned during a session at this week’s American College of Healthcare Executives 2016 Congress. “Think about all of the different people who have access to your network and the different ways that they can get in.”
Branzell put the issue into context for ACHE attendees, most of whom are not intimately involved with health IT. Financial identification generally fetches $1-$3 on the black market, he said, whereas a medical ID is worth $7-$10. A serious breach, he said, could be a bankruptcy event for a hospital or health system that doesn’t have the right risk mitigation policy in place.
From mobile devices to insurance, executives and boards must take a more active role in spelling out a hospital’s policies procedures. There needs to be a board-level risk management strategy to address cybersecurity, Branzell said. By the same token, it is incumbent on CIOs and CISOs to proactively engage leadership on the seriousness of the issue.
It is also important that the industry ramp up efforts to share information and best practices, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. To that end, the Department of Health and Human Services yesterday named members to a task force mandated by the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015. CHIME board members David Finn, health information technology officer at Symantec Corp., and Theresa Meadows, R.N., vice president and CIO at Cook Children’s Health Care System were appointed to the 21-member panel. Over the course of the year, the task force analyze how other industries are addressing cybersecurity. The task force is also charged with assessing barriers that healthcare organizations face in protecting against cyberattacks and developing a plan for sharing information across the industry and with the government. A report is due to Congress in the next year.
“The cyber threat landscape has never been more dangerous, but that doesn’t mean we stop sharing information,” Finn said. “It means we have to find better, more secure ways of doing that. That’s my hope, not only as someone involved in the industry for almost 30 years and as a security professional, but as a patient.”
It’s clear, Finn added, that “government can’t solve this along, nor can the private sector. It is absolutely critical to have collaboration in addressing cybersecurity across all sectors. Data breaches, ransomware, hacks and other threats negatively impact everyone and everyone must come together to solve those problems.”
More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 13:
- National Patient ID Challenge Picks Up Steam – Matthew Weinstock
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (3.14.16)
Posted 3.17.2016 -
Inside CHIME: National Patient ID Challenge Picks Up Steam
3.17.16 by Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIMESince its launch two months ago, nearly 230 innovators have signed onto the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust’s National Patient ID Challenge.
It’s almost two months to the day since CHIME and HeroX officially kicked off the National Patient ID Challenge at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Since then, there’s been a considerable amount of activity. Already, 230 innovators from 28 countries have signed up for the challenge.
CHIME Board Chair Marc Probst highlighted the challenge during his opening remarks at the CHIME-HIMSS CIO Forum in Las Vegas last month, saying it was a “bold step” for the organization. “A national patient ID will help save lives and improve care in the future,” Probst told the gathering of more than 700 health IT leaders. “This is a momentous step for us to take as an organization. We should all be proud of what CHIME is doing.”
The challenge has also spurred more public conversation on the importance of accurate patient identification and patient matching, including coverage in such media outlets as InformationWeek, Stat News, HealthLeaders, Modern Healthcare and more. CHIME is partnering with HealthSystemCIO for a March 24 webinar on the challenge and the issue of patient identification.
So what’s next? CHIME and HeroX are in the process of building a judging panel as the challenge moves along with the Concept Blitz phase. The goal during this early stage is to get as many innovators as possible to submit their creative ideas without having to present a full solution just yet. Winners of the Concept Blitz round will be named in early May. After that, innovators can begin to flesh out their final designs, which are due by November 10. A full timeline can be seen here.
We’ll have more updates in Inside CHIME throughout the year, in the meantime, visit the National Patient ID Challenge landing page for more information.
More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 13:
- As Cyber Threats Grow, Industry Must Pull Together – Matthew Weinstock
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (3.14.16)
Posted 3.17.2016 -
CHIME Board Members Named to Federal Cybersecurity Task Force
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 16, 2015 – College of Healthcare Information Management Executives board members David Finn and Theresa Meadows, R.N., today were appointed to serve on the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force. The 21-person task force is mandated by the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015.
Finn is health information technology officer at Symantec Corp. Meadows is senior vice president and chief information officer at Cook Children’s Health Care System, Fort Worth, Texas.
“We are honored that HHS selected two highly qualified members of the CHIME board to serve on this important task force,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell. “David brings a wealth of knowledge to the table and will be able to share insights from a broad industry perspective. Theresa is one of the most forward-thinking CIOs in the industry. She has more than 20 years of experience facilitating change across large healthcare enterprises. Both David and Theresa understand the immense challenges healthcare organizations face in protecting patient data and minimizing the risk of a cyberattack. They are great additions to the task force.”
CHIME has been at the forefront of advancing best practices in cybersecurity across the industry. In 2014, CHIME launched the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security in order to give CIOs and chief information security officers an avenue for raising the bar on cybersecurity. CHIME has also been a strong advocate for developing healthcare-specific policies and guidelines at the federal level.
Among other things, the HHS tasked force is charged with analyzing the unique challenges and barriers to cybersecurity in healthcare. It will also study how other industries are protecting data. The task force must develop a plan for sharing information among healthcare stakeholders, including the federal government, and is scheduled to issue a report to Congress in the next year.
“The government cannot solve this problem alone, nor can the private sector,” Finn said. “It is absolutely critical to have collaboration in addressing cybersecurity across all sectors. Data breaches, ransomware, hacks and other threats negatively impact everyone and everyone must come together to solve those problems.”
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 1,800 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.Contact
Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.249.8917
[email protected]Posted 3.16.2016 -
Impact Advisors Names New Vice President
Michael Nutter Promoted to Senior Executive Position Leading Culture & Engagement
CHICAGO, IL – March 16, 2016 — Impact Advisors, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare information technology services, announced today that Michael Nutter has been promoted to Vice President. Nutter joined Impact Advisors in 2011 as the Director of Firm Culture and Associate Satisfaction.
As a member of the senior leadership team, Nutter will continue to enhance and sustain the firm’s culture by focusing on the foundational elements of the organization’s mission, vision, values and guiding principles as they relate to inspiring employee engagement and associate satisfaction. Nutter will also be responsible for oversight in several additional areas, including associate training and development, coaching program advancement, as well as leadership development and community support.
“We couldn’t be more excited to add Michael to our leadership team,” said Andy Smith, President and Co-Founder. “Creating a culture of caring is one of our top priorities and Michael has a unique ability to inspire and motivate our Associates and has developed and implemented a number of employee engagement initiatives which have contributed to our success over the last several years.”
Nutter has more than 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry, 25 of which have been spent in healthcare information technology. Prior to joining Impact Advisors, Nutter spent 20 years in various management roles at a large, multi-campus health system in Florida. He has expertise in corporate communications, training strategies and employee engagement and over the years has created many employee engagement initiatives that have led to increased employee satisfaction at the firm. Impact Advisors has earned a number of workplace awards under Nutter’s leadership including Modern Healthcare’s “Best Places to Work in Healthcare,” Consulting magazine’s “Best Small Firms to Work For,” Becker’s Healthcare “150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare” and Achiever’s “ 50 Most Engaged Workplaces.”
Nutter graduated with a Master of Health Services Administration from Xavier University, a Master’s Certificate in IT Project Management from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Charleston. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
About Impact Advisors, LLC
Impact Advisors is a nationally recognized healthcare information technology consulting firm that is solving some of the toughest challenges in the industry by delivering strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Their comprehensive suite of patient access, clinical and revenue cycle services span the lifecycle of their clients’ needs. Their experienced team has a powerful combination of clinical, revenue, operations, consulting, and IT experience. The firm has earned a number of prestigious industry and workplace awards including Best in KLAS® for eight consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty, as well as “best place to work” awards from: Modern Healthcare, Consulting Magazine, Becker’s Hospital Review and Achievers. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com.Posted 3.16.2016 -
Healthcare Coalition Calls for Shortened Meaningful Use Reporting Period
Statement by CHIME Board Chair Marc Probst and CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 15, 2015 –
“A loud chorus of healthcare organizations today called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to act quickly and adopt a 90-day reporting period in 2016 for the Meaningful Use program. Doing so would build continuity with the shortened reporting period that the agency implemented in 2015. The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives has been a leading advocate for a 90-day reporting period.
“Healthcare providers are firmly committed to using information technology to transform the delivery system. Changes made to the Meaningful Use program last year provided welcomed relief from burdensome regulatory requirements. Providers now are awaiting further changes to the program spurred by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. However, the current regulatory scheme still calls for a 365-day reporting period. Until the final MACRA rules are issued, providers will be greatly challenged to meet the reporting requirements. Maintaining 365-day reporting period also will force providers to pull resources away from using health IT to innovate care processes and workflows. Additionally, it will limit the amount of time providers and vendors could spend on improving interoperability and information exchange.
“We look forward to working with CMS in continuing to refine the Meaningful Use program and advance health IT solutions that help us achieve the Triple Aim.”
Click here to see a copy of the letter sent to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt.
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 1,800 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.Contact
Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.249.8917
[email protected]Posted 3.15.2016 -
Impact Advisors’ Mike Hannon Named to Consulting Magazine’s “Rising Stars of the Profession” List
Senior Advisor recognized as a consulting “up-and-comer”
Chicago, IL – March 10, 2016 — Impact Advisors, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare information technology services, announced today that Senior Advisor Mike Hannon was named one of Consulting magazine’s “Rising Stars of the Profession: Thirty Five Under 35.” Hannon was recognized in the “Excellence in Healthcare” category.
Consulting magazine’s “Rising Stars of the Profession: Thirty Five Under 35” is an annual list honoring 35 young up-and-comers in the consulting profession under the age of 35. The magazine sought consultants who are redefining and changing the industry in profound ways. The “Rising Stars of the Profession” are recognized for excellence in the following areas: Leadership, Client Service, Strategy Consulting, Healthcare, Financial Services, High Tech, Retail, Information Technology and Human Resources. This year’s honorees will be recognized by Consulting magazine at a gala awards dinner at the W Chicago City Center on Thursday, April 14.
“I am honored to be recognized among some of the profession’s brightest young individuals,” said Hannon. “I find working as a healthcare IT consultant very rewarding because I can see the impact of what we do at the patient level. I want to thank my Impact Advisors leadership and mentors as this wouldn’t be possible without their support.”
Hannon has more than 10 years of experience in the healthcare IT industry. He owes much of his success to his ability to tackle challenges head on and respond quickly to changing client needs. He has a successful track record supporting large-scale, complex projects that integrate processes with technology. For example, last year Hannon successfully managed the training logistics for 3,000 end-users in preparation for a big bang EHR go-live. His breadth of IT experience includes a variety of projects focused on strategic advisory services, system implementation and training.
To see the full list of winners and read about their accomplishments, view the article from the March issue of Consulting magazine here: www.consultingmag.com/the-magazine.
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 eight consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty and Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com.Posted 3.10.2016 -
Spok Takes Healthcare Communications Conference on the Road
SPRINGFIELD, VA – March 8, 2016 — Spok’s annual healthcare communications conference is offering attendees something fresh this year. Instead of one event, Connect 16 will be a series of day-long programs held in six locations around the country, with the theme of “On the Road: Continuing the Conversation.” Like the annual gathering, the Connect 16 events will provide a lively forum for healthcare leaders and industry experts to share innovative ideas and discuss trends in healthcare communications.
“We decided to hold regional conferences this year in an effort to bring the best of our annual event to more people,” said Vincent D. Kelly, chief executive officer of Spok Holdings, Inc. “These one-day gatherings will offer all the key elements from our national event, including industry trend sessions, case studies, networking, and opportunities to learn more about Spok’s plans for the future.”
Each event will feature sessions on strategic secure text messaging, how to create and maintain a mobile program, the future of the contact center, and a local case study. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet with Spok staff and partners, explore new communication options, and discuss emerging trends with industry colleagues.
“Our annual conference has always been a great way for our customers to network with one another and learn about potential solutions to their communications challenges,” said Kelly. “We hope these events will provide a more accessible and convenient option for many of them.”
The Connect 16 regional conferences will kick off in Dallas on March 24, move to Boston and New York in May, followed by Chicago in September, San Francisco in October, and Atlanta in December. For a detailed schedule and registration options, visit http://www.spok.com/Connect.
Updates from the conferences will be posted to Spok’s blog and Twitter feed.
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.
Media Inquiries
Jill Asby
+1.952.230.5363
[email protected]Posted 3.8.2016 -
Allscripts Signs Multi-Year Agreement with AssistRx for Automated Patient Enrollment App
First-of-its-kind app integrates with EHRs & speeds time totherapy by automating enrollment process for manufacturer-sponsored specialty therapy programs
Orlando, FL – March 8, 2016 — Providers seeking to enroll patients more quickly in specialty drug programs offered by pharma and biotech manufacturers may now do so directly from their EHRs, AssistRx announced today. Allscripts, whose client reach extends across 180,000 physicians and 45,000 physician offices, will be the first EHR vendor to offer the iAssist EHR-integrated app, making it available across Allscripts’ three largest ambulatory e-Prescribing and EHR platforms in the US.
To date, iAssist has been available as a standalone e-Prescribing platform, sitting side by side with the provider’s EHR. Through this market leading partnership, Allscripts and AssistRx intend to enable a holistic set of specialty therapy services offered by pharmaceutical manufacturers directly from within a provider’s EHR, the primary clinical HIT tool in use by the vast majority of US-based physicians.
“In our drive to improve patient care by speeding time-to-therapy, integration with widely-used EHRs like Allscripts is the logical next step,” said Edward Hensley, AssistRx Chief Commercial Officer. “We expect this first-in-class integration will completely transform the efforts of tens of thousands of physicians to enroll their patients in much needed specialty therapy programs designed to support patient access and therapy adherence, which are essential objectives of today’s value-based care models.”
Allscripts agreement breaks new ground for biotech
Allscripts is one of the top market share players in the ambulatory EHR market. It is the first vendor to sign a multi-year agreement with AssistRx for the integrated iAssist app, a valuable partnership that will significantly enable broader patient access to biotech manufacturer client programs and services for specialty medications. Allscripts plans to make the iAssist app available to its entire client base of ePrescribe, Professional and Touchworks users in the US.The agreement is a market first for a pharmaceutical space that has long been challenged by gaining access to the prescriber in support of connecting more patients more quickly to prescribed specialty therapies. The iAssist platform covers all specialty therapy areas and its EHR-integrated app has been designed with flexibility in mind to easily integrate with any EHR to enable efficient workflow for EHR users.
Media and other parties interested in learning more about the iAssist EHR-integrated app for specialty drug program enrollment may contact Annie Bolduc, Marketing and Communications Specialist at [email protected].
About AssistRx
Launched in 2009 by veteran entrepreneurs in the specialty pharmaceutical industry, including founders of one of the country’s first specialty pharmacies and one of the earliest specialty focused technology solutions organizations, AssistRx supports providers in expediting patient access to prescribed specialty therapies. The company’s iAssist platform integrates with all EHRs or works as a standalone solution to automate much of the manual, reactive work involved in enrolling patients in biotech manufacturer- sponsored programs and services for specialty therapies. AssistRx through its iAssist platform currently works with some of the largest pharma and biotech manufactures in the world. For more information, visit www.assistrx.com.Media Contact
Stephanie Janard
Amendola Communications
for AssistRx
828.288.2831
[email protected]Posted 3.8.2016 -
Partners HealthCare and Health Catalyst Honored as Recipients of the 2016 Microsoft Health Innovation Awards
Solution recognized for delivering longitudinal views of the cost of a complete healthcare episode
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — March 2, 2016 — Health Catalyst and Partners HealthCare today announced they have been named recipients of Microsoft Corp.’s 2016 Health Innovation Awards. The organizations won the “Reinventing Productivity and Business Processes” category, which evaluates solutions that transform care delivery or population health by connecting clinicians and staff to new processes and insights.
The award recognizes Partners and Health Catalyst for devising and deploying a comprehensive solution that delivers both big-picture and detailed views into the cost and utilization of all aspects of care related to a particular clinical event, whether the care is delivered within Partners or outside of it.
Health Catalyst’s Late Binding™ enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and advanced analytics applications enable the health system to evaluate and compare clinical and financial performance for 48 episodes of longitudinal, cross-continuum care defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative.
“Partners is committed to deploying the most progressive technological and analytic capabilities available in order to improve the care we deliver to our patents and to deliver that care in the most cost effective manner possible,” said Dr. Tim Ferris, Senior Vice President for Population Health Management at Partners HealthCare. “Our partnership with Health Catalyst has enabled us to take a big leap forward on both fronts. “
Dan Burton, CEO of Health Catalyst, commented, “Partners HealthCare is a pioneer in the drive to use new technologies and processes to improve the quality and cost of healthcare. Its leaders understand that improving care requires a comprehensive picture of all of the care that a patient receives for a particular condition—whether the care is delivered in the hospital, in the rehab center, or by a home health provider. By embracing data warehousing and analytics, Partners has the insight it needs to manage its financial accountability for these longitudinal episodes of care. Working with such a progressive organization has been and continues to be a privilege.”
Partners’ EDW incorporates data from disparate sources across the care continuum—including electronic health records, clinical and financial systems, payer systems, enterprise master patient indexes and other external sources—into an SQL Server database environment. The EDW has experienced rapid adoption throughout the Partners enterprise, with 1,216,000 database queries during the first 10 months of use alone.
“The health industry is undergoing a seismic shift in which intelligent technologies are helping organizations, communities and individuals improve care by helping them better understand and share information,” said Laura Wallace, vice president, Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft. “Partners HealthCare and Health Catalyst are advancing the goals of better-coordinated, lower-cost care through their pioneering use of Microsoft devices, platforms and cloud services.”
The Microsoft Health Innovation Awards, which were announced at the 2016 HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas, recognizes health organizations and their technology solution partners for using Microsoft devices and services in innovative ways that help enhance care delivery for individuals and communities, connect care teams with consumers, deliver data-driven insights to clinicians, and streamline clinical and business processes. The 2016 winners are transforming the industry by creating breakthrough solutions that empower health and life sciences organizations, while meeting global, local and industry-specific compliance and security standards. An esteemed panel of industry experts selected this year’s winners based on how their innovation represents a forward-thinking development or implementation of a solution that is delivering groundbreaking results and producing better health outcomes for more people.
About Partners HealthCare
Partners HealthCare is an integrated health system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to its two academic medical centers, the Partners system includes community and specialty hospitals, a managed care organization, community health centers, a physician network, home health and long-term care services, and other health care entities. Partners HealthCare is committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. Partners is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations and a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Partners HealthCare is a non-profit organization.About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a mission-driven data warehousing, analytics and outcomes-improvement 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 65 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 3.7.2016 -
Inside CHIME: CIO Forum Puts Spotlight on Transformation
3.3.16 by Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIMESpeakers at the CHIME-HIMSS CIO Forum emphasized the need for health IT executives to become strategic leaders within their organizations.
Carey Lohrenz knows a thing or two about being a transformative leader.
When she joined the Navy in the early 1990s, Lohrenz was determined to earn her wings — like her father, who served as a Marine Corps pilot, and her brother, a Navy pilot. Although federal law banned women from flying combat vehicles, Lohrenz still set her eyes to the sky. She achieved stellar marks in her training academy and progressed to the highest levels permissible by DoD policy. She put herself in position to be ready if the glass ceiling shattered, which it did in 1993 when Congress finally lifted the ban on women in combat. Lohrenz entered the history books and became the Navy’s first female F-14 Tomcat fighter pilot.
As a Tomcat pilot, Lohrenz put her body and mind through harrowing paces. Taking off from an aircraft carrier, F-14s go from zero to 180 miles per hour in under two seconds. Blood rushes from your brain and settles in the lower half of your body. The pressure is so fierce that it feels like your toenails are going to be ripped off. And then there’s the landing; trying to put a $45-million aircraft down on a ship that is being tossed by high seas.
So, when Lohrenz talks about responding to pressure and charting a path to success, she commands attention.
“If you lose sight, you lose the fight,” she said during her closing keynote at the CHIME-HIMSS CIO Forum in Las Vegas, urging the 700-plus health IT leaders in attendance to stay focused on what’s important and not to get derailed by ancillary issues. “As the world is changing, your main purpose as a leader is to understand what success looks like.”
That was the overarching message during the daylong event. The other speakers — Thomas Goetz, Jack Uldrich and Gary Loveman (we previewed Loveman’s remarks in this Inside CHIME column) — all detailed how IT is rapidly changing the healthcare landscape and emphasized that CIOs and other health IT leaders must be the drivers. In fact, that’s how CHIME Board Chair Marc Probst kicked off the day, saying that CIOs must take a more active and strategic role in their organizations.
Probst highlighted a couple of initiatives that have thrust CHIME onto the national scene and show how CIOs can be more transformative leaders. CHIME is leading the charge to find a solution for ensuring accurate patient identification. And, CHIME is embarking on a partnership with OpenNotes to improve patient access to their medical records. Both of these initiatives, Probst said, are representative of CHIME’s vision statement — Exceptional Leaders Transforming Healthcare.
More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 12:
- Transforming Healthcare Through Information Exchange – Russ Branzell
Posted 3.3.2016