Archive: January 2017

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• Inside CHIME: Passion to Improve Healthcare Runs Deep for New CHIME Board Chair

  

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

  

  Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC
  Chair, CHIME Board; CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics Tenet Healthcare

  Liz Johnson knew at a young age that she wanted to be in healthcare and make a difference in people’s lives. Johnson, CIO, acute care hospitals and applied clinical informatics, Tenet Healthcare, has done just that during her illustrious career. In this interview, the 2017 CHIME board chair talks about her career and goals for CHIME.

  What drew you to healthcare and nursing?

  When I was about 10 years old, I had a cut on my foot that developed an infection and was taken to Parkland Hospital [Dallas]. The emergency department was extraordinarily busy and intense; there had been a plane crash that night and the injured passengers were being pushed around on stretchers and in wheelchairs. It was very graphic, but I remember making up my mind at that point that I wanted to be like the doctors and nurses who were such a significant part of the scene. In spite of all the scurrying, the disorganization and the chaos, nurses and doctors were making a difference. They were helping these significantly injured people. That’s when I decided I was going to do something in the medical field. Yes, I was only 10, but I was taken in completely.

  How long did you work at the bedside?

  I worked in direct patient care for about 10 years before I moved into administrative roles. It was an amazing part of my career – interacting with patients and their families in what is often an extremely vulnerable event in their lives. Even though I no longer work directly with our patients and families, I am privileged to be able to provide the tools, technology, data and processes than enable our care providers to make better decisions in a timelier manner and improve outcomes and patient/family/caregiver engagement.

  Why did you make the transition to IT?

  A year after I finished nursing school, I went to work in a hospital that used Technicon Medical Information Systems, which was one of the first clinically-oriented healthcare information systems. Using Technicon in the late ‘70s meant green screens, pen lights and very rudimentary entries; clinicians were just getting started with clinical documentation. I began to think about how much better it would be for patients if we could document and have knowledge faster at the bedside.

  In 1989, I became the chief nursing officer at Dallas-Fort Worth Medical Center. It was the same year that they started using computer systems, but were still way behind on their implementation journey. After taking a close look at the hospital’s systems, I realized that 90 percent of everything we were doing was still on paper, not available, not shareable, certainly not real time. Within a year, I became the hospitals’ chief operating officer and found that the computing options in non-clinical and clinical ancillary departments were much more robust than were the ones being used by caregivers.

  In the mid 1990’s, I joined a consulting firm where I was able to use my clinical and operational background to help hospitals figure out how to use systems, technology and data. Right away, I established that I was not a technician. I wanted to explore how we could really start to use data in a meaningful way. At that time, organizations were just stockpiling data so that at some point we would be able to look at trends and determine what things worked and what things really didn’t. I realized that I had to get involved and really start to understand how data works, gain the technical knowledge, learn the lingo so that I could talk to clinicians about what they needed, translate it to technicians, infrastructure builders, and vendors as partners so that we can create systems that actually work.

  Along those lines, you’ve been a strong advocate for nursing informatics.

  The American Nursing Association describes informatics as a journey that begins with data elements that are turned into information, information that evolves into knowledge, and knowledge that evolves into wisdom. It’s about first cleansing incomplete or inaccurate data so that you can start to involve people that use it. Without creating trust with the data being used, we will never reach the stage where we trust the data to tell us something that is worth acting on. That trust is built by working closely with clinicians. A nurse informaticist is able to help shape what that actionable data looks like for the caregiver at the bedside.

  You’ve been extremely involved in industry groups. Why is that important to you?

  It’s probably a good combination of the following:

  • Wanting to learn from others
  • Enjoying the fact that others are learning from me
  • Sharing experiences, good/bad/ugly and discussing new ideas
  • An opportunity to unify the industry on what needs to happen with important health IT topics,
    establish a strong voice as an advocacy group
  • Making sure that nursing/clinicians have a voice in the journey in advancing clinical computing
  • Patients, families and clinicians matter to me. I stay involved to keep our voices heard

  You also have a strong passion for public policy.

  Yes! I want to make certain that our policy priorities stay focused on the right problems to solve. Currently, that means finding ways to support and advance interoperability. Things like data standards and a unique identifier are absolutely crucial in making true patient data interoperability happen. Continued advocacy helps to ensure that the issue resolution is pointed in the right direction even though resolution may feel as if it is moving very, very slowly.

  I have always believed that if it matters to you, stand up and be heard. If you wait and take no action, you really are in essence saying I accept whatever happens whether I agree or not.  If you take action, you will not always get exactly what you wanted, but you have offered input and often influenced the outcome.

  As you take over as chair of the CHIME board, what key issues do you think the organization needs to address this year?

  CHIME will have an unprecedented opportunity to represent our membership and industry with a new administration different from one that we have ever known. It is critical that we determine how to ensure a continuing focus on the power of technology and the use of data in the quest for improving outcomes for our patients. Challenges with managing interoperability and cybersecurity are daunting.  Our CIOs understand the real-life implications of those challenges and are best suited to create implementable solutions and CHIME is best suited to take that knowledge and translate it to initiatives, advocacy and education for both our members and the policymakers at the state and federal level.

  CHIME this year will announce a winner for National Patient ID Challenge. We have long known as leaders in the healthcare industry that the inability to identify patients with confidence across multiple venues of care and data exchange leads to medical errors, unnecessary use of healthcare resources and less than the outcomes our patients should expect. Providing a viable solution for identifying patients will provide our members and nation the first giant step toward resolution of this issue.

  CHIME will also focus on mentorship and diversity in 2017. Many of our members are well respected, seasoned professionals who have extraordinary wisdom to impart to their colleagues earlier on their CIO journeys. CHIME also recognizes that the diversity of our membership, as well as our emerging leaders, provides opportunities to offer forums to promote diversity and offer networking opportunities to benefit all.

  It’s going to be a busy year. How do you ensure that CHIME stays focused on these key initiatives?

  Given the number of potential changes, challenges, issues, opportunities, it would easy to become diluted and lose effectiveness. It is very important that the CHIME board, executive leadership and our members determine the most critical components that require our input and expertise, make the tough choices and stay the course. Surprises will arise and we will respond, but then we should return immediately to our core values: Our members and their needs; our industry, the opportunity for significant positive impact; our patients and better outcomes.

  Posted 1.5.2017

• Vocera Secures $14M Contract with US Department of Defense

  The Vocera Communication Platform is now the standard for US Army Medical Facilities

  SAN JOSE, CA – January, 4, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading healthcare communications company, announced that it was awarded a $14 million contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD), and deployments will begin in January 2017 in US Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) facilities around the world. This agreement with the DoD marks the largest contract in Vocera’s history. Under the terms of the contract, Vocera will equip care team members with its unique wireless, hands-free communication solution in 23 facilities across MEDCOM.

  “Vocera is proud to be the standard for wireless hospital communication for the US Army Medical Command world-wide,” said Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera. “In mission-critical environments such as hospitals, it’s vital for mobile workers to have reliable technology that connects them instantly with the right person or information at the right time to deliver high-quality care and ensure patient safety and satisfaction.”

  The DoD selected Vocera after extensive research was conducted by the Army showing several benefits of the communication solution. At Evans Army Community Hospital in Colorado, the hands-free technology helped improve operational efficiencies, and the emergency department reported a 50 percent decrease in the number of patients that left without being seen. In the family care ward, Vocera technology helped improve workflow, sped up nurse response times by 75 percent, and reduced patient falls by 81 percent. In the hospital’s primary care and specialty clinics, a time and motion study showed that nurses gained an additional 1.5 hours per day and primary care physicians gained 40 minutes after implementing the technology. These results demonstrated a strong return on investment, which the Army used to validate the purchase of the Vocera system across its medical facilities.

  In 2015, The Vocera Communication Platform was awarded an Authority to Operate (ATO) from the DoD based on compliance with the security and risk management requirements specified by the Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP). In addition, The Vocera Communication Badge is a hands-free communication system that meets all government requirements, is FIPS 140-2 compliant, and Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certified.

  Proven to reduce steps and save time, the Vocera Communication Platform enables mobile workers to connect with the right person, group and information instantly. It also integrates with more than 120 clinical systems, including electronic health records, nurse call systems, physiologic monitors, ventilators and real-time location systems.

  About Vocera
  Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. 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, physiologic monitors and ventilators. 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 led by President and CEO Brent Lang and is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Indiana, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Robert J. Zollars is the Chairman of the Board. 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.

  CONTACTS:

  Investors and Analysts: Sue Dooley Vocera 408.882.5971 [email protected]

  Media: Tara Stultz Amendola Communications 440.225.9595 [email protected]

  Posted 1.4.2017

• CynergisTek Grows Client Base Over 25 Percent in 2016

  To Meet Increasing Demand for Security, Privacy & Compliance Services by Hospitals & their Business Associates, Company Also Announces Nearly 50% Increase in Headcount

  AUSTIN, TX – January 4, 2017 — CynergisTek™, an authority in health information security, privacy and compliance, today announced exceptional growth in 2016, with a 27 percent increase in client projects. Notably, the company signed Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Baptist Health and Faith Regional Health Services; and expanded existing relationships with Asante Health System and Gibson Area Health System. The company also closed several deals with business associates in 2016, including Clearsense, DataFile Technologies and SI-BONE.

  To meet this increased demand for its specialized security, privacy and compliance services for healthcare, CynergisTek also announced a nearly 50 percent increase in its workforce in 2016, including two additions to its executive team: Clyde Hewitt joined as Vice President of Security Strategy where he provides direction for the company’s cybersecurity services; and Marti Arvin joined as Vice President of Audit Strategy where she supports the company’s clients in meeting evolving compliance and regulatory requirements. Each hire brings over 30 years of relevant experience, extending CynergisTek’s breadth of expertise.

  “We attribute the continued growth of our business to the fact that as threats to protected health information increase and become more sophisticated, the need for expert, third-party support is more clearly recognized by providers and their business associates,” said Mac McMillan, CEO of CynergisTek. “We expect this surge in demand for our comprehensive services will only continue in 2017 and are confident in our ability to meet it with the remarkable talent that we added to our team this year.”

  “Overall, CynergisTek was very insightful about helping us understand what was happening in the market and what we should have been thinking about. They built a good executive team with strong contacts in the industry and in regulatory agencies. CynergisTek had a lot of insight into where regulation was heading and what the healthcare-specific threats were.” – KLAS Security Advisory Services: Which Firms Are Helping Providers Sleep at Night? released in October 2016.

  In addition to achieving record growth this year, CynergisTek was recognized by KLAS in the Security Advisory Services report as the highest-rated firm healthcare providers rely on for security consulting and services.

  “We pride ourselves on the ability to meet the wide-ranging privacy and security needs of our clients and on delivering them the highest level of service, so having the right personnel in place is critical,” said Dr. Michael Mathews, COO of CynergisTek. “We attribute our success this year to the dedication of our entire team and look forward to continuing this momentum of strategic partnerships into the New Year and beyond.”

  About CynergisTek
  CynergisTek is a top-ranked cybersecurity and privacy consulting firm. The company offers solutions to help organizations measure privacy and security programs against regulatory requirements and assists in developing risk management best practices. Since 2004 the company has served as a partner to hundreds in the healthcare industry. CynergisTek is also dedicated to supporting and educating the industry by contributing to relevant associations such as HIMSS, AHIMA, HFMA, HCCA, AHIA, AHLA, IAPP and CHIME. The company has been named in numerous research reports as one of the top firms that provider organizations turn to for privacy and security, including the 2016 KLAS Security Advisory Services report, which rated CynergisTek for having the highest overall client satisfaction and impact on security preparedness. For more information visit www.cynergistek.com, call 512.402.8550 or email [email protected].

  Contact
  Chanel Benoit
  Senior Account Executive
  Aria Marketing
  617.332.9999 x209
  [email protected]

  Posted 1.4.2017

• KLAS Report on Population Health Management Companies Identifies Health Catalyst as Highest Rated Preliminary Vendor

  SALT LAKE CITY, UT – January 4, 2017 — The respected healthcare technology research firm KLAS has rated Health Catalyst the highest among early “preliminary data” population health companies profiled in its new report, “Population Health Management 2016: The Training Wheels Are Off,” released Jan. 3.

  Health Catalyst earned a preliminary performance score of 91.0 out of 100 in the report, which compared the products of fully-rated companies such as The Advisory Board, Cerner, Epic, IBM Watson Health, Optum and Philips Wellcentive, as well as those of preliminary vendors including Aetna, Caradigm, Conifer Health Solutions, McKesson and Medecision.  KLAS preliminary vendors had fewer than 15 unique provider organizations providing input to the research, while fully-rated vendors had 15 or more organizations responding.

  Health Catalyst also earned high ratings among preliminary vendors in 12 of 21 categories measuring assessments of its technologies and services.

  In creating the report, KLAS gathered feedback from 278 provider organizations to assess the performance of population health vendors. The KLAS study focused on asking participants to rate their vendors against two criteria: 1) the ease with which customers can establish and maintain data feeds and, 2) the quality of the resulting aggregated data. KLAS’ healthcare provider respondents rated Health Catalyst highly against both criteria.

  

  According to KLAS, “Health Catalyst customers praise them as being very flexible and a great partner to work with. Their solutions are scored highly in meeting the needs of clinicians at the point of care and in meeting the needs of care managers/coordinators and program administrators.”

  KLAS further commented that Health Catalyst customers “feel like they are on a journey with Health Catalyst and are not just tackling population health on their own. As one associate medical director said, ‘Health Catalyst is really interested in getting the work done and making our relationship mutually beneficial. They don’t get hung up at all on things other companies get hung up on.’ ”

  Additional high scores
  Additional specific capabilities tracked by KLAS included “vendor flexibility,” reflecting a company’s ability to be “responsive to customer needs and readily adapt to the latest requirements.” Health Catalyst scored a 9 out of 9 in that category as a preliminary data company. 

  Health Catalyst also earned high scores among KLAS preliminary vendors in the following evaluation categories:

  • “Likely to recommend” (8.9 out of 10)
  • “Overall satisfaction” (8.6 out of 10) and “forecasted overall satisfaction” (8.8 out of 10)
  • “Executive involvement” (8.6 out of 10)
  • “Overall product quality” (8.5 out of 10)
  • “Proactive service” (8.5 out of 10)
  • “Delivery of new technology” (8.4 out of 10)
  • “Ease of maintaining data feeds” (8.4 out of 10)
  • “Supports integration goals” (8.2 out of 10)
  • “Product has needed functionality” (8.1 out of 10)
  • “Meets clinicians’ needs at point of care” (8.0* out of 10)
  • “Quality of aggregated data” (7.9 out of 10)

  *Small sample size

  KLAS also asked respondents “yes/no” questions to evaluate their opinion of Health Catalyst in three areas:

  • 100% of respondents said Health Catalyst “keeps all promises”
  • 100% of respondents said Health Catalyst is part of their long-term plans
  • 100% of respondents said they would buy Health Catalyst again

  Health Catalyst’s Data Warehouse and Analytics platform – including more than 100 content-driven analytics applications – helps clients build the information foundation for value-based performance faster, more efficiently and more predictably. Health Catalyst Population Health applications help organizations better understand patterns and trends associated with high-cost patient populations. Integration of payer claims with clinical and patient experience data at the patient level helps organizations determine total cost of care and support a performance improvement agenda focused on the IHI Triple Aim of patient experience, health, and cost.

  “We appreciate the comprehensive research completed by KLAS and we are honored that their independent review highlighted our clients’ successes in utilizing our platform and applications for population health management,” said Dan Burton, CEO of Health Catalyst. “Our clients’ success and satisfaction is the fundamental way we measure our effectiveness.  We’re grateful to see third-party validation from KLAS that this is consistently occurring.”

  The report, Population Health Management 2016: The Training Wheels Are Off, is available at klasresearch.com/reports.

   

  About KLAS
  KLAS is a research firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by enabling providers to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data on software, services, medical equipment and infrastructure systems to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews. The research directly represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. Follow KLAS on Twitter at twitter.com/KLASresearch.

  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 70 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. For more information, visit healthcatalyst.com, and follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

   

  Contact
  Todd Stein
  Amendola Communications for Health Catalyst
  916.346.4213
  [email protected]

  Posted 1.4.2017