• NHS England CIO William Smart to Serve on CHIME Board

    ANN ARBOR, MI, Jan. 10, 2018 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Board of Trustees has selected William Smart, CIO of National Health Service (NHS) England, to represent CHIME’s international members. In this advisory role, he will represent CIOs and senior healthcare IT executives from more than 50 countries. The board also named Shafiq Rab, senior vice president and CIO of Rush University Medical School in Chicago, chair-elect.

    “It is a privilege to have Will join the CHIME board,” said Russell Branzell, president and CEO of CHIME. “Will and NHS England aren’t just talking about transformational leadership; they are showing the healthcare IT world what it will look like through the NHS Digital Academy. He has proven to be a powerful advocate for England’s CIOs and chief clinical information officers, and his dedication and strategic vision will be huge assets as we set CHIME’s course for 2018.”

    Smart assumed the role of CIO England in 2016 after six years as the CIO of Royal Free London NHS Trust Foundation. As CIO of NHS England, he champions the use of digital technology to advance healthcare and provides strategic leadership to a health system that is responsible for the provision of services across England. He has been active with the NHS Digital Academy, an ambitious educational initiative designed to promote digital innovation and train health leaders. CHIME supports the initiative, which launched in August.

    Smart replaces Jan-Eric Slot, CIO at Bernhoven Hospital in Cologne, Germany, who joined the board in 2016. During Slot’s tenure, international membership burgeoned. Currently, CHIME’s international membership exceeds 400.

    “Jan-Eric’s perspective as a CIO from Europe helped us recognize the commonalities healthcare IT professionals share regardless of nationality,” Branzell said. “Our members’ health systems may differ but we all wrestle with challenges like cyber threats, interoperability and educating C-suite leadership. We have a lot we can learn from each other, and we thank Jan-Eric and all our other board members for so generously sharing their time and knowledge.”

    Smart began his term on Jan. 1.

     

    About CHIME

    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,500 members in 51 countries 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
    Candace Stuart
    Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
    734.665.0000
    [email protected]

    Posted 1.10.2018

  • Allied Bone and Joint Selects Novarad PACS

    Medical software company to provide software for Indiana orthopedic clinic

    SOUTH BEND, IN, – January 9, 2018 –  Novarad Corporation, a leader in the development of medical imaging software, has recently entered into contract with Allied Bone and Joint (ABJ), a division of Allied Physicians of Michiana, LLC.

    “We take pride in helping Allied Bone and Joint serve more and more patients in the Michiana and Plymouth areas of Indiana with the highest quality of orthopedic care,” Fred Trovato, Global Senior Vice President of Sales at Novarad said.

    Allied Bone and Joint opened its first location eight years ago in South Bend, Indiana. According to Allied Physicians of Michiana, with multiple providers specializing in orthopedics and podiatry ABJ specializes in joint replacement, arthroscopy and peripheral nerve decompression services as well as general orthopedics and foot care. Assessment and treatment for osteoporosis and on-site x-ray is also available.

    Novarad offers PACS, RIS, cardiology, orthopedic, and mammography systems and has more than 1000 installations worldwide. To learn more about Novarad, follow the company on Twitter @NovaradCorp, or visit www.novarad.net.

    # # #

    Founded by a radiologist over 20 years ago, Novarad has demonstrated Best in KLAS expertise in the three phases of enterprise imaging—viewing, workflow, and storage—which allows it to customize meaningful enterprise imaging solutions to fit the unique needs of each healthcare professional. Providing both easily deployed modular products and fully customizable enterprise imaging solutions, the company has installed over 1000 systems globally with KLAS-confirmed, market-leading retention rates. The company is best known for product functionality and constant development; its products have a reputation for being easy to learn and use, yet feature-rich for even the most advanced users. Visit Novarad.net to learn more.

    Media Contact:

    Kristi Alvarado, Media Relations Contact at Novarad | 801.642.1001 | [email protected]

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • Five Orion Health Executives and Partners to Present at HIMSS 2018 Conference

    Interoperability, public cloud, health information exchange among session topics to be covered at HIT industry’s premier event

    SCOTTSDALE, AZ – January 9, 2018 – Orion Health, a leading provider of interoperability, population health management and precision medicine solutions, today announced that it will be represented in five speaking sessions at HIMSS18, the health information technology industry’s leading annual conference.

    Executives from Orion Health and two partner organizations will share their expertise on a variety of topics, including improving quality outcomes through health information technology, achieving shared savings for accountable care organizations (ACOs), interoperability and health information exchange.

    Scheduled to speak on behalf of Orion Health are Steve Crusenberry, SVP, SaaS Product and Cloud Operations, David Hay, M.D., product strategist, and Kevin Ross, Ph.D., research director of Precision Driven Health, a multi-million-dollar research partnership aimed at improving health outcomes through data science. Crusenberry will share best practices for cloud migration, Hay will discuss a FHIR-enabled ecosystem for health information sharing, while Ross will detail how healthcare organizations can empower data-driven health.

    Additionally, two Orion Health customers—Innovation Care Partners and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre—will share accomplishments they have realized due to their implementations of Orion Health’s solutions. Executives from Innovation Care Partners, a clinically integrated network and ACO, will describe how the ACO has leveraged information technology to earn shared savings payments from Medicare for the last three years as a result of strong performance in quality and efficiency. Leaders of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a 1,300-bed, multisite facility, will conduct a HIMSS poster session about developing an electronic documentation system to better coordinate patient care across multiple locations.

    “Orion Health is proud to showcase our technology and our customers’ impressive achievements during these five sessions at HIMSS18,” said Terry Macaleer, president, Orion Health, U.S. “We look forward to sharing real-world examples of how leading healthcare organizations can use new-generation information technology to empower caregivers in real time with the right information to deliver the best possible care.”

    Details on the five speaking sessions led by Orion Health executives and partners are as follows:

    Title: Planning Your Cloud Journey*
    Speaker: Steve Crusenberry, SVP, SaaS Product and Cloud Operations, Orion Health
    Date & Time: Monday, March 5, 2018; 9:45 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. PST
    Location: Las Vegas – Wynn Hotel
    *part of the HIMSS Cloud Computing Forum 2018, a pre-conference sponsored by AWS

    Title: Empowering Data-Driven Health
    Speaker: Kevin Ross, Ph.D., research director of Precision Driven Health, Orion Health
    Date & Time: March 7, 2018; 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. PST
    Location: Las Vegas – Venetian Convention Center, Palazzo D

    Title: A FHIR-Enabled Ecosystem for Health Information Sharing
    Speaker: David Hay, M.D., product strategist, Orion Health
    Date & Time: March 8, 2018; 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. PST
    Location: Las Vegas – Venetian Convention Center, Murano 3301

    Title: Shared Savings Power Tools: An ACO-Focused App and Open HIE
    Speakers: Faron Thompson, M.B.A., chief operating officer, Innovation Care Partners, and James Whitfill, M.D., chief medical officer, Innovation Care Partners
    Date & Time: March 7, 2018; 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. PST
    Location: Las Vegas – Venetian Convention Center, Delfino 4004
    Title: Electronic Documentation Design Through an Interprofessional Lens (Early Careerists poster session)

    Speakers: Julie Waspe and Katherine Vandenbussche, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
    Date & Time: March 7, 2018; 10:45 am – 11:45 a.m. PST
    Location: Las Vegas – Wynn Hotel

    About Orion Health

    Orion Health is a global healthcare technology company delivering interoperability, population health and precision medicine solutions. Thousands of clinicians use Orion Health software to deliver care for more than 100 million patients in more than 25 countries. The company employs over 1,200 people globally and is committed to continual innovation. For more information, visit orionhealth.com.

    ##

    Orion Health Media Contact:                                         

    Marcia Rhodes
    Amendola Communications
    [email protected]
    480-664-8412 x 15

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • Episcopal Senior Communities Improve Resident Safety with Vocera Solution

    Better staff communication, faster response times reported across multiple senior living facilities

    SAN JOSE, CA – January 9, 2018 – (BUSINESS WIRE)–Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, today announced that Episcopal Senior Communities (ESC) is improving staff communication and resident safety by using the Vocera Communication System at all six of its multi-level living communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    For 50 years, ESC has delivered a variety of residential, memory care and aging services. The non-profit serves nearly 10,000 seniors through its community services programs that promote intellectual, physical, social and spiritual well-being. On a mission to consistently deliver a five-star experience for its residents, ESC sought to improve staff communication and response times. ESC selected the Vocera system to enable Wi-Fi communication and replace a fragmented system by integrating with the resident safety system in place throughout its communities.

    “Vocera technology is like a Swiss army knife for communication,” said Chris Dana, vice president of information technology for ESC. “It connects all the different functions our people perform in our communities every day and all the technologies we rely on to complete them. Ultimately, it improves our ability to keep our residents healthy, safe, and happy. How do you put a value on that? If you ask a family member, it’s infinite.”

    Taking safety to the next level, ESC integrated the Vocera system with the communities’ resident safety solution, which enables alarms and alerts to go directly to the right staff member’s Vocera badge or mobile device. Because every senior community is different, facility leaders worked closely with the service team at Vocera to design specific workflows to meet their needs. An alert might go to security in one community and skilled nursing in another. Each alert is delivered as both a voice and text message that include the resident’s first name, last initial, location, and the type of event.

    “The integration of Vocera technology with our life-safety system is like having our own 911 center,” said Karen Kemp, application support manager at ESC. “By eliminating the delays once caused by manual dispatching and unreliable radio links, it lets us respond to resident needs faster and more intelligently. When I talk with staff in different departments across the communities, I’m told over and over by employees there is no way they’ll ever give up their Vocera devices.”

    While workflows may vary, users do not. Every staff member at every community uses the Vocera solution, including the clinical team, security, maintenance, housekeeping, the IT department and executive directors. Improvements in staff communication and collaboration have made it much easier for employees to coordinate resident activities, exchange information, and get assistance. With Vocera, team members can locate each other no matter where they are or what they’re doing, from one end of campus to the other. They no longer need to walk to the nurses’ station to check messages or drop what they are doing to pick up a phone or a radio. Additionally, the Santa Rosa location plans to integrate its nurse call with the Vocera system.

    “It’s exciting to see a multi-level senior living community using mobile technology and robust integrations to improve the safety and well-being of its residents,” said Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera. “Episcopal Senior Communities is an inspiring example of how Vocera solutions can help improve the lives of many people in many different environments.”

    About Episcopal Senior Communities (ESC)

    Episcopal Senior Communities (ESC) is a California non-profit public benefit corporation that is more than 50 years old. Its mission is to cultivate and build healthy communities with a continuum of residential and innovative aging services that actively promote intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual well-being. ESC’s primary business is to own and operate retirement communities known as Life Plan or Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). Currently, there are six communities, located in Pacific Grove, Oakland, Los Gatos, Santa Rosa, Palo Alto and San Francisco. Each of these communities holds a Certificate of Authority (COA) granted by the California Department of Social Services allowing it to enter into contractual agreements that promise care for the remainder of the resident’s lives. For more about information about ESC, visit www.jtm-esc.org.

    About Vocera

    The mission of Vocera Communications, Inc. is to simplify and improve the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, while enabling hospitals to enhance quality of care and operational efficiency. In 2000, when the company was founded, we began to forever change the way care teams communicate. Today, Vocera continues to offer the leading platform for clinical communication and workflow. More than 1,400 hospitals and health systems around the world have selected our solutions for care teams to text securely using smartphones or make calls with our hands-free, wearable Vocera Badge. Interoperability between Vocera and more than 120 clinical systems helps reduce alarm fatigue, speed up staff response times, and improve patient care, safety and experience. In addition to healthcare, Vocera is at home in luxury hotels, aged care facilities nuclear facilities, libraries, retail stores and more. Vocera makes a difference in any industry where workers are on the move and need to connect instantly with team members and access resources or information quickly. In 2017, Vocera made the list of Forbes 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America. Learn more at www.vocera.com, and follow @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

    Vocera Communications, Inc.
    Shanna Hearon, 865-769-2028
    [email protected]

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • CIOs Outline 3 Key Factors for a Good Collaboration with an Industry Partner

    1.9.18
    By Candace Stuart, Director, Communications & Public Relations

     

    To be successful, collaborations between a healthcare IT department and a partner in industry require aligned goals, aligned priorities and compatible cultures. If any one of those three pillars is amiss, then the collaboration will suffer, according to two CIOs whose partnerships with Foundation firms garnered them top awards from CHIME.

    “It has to be a win-win for both parties,” said Deborah Gash, CIO at Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, Mo. Working with HCTec, her department reduced staff turnover and improved productivity, a feat that earned them the 2017 CHIME Collaboration Award. “We want to make them successful and they want to make us successful.”

    Steve Hess, CIO of UCHealth, a nine-hospital healthcare network based in Aurora, Colo., sees aligned goals as the most important factor in a collaboration, followed by aligned priorities and then good communication. Hess and LeanTaaS shared the 2016 CHIME Collaboration Award for an innovative program using predictive analytics that reduced wait times, cut overtime and improved patient satisfaction scores in an infusion center, despite an increase in the volume of patients.

    “If you don’t have alignment of goals with a partner then obviously you will hit roadblocks along the way,” he pointed out. “If you don’t have aligned priorities then one or both of the parties won’t work on it. If things go off track, and they will, you have to have good communications to make sure they get back on track.”

    Both Gash and Hess emphasized the need for both sides in a collaboration to be transparent and forthcoming about their challenges and to be clear about what they expect to gain through the partnership. Gash also cited Saint Luke’s Health System and HCTec’s similar cultures and shared values for their success. Hess equated communication style to cultural fit.

    Collaborators have to provide a compelling business case to support the investment in time and costs. For instance, UCHealth embraces innovation, but only if it aligns with the health system’s strategic direction, Hess said. Potential collaborations go through an innovation vetting process that starts with an assessment by a multidisciplinary team; if it passes muster, proceeds to a committee; if it is deemed worthwhile is presented to the board; and the board makes the final decision to go forward or not. Hess estimated that only 2 percent of the proposals presented to them are accepted. Occasionally, UCHealth also solicits partners.

    Success increases the chances of continuing the partnership or embarking on other collaborations. Based on the positive results from their work with HCTec’s workforce solutions group, Saint Luke’s Health System decided to implement similar strategies in other areas of IT. UCHealth expanded use of LeanTaaS’ solution to six infusion centers with an eye toward adding similar solutions in its operating rooms.

    Hess estimated that UCHealth has formally engaged in additional projects with at least two of its collaborators. Collaborators need not be from the healthcare industry, either, if they meet the criteria of aligned goals, aligned priorities and cultural fit. When a sales representative Gash knew from his previous career in healthcare approached her with a solution marketed by his latest employer, she listened. Although the product was originally developed for entertainment, he proposed it could be adapted to healthcare.

    His hunch proved to be correct and the benefits demonstrated through Saint Luke’s Health System gave them a foothold in healthcare. “It was a nice collaboration,” she said. “We had good results with them and we helped them.”

    More Foundation Insight Volume 2, No. 1:

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • 2017 Annual CHIME CIO Member Survey Highlights and Takeaways

    1.9.18
    By Arika Lycan, Specialist, CHIME Foundation

     

    Every year, CHIME sends out an annual survey to CHIME CIO members. The feedback gained from the survey helps to gauge satisfaction with their membership, which CHIME services and educational offerings are most valued, and much more. This survey aids in the planning for subsequent years, and has direct influence on what CHIME as an organization will continue to do and those benefits that need to be re-evaluated.

    As an integral part of the CHIME organization as whole, CHIME Foundation members also gain value from insights drawn from the survey responses.

    When asked to rate their overall satisfaction with their membership, CHIME CIOs responded very positively; 90 percent stated that their satisfaction was either very good or excellent.

    An interesting question highlighted communication preferences and ways in which CIOs like to hear from CHIME on information like professional development services, which include surveys, focus groups and College LIVE webinars. CIOs overwhelmingly appreciated CHIME’s frequent communications, and appreciate advanced notice about upcoming programs. In terms of other interaction and social media communication, CIOs most frequently use LinkedIn, Facebook, MyCHIME, and Twitter, in that order.

    CHIME CIOs gave thoughtful input on CHIME Technologies’ Cooperative Member Services program, and what they would like to see offered. Some CIOs said they feel that the discounts offered are similar to those they can find/negotiate on their own, and would like to see greater discounts. Other comments included that CIOs would like to see more Foundation firms participate, and there was expressed interest in Professional Services discounts as an offering.

    Several questions posed to CIOs addressed interaction with CHIME Foundation firms specifically. The first inquired about the top subjects of interest that CIOs would like to hear from Foundation Partners about in 2018. A great list of responses was given, but there were some topics that stood out as clear leaders. Favorites were:

    • Blockchain
    • Artificial intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging technologies
    • Telehealth

    When asked what CHIME Foundation partners can do to help support them better, CIOs had a variety of suggestions. Some of the most compelling feedback includes:

    “Understand our strategy and help innovate.”

    “The benefit needs to be mutual, thus the continued support of the educational component of CHIME’s mission needs to be a priority.”

    “Explore more important national issues.”

    “I enjoy hearing about new offerings and technologies to help better plan IT strategy.”

    “I feel more offerings with more technical depth would be helpful.”

    “Some of the educational sessions are good but turn into ‘how can I market my company’s services.’ Less sales and more content.”

    “Provide education on emerging HIT topics.”

    “Publish project successes.”

    We hope the highlights can guide and inform your future interactions with CHIME CIOs, and are helpful to your 2018 planning process.

    More Foundation Insight Volume 2, No. 1:

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • CHIME Foundation’s Vision for 2018

    1.9.18
    By Barb Sivek, Vice President, CHIME Foundation

     

    The year 2018 kicks off what we know will be an incredible period of growth, partnership and shared productivity for CHIME and its members. And this year we will begin the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the CHIME Foundation. We aim to make it a spectacular year for you, our CHIME Foundation members.

    We’ve set our sights on goals both big and small that will have a positive effect on interactions across the organization: helping our team connect to you and your staff teams; providing opportunities for you to connect with CHIME CIO members; and working on mutually beneficial programs, events and policy work that serves the entire healthcare IT industry.

    One of the main areas we will focus on in 2018 is relationship management. This year, we have expanded the opportunities for partnership as a CHIME Foundation firm with the Global Partnership program. Global Partners have the benefits that come with a Premier-tier membership, with additional benefits that include international and Most Wired opportunities over a multiyear partnership plan.  We are also exploring conversations on expanded partnerships with Foundation members at Premier and Standard tiers, which we are calling “Partners Plus.”

    January is a busy time of year, with many of CHIME Foundation’s members renewing their commitments to CHIME for a fresh slate of benefits and services. As you may know, the CHIME Foundation is currently at maximum capacity with firms waiting to join – so the renewal decision process is especially critical for firms wishing to remain with CHIME as we enter 2018. 

    In the year ahead, we will continue to focus on providing outstanding customer service, and hope to improve upon the already-positive ratings and feedback you gave us through the recent survey we conducted. Some of the ways we will achieve this high standard include facilitating more educational webinars for you and your teams on topics like Focus Group Best Practices, Benefits Utilization and more. We will continue to send out Quarterly Benefits Reports, which keep you informed and let you easily access a record of what benefits have been utilized and which remain for your use.

    We’re excited for a great event in Las Vegas at CHIME-HIMSS 2018 CIO Forum, and know that your teams are in the planning process now. Looking ahead, keep your calendars open for the third annual CHIME Partner Education Summit, CPES18, slated for early September of 2018 in Chicago. We will have a great roster of CHIME CIO educators and presenters, and have taken your requests to heart, planning to address the issues and topics that will best inform, educate and engage you. CHIME18 is in San Diego this year, and we are excited to celebrate our 25th anniversary while there.

    CHIME was thrilled to have 27 Foundation representatives earn the CFCHE credential in its inaugural year, and are looking forward to helping to certify many more in 2018. Testing will be available at in-person events like CPES, CHIME/HIMSS18, CHIME18, and also can be scheduled online at local testing centers.

    We’re thankful for your team’s partnership as we head full steam into 2018. We’re looking forward to an exciting, educational and celebratory year, and we hope you are as well.

     

    More Foundation Insight Volume 2, No. 1:

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • Board Chair Liz Johnson on Future Directions in Healthcare

    1.9.18
    By Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC, Chief Information Officer, Acute Hospitals and Applied Clinical Informatics, Tenet Healthcare

     

    Every year provides opportunities to transform healthcare. As a CIO and the CHIME Foundation Board chair, I see healthcare IT professionals in all settings – provider, payer, industry and government –potentially being part of this transformation process. Here are some future directions to consider as 2018 unfolds.    

    Access: I envision a world where access to healthcare occurs less in brick-and-mortar buildings and more in environments where people live, work and play. As a result, the information that supports care will be managed differently. This will require us to think differently, too. CIOs will need to look at and expand on where comprehensive data is collected, where it will reside and ensure it is a safe platform and made available to providers. Consider this a portal that is not a portal but a conduit for viewing in and viewing out, taking in and taking out, as necessary.

    Security, accurate patient identification and other issues remain huge hurdles to making this vision a reality, but this shouldn’t stop us from developing and implementing solutions. This is a challenge that demands partnerships on many levels, but the benefits for patients will be immense.

    Data science: Data is a powerful resource that we should employ now in a more comprehensive way to help clinicians make informed decisions tailored to each patient. It’s a simple formula: Take the data, look at the outcomes based on certain interventions and then change practice, promoting real-time safe, fast and efficient care.

    We must continue to stay in front of policy makers and help them understand the value of data analytics and evidence-based care. We need to educate them about the consequences of decisions that raise barriers and impose regulatory burdens. We need to turn the process around: We show policy makers the data and processes that can save lives and then develop policy around THAT.

    Payment systems: We need systems that focus on paying for preventive care and not just treatment after someone is sick. For a CIO, this means making data available for preventive care so clinicians and patients can work on maintaining health rather than treating illness. Industry partners will need to provide platforms that are user friendly and affordable for healthcare consumers. These payment systems should encourage patients to be more involved with their care, what they are paying for it and their options. 

    The CIO of the future:  The CIO is evolving into a digital officer, a knowledge officer, or a combination of both. In these roles, CIOs will be looking beyond logistical data needs for a paperless system to a world where all data is useful. Exchange of information will occur in a wholesale way, using data in different formats universally instead of as one-offs.

    Yet as our use of data becomes increasingly sophisticated and more complex, we will need to remember that sometimes the simplest things are the most effective – like washing hands between patients. It doesn’t have to be a major scientific breakthrough. Small things save lives, too.

     

    More Foundation Insight Volume 2, No. 1:

    Posted 1.9.2018

  • CITI Healthcare Joins CHIME Cooperative Member Services Program

    Falls Church, VA – Monday, January 8, 2018 – CITI announced joining CHIME’s Cooperative Member Services Program.  This program will strengthen CITI and CHIME’s relationship with CIO and leaders of healthcare organizations, allowing CITI to showcase their expertise in healthcare applications, interoperability, and decommission of legacy applications with their Data Retirement and Interoperability Solution, (DRIS).    

    CITI’s DRIS is one of the premier data conversion and archival applications currently available to healthcare organizations who are moving to new EHRs, or who are looking to decommission costly legacy applications.  DRIS has been implemented and is currently being used by a number of leading healthcare organizations who are migrating to Epic and other EHRs.  DRIS also allows access of legacy data from new EHR system for compliance, audits and clinical decision support. Additionally, CITI Healthcare offers; Revenue Cycle Management Services, Legacy Support, and Managed IT Services.

    “The Cooperative Member Services Program will help forge even closer connections between CHIME members and Foundation partners,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO. “Those enhanced relationships are especially important in today’s environment as we all wrestle with the need to create a more efficient and effective delivery system, and to do so at a lower cost for patients.”

    ABOUT CITI:  Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, and with offices throughout the greater DC area as well as in South Asia and Europe, CITI is global and diversely talented organization of business professionals working together to provide our clients with real-world solutions for the healthcare, federal and commercial areas.

    At CITI Healthcare, we enable healthcare organizations to enhance operational efficiencies, streamline processes while meeting regulatory compliance.

    Our team of healthcare and IT experts enable providers and payers to deliver quality, connected, patient-centric care more efficiently and cost-effectively.

    About CHIME Technologies: CHIME Technologies, Inc. is a for-profit entity developed in 2015 under the auspices of CHIME to expand and deepen CHIME member opportunities in support of innovative new products and services from the healthcare industry. This entity allows CHIME to continue to explore new relationships and services that provide value to CHIME members and their organizations. The CHIME Cooperative Member Services Program, housed under CHIME Technologies, creates a new and unique way for CHIME members and CHIME Foundation firms to engage with one another. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org/chime-technologies 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. CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment
    enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org. Media Contact Candace Stuart Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME 734.665.0000 [email protected]

    Posted 1.8.2018

  • Medanta Hospital launches lab and radiology reporting portal with MphRx’s Minerva platform

    Gurgaon, India – January 8, 2018 – MphRx announces today that Medanta Hospital, one of India’s biggest multi super specialty chain of hospitals and clinics, has launched a reporting solution across their network of facilities. Built on the FHIR based digital health platform – Minerva, the solution includes a configurable lab and radiology reporting engine that provides standardized lab reports with a trend-based view of past test results.

    “We feel extremely proud to be chosen as the technology partner for Medanta in their digital transformation journey,” quotes Mahesh Uberoi, President, and CEO of MphRx.  “Medanta is one of the largest hospitals in India and has been expanding its care network quite rapidly. With Minerva as the underlying platform, Medanta can easily scale up their IT infrastructure to support the broadening patient base and deliver a seamless user experience at the point of care across its network facilities.”

    Medanta chose Minerva platform, as it enabled them to provide a unified lab reporting solution irrespective of the backend source systems deployed across their network and affiliated facilities. Minerva enables this by integrating with disparate HIS, RIS and other clinical systems to create an open-standards-based aggregated patient data repository. Minerva’s web and mobile applications further provide instant access to this unified data to patients and physicians alike from anywhere and any device.  

    “We really liked the open platform approach of Minerva. It allowed us to implement a unified & secure solution that could be easily scaled up and it simplified our backend IT infrastructure,” says Rajiv Sikka, Head of IT for Medanta Hospital. “MphRx also played the role of a technology partner for us. They understood our business requirements and provided a customized lab reporting platform which integrated clinical data from different sources to deliver superior user experience on mobile as well as portal platforms.”

    With Minerva’s reporting solution, Medanta is able to provide standardized reports for more than 5000 different test codes and approximately 20 different report formats. The platform is currently handling more than 6 million reports for over 1 million patients with more than 4,00,000 reports viewed every month on Minerva’s web application.

    Medanta is the sixth major Minerva deployment in APAC for MphRx, with two others currently underway. With this deployment going live, Minerva platform is now handling a daily volume of 70,000 patient records in India alone.

     

    About MphRx
    MphRx, Inc. is a rapidly growing healthcare technology company headquartered in New York, with offices in Princeton, London, Singapore and New Delhi. MphRx has created Minerva, an open-standards-based Digital Health platform that has been deployed at health systems to serve some of the largest consumer-facing initiatives. To date, the Minerva platform has been deployed in over 20 countries. MphRx is an EN ISO 13485:2012- and ISO 9001:2008-certified organization. For more details, visit www.mphrx.com or contact us at [email protected].

    About Medanta Hospital
    Medanta – The Medicity is one of India’s largest multi-super specialty institutes located in Gurgaon. Founded by the eminent cardiac surgeon, Dr. Naresh Trehan, the institution has been envisioned with the aim of bringing to India the highest standards of medical care along with clinical research, education, and training. Spread across 43 acres, the institute includes a research center, medical and nursing school. It has 1250 beds and over 350 critical care beds with 45 operation theatres catering to over 20 specialties. For more details, visit http://www.medanta.org/

    Posted 1.8.2018

  • Hunt Regional Medical Center Improves Patient Experience with Vocera

    Hospital reports 13 percent increase in HCAHPS after deploying leader rounding and care call technology

    SAN JOSE, CA – January 04, 2018 – (BUSINESS WIRE)–Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, today announced that Hunt Regional Medical Center has improved patient engagement and satisfaction by standardizing nurse leader rounding and follow-up calls with Vocera technology. After implementing Vocera Rounds and Vocera Care Calls solutions, the 114 bed hospital reported a 13 percent increase in overall Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) rating and an eight percent increase in the “likelihood to recommend” domain.

    Hunt Regional in Northeast Texas is a long-time Vocera customer, using the hands-free Vocera system in clinical workflows throughout the hospital. Because of this trusted relationship and improvements in care team communication, nurse leaders looked to the company to help strengthen patient partnerships, improve engagement, and increase care plan compliance. In 18 months, Hunt Regional completed nearly 22,000 patient rounds and 13,000 follow-up calls using Vocera technology. More than 200,000 data points from 21,000 patients and families were captured to drive experience improvements and identify high-performing staff members.

    “The real-time request-tracking capabilities and service recovery interventions made possible with the Vocera technology have made a huge difference in our processes,” said Debby Clack, Chief Nursing Officer at Hunt Regional. “We are able to expedite our responses to patient needs, which has dramatically improved satisfaction and the overall healthcare experience.”

    Prior to implementing Vocera Rounds, Hunt Regional used a paper-based method to log patients’ comments during leader rounding. Now, nurses use the Vocera mobile application on iPads, which makes it much easier and quicker to address patient feedback, track potential trends, identify gaps in workflows, and report performance metrics. Because it has proven to be an effective engagement and experience tool, Hunt Regional uses Vocera Rounds to also capture employee feedback and monitor staff satisfaction.

    Nurses at Hunt Regional who conduct mobile rounds also make patient follow-up calls 24-72 hours post hospitalization, creating a seamless care experience that is managed by Vocera technology. “It’s comforting for our patients to hear a familiar voice on the phone – someone who understands their entire experience, and is now checking-in on them,” said Clack.

    The Vocera Care Calls solution enables these nurses to have meaningful conversations with each patient because they have access to the verbatim comments and concerns securely captured in the Vocera Rounds application. This information, in the patient’s own words, helps the caller address any potential readmission risks noted in the application, follow-up on any questions asked during the hospital stay, and close the communication loop.

    “Listening to and understanding patients are essential to improving their experiences, compliance and outcomes,” said Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera. “Hunt Regional is a great example of how communication technology can hardwire industry best practices to improve patient engagement, and extend compassion and care beyond the walls of the hospital.”

    About Hunt Regional Medical Center

    Hunt Regional Medical Center, a large regional hospital based in Greenville, Texas, is part of Hunt Regional Healthcare. The medical center has been providing healthcare to the community for more than 40 years and offers an extensive list of outpatient and diagnostic services from surgery to cancer care to open imaging. For more about information about Hunt Regional Medical Center, visit www.huntregional.org.

    About Vocera

    The mission of Vocera Communications, Inc. is to simplify and improve the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, while enabling hospitals to enhance quality of care and operational efficiency. In 2000, when the company was founded, we began to forever change the way care teams communicate. Today, Vocera continues to offer the leading platform for clinical communication and workflow. More than 1,400 hospitals and health systems around the world have selected our solutions for care teams to text securely using smartphones or make calls with our hands-free, wearable Vocera Badge. Interoperability between Vocera and more than 120 clinical systems helps reduce alarm fatigue, speed up staff response times, and improve patient care, safety and experience. In addition to healthcare, Vocera is at home in luxury hotels, aged care facilities, nuclear facilities, libraries, retail stores and more. Vocera makes a difference in any industry where workers are on the move and need to connect instantly with team members and access resources or information quickly. In 2017, Vocera made the list of Forbes 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America. Learn more at www.vocera.com, and follow @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

    Vocera Communications, Inc.
    Shanna Hearon, 865.769.2028
    [email protected]

    Posted 1.4.2018

  • Inside CHIME: CHIME Board Chair Cletis Earle Sees Opportunities for Growth

    Inside CHIME - header

    1.4.18
    By Candace Stuart, Director, Communications & Public Relations

    Cletis Earle understands how small acts can pave the way for enormous changes. As the 2018 chair of CHIME’s Board, he plans to continue CHIME’s mission to provide the education, professional development and networking opportunities CIOs need to be the best at their jobs. An active member on CHIME’s Public Policy Steering Committee, he and his CIO colleagues will keep up CHIME’s work in Washington, D.C., advocating for those health IT-related policies that contribute to quality care and trying to fix those that don’t.

    Cletis Earle, CIO, Kaleida Health

    Cletis Earle, Chief Information Officer, Kaleida Health

    And as the senior vice president and CIO of Kaleida Health in Buffalo, N.Y., he understands the value of having a community of members who can turn to each other for support and guidance in an ever-evolving healthcare environment. He plans to advance the charge for transformational leadership, building off the successes of more than two dozen board chairs before him. And like each of his predecessors, he will bring unique experiences and insights that can lay the foundation for growth now and in the future.

    “Collaboration and diversity are what I am most my passionate about as I enter the chairmanship position at CHIME,” he said. “Those are the two projects I would love to continue to emphasize and highlight.”

    Earle credits collaborations for an accomplished career that includes five years as vice president and CIO at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Cornwall and Newburgh, N.Y., and numerous positions at Brooklyn Queens Health Care in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Much of the success in my career has been through collaborations – collaborations with different types of partners and now with competitors,” he said.

    Recognizing their mutual challenges, healthcare IT executives in competing organizations in Buffalo put aside their rivalries to develop a regional anti-phishing campaign and other steps to strengthen cybersecurity. The collaborative culture they developed has prompted New York state health IT professionals to work together and with other groups on challenges like getting nutritious food to those in need. Those programs could complement efforts to provide preventive care to whole patient populations.

    “If we are sharing and we’ve broken down some of those barriers through collaboration, it makes the next iteration easier,” Earle observed. “That is where population health is moving. It makes the communication chain that much more robust rather than limiting and therefore you have a better outcome.”

    As CHIME’s first African-American chair, Earle hopes to extend CHIME’s workforce initiatives to diversify the pool of healthcare IT staff and leaders. In the spirit of the Women of CHIME program, he wants members to encourage young people from various racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic groups to consider careers in healthcare IT. The goal is to have a workforce that reflects the diversity of the patient populations they serve.

    In Buffalo, he has been working with the mayor on programs that include visiting primary through high schools to talk with students about their career options. The program also brings children to health IT sites so they can get a first-hand look at facilities and the working environment. “It gives them exposure to the idea that a hospital career is not just healthcare professionals but also technologists.”

    He hopes that similar initiatives can be launched around the country and he welcomes the opportunity for CHIME members to participate. “We can start touching more lives,” Earle said. “How you measure that is difficult but it is better to do something than do nothing.”    

     

    More Inside CHIME

    Posted 1.4.2018
Older posts
Newer posts