Dispatch from HIMSS 2017
As I wrote last week, I expected 2017 HIMSS to be filled with Wearables, Big Data, Social Networking concepts from other industries, Telemedicine, and Artificial Intelligence.I was not disappointed. 42,000 of my closest friends each walked an average of 5 miles per day through the Orlando Convention Center. One journalist told me “It’s overwhelming. You do your best to look professional and wear comfy shoes! ”After 50 meetings, and 12 meals in 3 days, here ’s my impression of the experience1. Wearables, while still relevant have gone from the peak of the hype curve to the trough of disillusionm...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - February 22, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Preparing for HIMSS 2017
Next week, 50000 of our closest friends will gather together in Orlando to learn about the latest trends in the healthcare IT industry.What can we expect?I ’ll be giving a few keynote addresses, trying to predict what the Trump administration will bring, identify those technologies that will move from hype to reality, and highlighting which products are only “compiled” in Powerpoint - a powerful development language that is really easy to modify!Here are a few themes1. The Trump administration is likely to reduce regulatory burden but is unlikely to radically change the course of value-based purchasing. &nb...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - February 15, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Sanctuary - Second Week of February 2017
I have been traveling in Japan and New Zealand this week so Kathy had to manage the sanctuary and farm.The major challenge has been the snow, ice, and cold. While I ’ve been away, 18 inches of snow have fallen, making sanctuary operations more challenging than usual.Pippin, our 30 year old Welsh pony is recovering nicely after his tooth surgery. He stopped eating and lost weight rapidly because it hurt so much to chew. The vet sedated him and removed the offending tooth by breaking it into 3 pieces. Antibiotics cleared an underlying gum infection and his appetite returned. We ’ve enhanced h...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - February 9, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Dispatch from Japan and New Zealand
This week I ’ve taken vacation time to help my colleagues in Japan and New Zealand with national IT planning. As I often say, the healthcare IT challenges are the same all over the world, but the cultural context is different.In Japan, I spent 2 days in Tokyo and 1 day in Kyoto, lecturing, meeting, and listening to stakeholders. There is a great desire to share data for care coordination and clinical trials/clinical research. Telemedicine/telehealth is increasingly important in an aging Japanese society that has increasing healthcare needs but a limited number of caregivers and few opportunities to...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - February 8, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - First Week of February 2017
Running an animal sanctuary requires constant attention to the care and well being of all the creatures living there. This week, Pippin, our 30 year old Welsh pony stopped eating hay and required urgent intervention. He did not appear to be suffering from colic. He ate treats and sweet grain, which we minimize because of his Cushing ’s disease. We knew he had numerous dental issues but to evaluate the situation he needed to be sedated. The vet figured out he had a loose tooth that prevented him from chewing grasses. She removed the tooth, placed him on antibiotic coverage and ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - February 2, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
We Must Think and Act as One Planet
Over the past few days, several journalists have asked me to comment about travel bans, immigration policy changes, and trends in isolationism.My opinions are my own and do not reflect any official position from my employer or my academic affiliation.Here are my observations1. Information Technology is global. We hire the best talent regardless of nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or race/ethnicity. Having worked in 75+ countries in my adult life, I can say that innovation crosses all boundaries and cultures. It ’s just as likely that next big breakthrough will come fromEM...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - February 1, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - Fourth Week of January 2017
The Board of Directors of Unity Farm Sanctuary held its first meeting at the Unity Meeting House the 1830 ’s building on the sanctuary property. The “board room” is the original dining room, made fromAmerican Chestnut, which no longer grows in New England due to the chestnut blight of the early 1900 ’s. Since the floor is nearly 200 years old, not a single board is square and a marble rolls spontaneously across the floor.The Board agenda including a walking tour of the entire sanctuary property and a review of all existing survey maps, such as the one below which identifies structures, wetlands, an...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 26, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
What is Care Management?
I recently joined the advisory board of Arcadia Healthcare Solutions, a leading provider of analytics, decision support, and workflow enhancement services. At my first advisory board meeting there was a rich debate about the marketplace for care management and population health tools. I ’ve spent years studying such solutions at HIMSS and found most of the products are “compiled in Powerpoint”, which is a very agile programming language, since it’s so easy to change…At BIDMC, we think of care management as two things*identifying a cohort of patients based on analysis of financial and clinical data*cre...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 25, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - Third Week of January 2017
This weekend we ’ll run our first Sanctuary board meeting, providing our 7 member board with an overview ofAnimals and activitiesFinancialLegalInfrastructureProjectsOur strategic goals in 2017 areDevelop internship programDevelop educational programsDevelop additional funding possibilitiesDevelop standard intake processDevelop trail plan in collaboration with the Sherborn Rural Land TrustHere ’s a brief update about what we’ll tell themIn February we ’ll take on another horse (Millie, a 20 year old Welsh Pony) and another pig (Penny, the 1 year old Yorkshire). We ’re making modifications to the existin...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 19, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - Fourth Week of January 2017
This weekend we ’ll run our first Sanctuary board meeting, providing our 7 member board with an overview ofAnimals and activitiesFinancialLegalInfrastructureProjectsOur strategic goals in 2017 areDevelop internship programDevelop educational programsDevelop additional funding possibilitiesDevelop standard intake processDevelop trail plan in collaboration with the Sherborn Rural Land TrustHere ’s a brief update about what we’ll tell themIn February we ’ll take on another horse (Millie, a 20 year old Welsh Pony) and another pig (Penny, the 1 year old Yorkshire). We ’re making modifications to the existin...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 19, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Dispatch from Scotland
I was in Scotland over the weekend, helping a multi-disciplinary group of academic and government leaders with strategic IT planning.Scotland, like New Zealand, is a remarkable learning laboratory. With a population of 5.5 million, a supportive government, and talented informatics professionals, it ’s theperfect storm for innovation.Scotland is driven by 3 urgencies - an aging population, increasing budget pressure, and an imperative to maintain high quality. All stakeholders in Scotland agree that IT is an enabler to maximize value.Scotland has a number of infrastructure components currently missing in the US....
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 18, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - Second Week of January 2017
After the subzero temperatures and snow of last week, we ’re now having spring-like weather with temps in the 40 ’s.The blankets have come off most of the horses (Pippin is still thin and needs a blanket). Here ’s what they look like enjoying the sunshine.The chickens are also basking in the sun as are the guineas.The ducks seem impervious to weather and no amount of rain, sleet, ice, snow or sun seems to bother them.Of course the Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs prefer the snow since their cold weather coats are like down jackets. Winter is their favorite time of year and they love running...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 12, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - Third week of January
After the subzero temperatures and snow of last week, we ’re now having spring-like weather with temps in the 40 ’s.The blankets have come off most of the horses (Pippin is still thin and needs a blanket). Here ’s what they look like enjoying the sunshine.The chickens are also basking in the sun as are the guineas. The ducks seem impervious to weather and no amount of rain, sleet, ice, snow or sun seems to bother them.Of course the Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs prefer the snow since their cold weather coats are like down jackets. Winter is their favorite time of year and they love r...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 12, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
My Advice to the Trump Administration
As I ' ve listened to the confirmation hearings for cabinet nominees, I ’ve realized that no one with healthcare IT expertise has yet been identified by the transition team. I continue to ask all my colleagues about any contact they ’ve had with anyone advising the new administration - so far, no one has been asked anything by anyone related to healthcare IT.At this early time in the administration, it ’s important to offer advice as to the priorities ahead for the next few years. What would I recommend to the new administration? Here ’s my five point plan:1. Focus on enabling infra...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 11, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - First Week of January 2017
As temperatures fall and the snow accumulates, work on the Sanctuary gets harder. It ’s -1 degrees F (without wind chill) today and that makes bare handed fine motor movements difficult. In the early weeks of building the sanctuary, we ’re focused on infrastructure - fencing, heating, plumbing, electrical, and building maintenance.For the fences, we ’ve replaced rotten fence posts and cross pieces. We ’ve replaced the electric fence, rewired the electrical supply to paddocks, and added additional gate hardware to keep the horses and goats inside the fences. Napoleon, our pygmy goat,...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 5, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
