What does HIT Week mean to you?

Healthcare technology has the power to transform and evolve our industry for the better. In one of the most complex industries in the world, wrought with inefficiencies, lack of care coordination, rising costs, and sub-optimal levels of quality, new and innovative healthcare technology solutions can and will address these challenges, with the aim of improving and enhancing care delivery, and the overall health of our nation, for generations to come.

Justin Mooneyhan, MBA, PMP, CPHIMS

Sr. Director, IT Project Management

Information Technology Department

Amsurg

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What does HIT Week mean to you?

After 10 years of implementing standards-based electronic health records (generally funded by the HITECH Act), significant advances in cloud analytics capabilities led by Microsoft, Google and Amazon, literally billions of dollars invested in digital health solutions and radical consolidation by the industry – the U.S. healthcare system arrives at an exciting inflection point.  Now, more than ever, partnerships and converged models of care are necessary to drive costs lower, improve access and contribution to a safe, high quality system – with a customer experience that rivals other industries.

The role of health information technology has never been more “front and center” – enabling capabilities at the local, state and federal level – contributing to the quadruple aim (improving the health, lowering costs and improving the experience of patients – while addressing the fourth aim – reducing burnout and ensuring clinicians return to putting patients at the center of care) and representing a model for health and health care delivery for decades to come.

The journey will not be an easy one, however, will undoubtedly involve deeper partnerships among payers, providers, medical device and life sciences organizations.  Relationships built on trust, utilizing data and information technology to augment care provided – at a location, time and modality preferred by patients. 

Eric Thrailkill

Vice President and Chief Information Officer of AmSurg Corp. and TN HIMSS Chapter President

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What does HIT Week mean to you?

There’s no other field I can imagine working in than HIT. We work with some of the brightest minds who use technology to identify high risk patients for suicide, cancer and heart disease yet also improve the efficiency of monthly financial statements.

Jennifer LeMieux

TN HIMSS Chapter Program Chair

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More than anything, it’s a reminder to me that our work is important and becoming more so. A well thought out HIT strategy (in my world, data) has the power to further inform the decisions made by clinicians and operators to improve outcomes and, by extension, make communities healthier.

Ray Guzman

CEO — Switchpoint Ventures

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As a physician and early believer in the power of Health IT, I am always excited when we have an opportunity to showcase the role that data and technology now play and can play in the future of health and healthcare.    This transition from a “doctor-patient” relationship to a triad of “providers, patients, and technology” has been rapid by historical standards. We are very much in its infancy, and still at the “diaper-cleaning” stage in so many ways, as evidenced by issues with current EHR technology, challenges with digital natives, versus digital immigrants, and continued tension between innovators and commercial EHR vendors.  Hopefully, HIT week will encourage greater dialog among these groups and help paint a picture of a future that delivers on the promise of HealthIT to routinize simple tasks, deliver precision recommendations to patients and providers, and facilitate interoperable, quickly retrievable information at the point of need.

Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS

Chief Informatician, Chair of Biomedical Informatics and Pediatrician at Vanderbilt Univerity

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Supporting healthy communities is the 2019 HIT IT Week focus. Our advancements with data analytics and technology is impressive but not without challenges. HIT IT week is the perfect time to focus on collaboration between the innovators, providers, payers, and the patients to improve the delivery of healthcare at a reasonable cost, ease of accessibility, and value based care wherever and however the patient requires it.

Penny Owen-Grogan

Business Development — C Spire

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Health IT has profoundly touched the lives of so many. All of the lives that have been impacted by HIT in my personal life fueled my career choices as an HIT professional. Health IT continues to be such an integral part of patient care. Several of this year’s #NHITweek Points of Engagement are near and dear to my heart. All of us either are, or know someone that is predisposed to chronic illness. So, it’s important that with a growing patient population, we apply HIT where it can have the most significant impact. That certainly includes the engagement points on Population Health, Modernizing Public Health Infrastructure, Expanding Broadband and Telehealth. Patient #populationHealth benefits from both Infrastructure and Telehealth advancement.  In 2019 there are still many people that have connectivity limitations. The same patient population that needs #broadband can benefit from #telehealth. Raising awareness should be the minimum that we do to help further this conversation and correct those challenges.

Robbie Morris

Sr Security Mgr, Governance, Risk and Compliance

C Spire

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Healthcare is so reliant on technology today, impacting patients, caregivers and organizations profoundly. Health IT is at the center of everything that happens in healthcare, and it’s really a journey that will continually evolve.

This year’s National Health IT week is about Supporting Healthy Communities. Isn’t that our goal with healthcare? It comes back to the patient at all times and their care. Health IT touches clinical care, the business side of healthcare and the administrative functions of healthcare. Those three working in concert with right digital investment can improve operations, strengthen the financial position of a healthcare organization and minimize administrative burdens. In the end, we should see higher levels of patient care and more satisfied physicians and administrators.

Tom Mitchell

President & COO of Insequence Corporation/Managing Partner of Stratipoint Advisory

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As a Physician and Digital Health Consultant who has lived through the progression from paper charts and faxing to the EHR and electronic health information exchange, I can say that we have come a long way with many great improvements, but still have a ways to go because we all know what is possible and what value can be achieved.  We still work with piles of paper and we still scan and fax because the entire ecosystem is not yet connected and does not yet understand each other’s workflows and needs. We all have our patient experiences where we know there is a better way.  There is so much potential that we all see over the horizon that will be realized with time, technology, outcomes based care, and payment and incentives alignment with all parties.  The future is exciting and amazing, and National Health IT Week reminds us all to reflect and be grateful for the dedication and tireless efforts of all those who work toward these goals.

Juliet Daniels MD

Clinical Informatics Consultant

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Health IT is the leading enabler for creating sustainable healthcare models, that enable consumers to manage their health and care, and bring the joy back to clinicians.

Anna Pannier, MBA, FACHE, CHCIO
Senior Director
Relationship & Demand Management

Ascension Saint Thomas
Ascension Technologies