This week, we are celebrating U.S. National Health IT Week (NHIT)—a time to commemorate the progress we’ve made as an industry and renew our commitment to improving health IT and, therefore, improving health care. Here at CommonWell, many of our members stopped to reflect and share their own “#IHeartHIT” messages in honor of NHIT 2019.
“I’m an emergency doc – so most of the patients I see are brand new to me, and they have a really serious acute problem, and many of them aren’t in shape to tell me about themselves. I have just a couple of minutes to learn enough about their medications, problems, old EKGs, past history and preferences. Only through health IT is that remotely possible! It’s safe to say that health IT saves lives and makes my life easier.”
Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Information Officer, InterSystems
“At Cerner, we believe healthcare is personal. How true that is. As someone recently diagnosed with a chronic condition, health IT has been a lifeline, literally and figurative, as my doctors and I leveraged my past health journey for diagnosis and are now planning my road to better health. Thanks to health IT and the improvements in interoperability, that road is clear and visible to me and all my care team.”
Jennifer Smith, Senior Marketing Strategist, Cerner
“In the course of caring for elderly parents, I’ve come to appreciate the need for Health IT. I’ve had several situations where my wife and I have had to ensure that the cardiologist, oncologist and primary care physician for our parents all have the same information related to their care. Increasingly we see that the Health IT systems used by these caregivers provides this information, making me appreciate the work we all do to integrate Health IT systems for the purpose of ensuring that healthcare information is available when and where it is needed.”
Tim Kaschinske, Product Manager, BridgeHead Software
“Health information technology allows me, as a doctor, to scale patient experience and engagement. There’s only so much you can do with one-on-one or brick and mortar patient care. Tech brings endless opportunities for scaling a better experience—through healthcare data analytics, and artificial intelligence, to name a few. Ultimately, numerous touchpoints drive better patient outcomes.”
Geeta Nayyar, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Greenway Health
“I work in interoperability every day, and while I get to witness the amount of time and dedication poured into solving the challenges associated with how health information is shared, others may only begin to think about it when it hits home and they find themselves caring for a parent or sick child. Unfortunately, stories of interoperability not being there are the ones that often get the most news and make it to Congress – leading to interoperability being written into laws. My vision is that someday, interoperability won’t be a thing we talk about – or think about – anymore. It will be just the way things work.”
Alan Swenson, Vice President of Interoperability, Kno2
“The best part of working in health IT is the focus on the “mission.” Most of us have skills to shine in any industry, but healthcare is personal for us. It’s especially rewarding to work on treatment use cases where clinicians and patients directly benefit from our innovations.”
Andrew Wright, Product Management Director, Change Healthcare
“I have worked in healthcare for 42 years and have seen many changes and mandates, but I feel with the advancement in interoperability and exchange of data we are putting the patient at the center of our efforts. Working with vendors who have the same strategy makes us partners in the potential outcome of valued healthcare. Quick and accurate access with links to valuable medical data gives the provider critical time back into their day to treat the patients they serve.”
Martha Sullivan, CIO, Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana, Kentucky
“I love hearing stories from clinicians about having immediate access to the data which helps them provide better care to their patients. It makes me feel like the work I’m doing in health IT is truly making a difference in peoples’ lives. There is still more work to do, but we’re making progress day by day through health IT to improve care.”
Kashif Rathore, Vice President of Interoperability, Cerner
“In recent years, advancements in health IT have focused more on supporting the safety net, as the needs of complex and vulnerable patients can’t be met at any single point of care, and care teams supporting these individuals are stretched thin. Health IT extends the abilities of physicians, nurses, and other care providers to put these patients on the path to better health. Every day at Collective, we’re fortunate to see how health IT, done right, can work for the good of every patient.”
Collective Medical
“I am passionate about health IT because I am inspired to make our health system work better for future generations, where topics like interoperability and data exchange become so seamless and patient-centered that we’re not even talking about it anymore and where my kids will have access to their health record when, where and however they need it.”
Kelly Leo, Director, Strategic Marketing, Change Healthcare
“We know that to improve patient outcomes and increase efficiencies, caregivers must have access to current, accurate health and social data that empowers smarter, whole-person care. We envision a future where health IT companies continuously collaborate to achieve true interoperability across all health care settings. When health IT providers work together, we can create a meaningful difference in the lives of everyone who needs care.”
WellSky
“The mission of CommonWell—getting patients their medical records—has been core to their operations since day one. It’s the right side of history to be on and they’ve enabled us, at Particle, to begin opening a new door for Americans to live healthier, more informed lives by safely getting people’s medical data to the organizations they choose.”
Troy Bannister, Founder and CEO, Particle Health
[Health IT] allows me to e-file documents into the EHR so our clients can focus more on patient care. It offers so many opportunities to help our clients find solutions. Like interoperability, it evolves over time to better fit the needs of our providers.
Various Associates (see video), DataFile Technologies
“Access to a patient’s health history helps care teams deliver quality care. Our EHR solutions give healthcare providers the interoperability tools to access patient health data regardless of where care occurred. With the average person seeing more than 18 care providers in their lifetime, this is more important than ever to help advance community healthcare.”
Robert Cruz, Chief Technology Officer, CPSI
“In today’s connected world, innovation that solves tough challenges for providers and patients is going to be paramount. Our solutions have to work together and exchange information seamlessly.”
Kali Durgampudi, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Greenway Health
