Tag Archives: Healthcare

The beginning of a new year is exhilarating. Not only is it a “fresh” calendar but the practice of listing our resolutions gives us a chance to reflect on the previous year and identify what worked in our personal lives and businesses, and what we want to enhance in the next year. For companies in data-reliant industries, an overarching resolution that appears year after year is to better handle data integration, data management and use of data to drive business decisions. Here are some of the specific new year’s goals for several industry segments. 1. Healthcare: Connect disparate systems to improve …

Members of both the Health Group of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the Georgia Chapter of HIMSS and many others joined together in the Senate Chambers of the Georgia State Capital in Atlanta today for the reading of Senate Resolution 604 which resolve that January 25, 2018 was to be recognized as Health Information Technology Day! A small leadership team was presented with the proclamation and then spoke about Atlanta branded as “The Nation’s Health IT Capital” with over 250 companies in the area. Following the ceremony, there was a luncheon with a fantastic panel covering the topic of cybersecurity within …

The end of 2017 is near but it is only the start of the digital transformation journey affecting both healthcare and life sciences industries.  Let’s wrap up this series and paint the vision for this transformation journey. Below I’m sharing again the videos we referenced along the way: Data Experts Provide Freedom Secure and Compliant for Peace of Mind Improve Productivity and Simplify Operations so you can Focus Turn Data into Value for Insight There are many ways to address this profound evolution affecting these two industries and potentially the health and wellness of patients and populations.  Have you considered how these transformational opportunities …

The word “insight” means different things to different people and is defined as “the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing”. Some think of eye catching charts and visuals are the best way to gain insights. In fact, data visualization tools are just one piece of a comprehensive business intelligence strategy. You have to be sure the data supporting the visuals is complete and of high quality first. Dirty or incomplete data can turn your “insight” into a trap that could have devastating impacts on research, treatment or operations, a textbook “garbage in, …

When someone tells me that we are about to see “the greatest” or “the largest,” of anything, I tend to be skeptical. However, I have to agree with Research Analyst Michael Caton of the Aberdeen Group when he says that we are about to see one of the most dramatic IT infrastructure shifts in the past twenty years. In The Great Middleware Transition, the Aberdeen Group reveals that 76 percent of organizations will be replacing their integration middleware, and 70 percent of those organizations will adopt cloud-based integration solutions. There are a number of factors driving this push to redo …

In the previous blog, I outlined my plan to discuss digital transformation in four parts, Freedom, Peace of Mind, Focus and Insight. As those of us in the United States prepare to celebrate our country’s Independence Day on July 4, the word “freedom” is top of mind. It seems fitting to offer the next installment in my blog series at this time.  Let’s consider freedom from a different perspective – how digital transformation enables freedom. Freedom is defined by dictionary.com as “the power to determine action without restraint.” With legacy systems bounding information within them and an overwhelming amount of …

Ask multiple healthcare providers “what is value-based care,” and the answers likely will vary based on the individual provider, his or her specialty or type of healthcare system in which he or she practices. Yet, a key point that remains steadfast regardless of the care setting is that the patient is at the center of a value-based healthcare delivery system. Value-based care focuses on quality and outcomes and puts the patient at the heart of the healthcare experience. The shift from a fee-for-service model that pays providers based on volume to a value-based reimbursement method that rewards quality over quantity …

“Sooner or later, everything old is new again.” Stephen King fans may recognize the quote from his book Colorado Kid. Although the book and the author have nothing to do with healthcare, the sentiment is applicable to healthcare today. Medical care in our country in the early 1900s relied very much on a single doctor listening carefully to a patient describe their symptoms. Because the doctor probably treated the patient – and his or her family – for most of their lives, past illnesses, chronic conditions and injuries were known to the doctor.  In addition to the medical history, the …

The landscape for rapid decision-making capabilities is accelerating across healthcare and life sciences, but the ability to do so is not keeping up with the pace of need.  Historical data is available but not often accessible given it’s trapped in legacy applications, while new data sources, such as those generated from devices like FitBit, are becoming available but far from being integrated with existing patient records.  The challenge organizations are facing is one that requires a strategic vision with an eye on digital transformation as the engine to make change. Over the next few months, I’ll cover several concepts that …

The Telephone Game is a great icebreaker for parties, company retreats or classrooms. The rules are simple: The group stands in a line or circle, with everyone close enough to whisper into each other’s ear, and the person at the beginning of the line whispers a phrase or word into the next person’s ear. The game continues until the message has been passed along to everyone. The phrase heard by the last person in line is rarely the same one uttered by the first person – illustrating how information is transformed by factors such as personal experience, perception, listening skills …