Monthly Archives: June 2020

Time to reimagine industry conferences

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Large gatherings such as sporting events and concerts seem impossible to return prior to a vaccine and treatment for the coronavirus. Yet alternatives are being considered and reimagined. In the business world, industry conferences and conventions are in that same large gatherings bucket. So, they too should be reimagined.

Scientists and public health officials would say do not plan on these types of events until sometime in 2021. I do not want to minimize the challenges and complexities involved in these decisions and plans. But I do believe that leaders everywhere must trust science to keep people safe.

The American Telehealth Association (ATA) held a virtual conference last week. Of course, if any organization should be able to successfully pull off a virtual conference, it is the people who do telehealth.

But I am fresh off an entirely different virtual conference experience and I could not be more impressed with what they did and what is possible. It was not an organization in the tech industry but rather a faith community. I am a Unitarian Universalist (UU) and our annual church conference (General Assembly or GA) is held each June. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) board made the decision in March to not cancel but rather to go all virtual.

This meant they had to pull off a five-day conference that included large general sessions, discussion/debate on resolutions, delegate voting, workshops, poster sessions, worship services and special collections – all virtual. The result was higher attendance (close to 5000 registered) than many in-person conferences in past years, education and discussion on everything from spiritual practices, to congregational growth, to anti-racism organizing, and to getting out the vote in November. While people missed the hugs and hallway conversations, it was an overall positive experience for thousands of UUs.

That same UUA leadership had the foresight back in April to advise all congregations to plan on virtual Sunday services through May 2021. UU congregations all over the country are adapting to virtual services as the new normal and they are doing so in varying and creative ways. Many congregations report higher “attendance” than in the past.

The lessons are clear – it is time to reimagine and embrace the virtual world we now live in where we can. If planned and executed right, little is lost and much is gained.

So back to our health IT industry. What does the typical lineup of Fall conferences look like? Continue reading →

Physical distancing: finding our way

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We saw our grandkids again on Sunday. A small family get together for Father’s Day and our youngest grandchild’s 4th birthday. As we all find our way and do our best to minimize our risks of COVID-19, being able to hug my grandkids brings me great joy and is one of the things I have missed the most these past few months.

There is a reason many people want to refer to this new practice as physical distancing, not social distancing. We need each other. Social isolation is not healthy. Technology has helped but it is not the same. Just ask someone who said their final goodbye to a loved one on FaceTime or Zoom.

Living in Rhode Island, my husband and I have taken the shutdown very seriously. Governor Gina Raimondo got ahead of it early with the shutdown order and then a slow, phased reopening. From mid-March until a few weeks ago, we have mostly stayed home except for the weekly groceries, a few trips to the garden nursery and Home Depot, the occasional takeout order, and the daily dog walks.

We limited family visits to outside spaces at our homes at a distance and no hugs. We are gradually loosening up on the hugs. As we all learn more about how the virus is transmitted, spending time with close family who have also been strict during this period seems reasonable.

My 4-year-old grandson first told me back in April on a family Zoom session that he was going to have a birthday parade, no gifts, and a small cake only for his mom, dad, and sister. It was sad to hear him explain this at such a young age but I thought it was probably a reasonable plan. The idea of a parade was exciting to him. But two months later we decided it was ok to do the backyard immediate family only gathering, which was 12 adults and the 4 young cousins, aged 4 through 7. The grandkids gave us hugs and briefly sat on our laps. It was good to not feel like we were all radioactive.

The slow opening of our own circles is a challenge we all must deal with. I do not take this virus lightly. I read a lot and listen to many interviews and podcasts with experts. I try to be as informed as possible about the science. And I take cues from my sister who has a public health background and my daughter who is an NP and has cared for COVID-19 patients in Boston. Continue reading →

More podcast recommendations – going beyond HIT

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If you are like me, there is no gym time and no commute time these days. But there are still ways to get exercise every day. My long daily dog walks are one of those times when I try to get smarter. And podcasts are the means.

I have made podcast recommendations in the past and still have my favorite “go to” for health IT but I have added a few more in recent months.

ThisWeekinHealthIT – this has been my “go to” podcast since Bill Russell started it in 2018 as a weekly show. In 2019 he went to a twice weekly format. And during the pandemic, he went to daily podcasts with an excellent and very timely Field Report series – interviews with health IT leaders on how they are managing during this crisis and preparing for recovery and the new, better normal. Many great lessons and insights have been shared the past few months. Kudos to all his guests for their incredible work and making time to share with others. And kudos to Bill for his ongoing commitment to developing next generation leaders. My firm, StarBridge Advisors, is a proud sponsor of the show and share in that commitment.

Digital Health Leaders – this is a relatively new podcast series started by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) a few months ago. Russ Branzell, CHIME President and CEO, interviews IT leaders on a range of topics.

Relentless Health Value – this is a podcast I first became acquainted with when I was asked to be a guest back in 2018 – my episode was “The Evolving Role of the Chief Information Officer”. But IT is not the focus. Stacey Richter, a healthcare entrepreneur and innovator, has hosted the show since 2014. The website describes the podcast this way: “The show that connects you with other health care leaders trying to achieve the quadruple aim of improving population health and patient and provider experience, while managing costs effectively. Our mission is to help transform health care by breaking down silos and connecting disconnected parts of our industry. The first step toward collaboration is simply knowing what others are working on and wrestling to overcome.” So, if you want the big picture on healthcare and not just IT, add this one to your list. And like Bill, Stacy has a special COVID-19 series as well.

And continuing down the beyond IT path, I have recently started listening to a few other ones: Continue reading →

At the intersection of racism and healthcare

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It has been two weeks since George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis. Since then, millions of people have joined protests in major cities and small rural towns around the world to make their voices heard. They have said enough is enough, racism must end and real change is needed.

When the protests end and our national focus begins to shift, we can not go back to business as usual. The statements of support and solidarity made by so many these past two weeks must turn into action.

At the local, state, and federal level we must hold our government leaders accountable for change and exercise our right to vote for those committed to change. With the focus on police brutality, we are beginning to hear some major cities announce planned changes in policing. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has introduced his “Say Their Name” agenda to reform policing in New York state. House and Senate Democrats have introduced the Justice in Policing Act.

In recent days, we have seen many “white coat” rallies as well – White Coats for Black Lives. My social media feeds are filled with pictures and stories of hospital staff rallies – many of them organized by the residents. Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, UMass Memorial in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Henry Ford Health System in Detroit were just a few of them. And these are hospitals who saw thousands of COVID-19 patients in recent months. Truly our healthcare heroes.

In 2014, after Michael Brown was shot by police in Ferguson, we saw similar support. Students at 70 medical schools around the country organized a national white coat die-in saying it was an “important time for medical institutions to respond to the violence and race-related trauma that affect our communities and the patients we serve”. They lay down for fifteen and a half minutes. Eleven minutes to represent the number of times that Eric Garner said “I can’t breathe” as he was in a choke hold by police in New York City and four and a half minutes to represent the four and a half hours that Michael Brown’s body lay in the street after being shot by a police officer. And yet here we are in 2020.

These hospital staff rallies along with the many statements of support from hospital and health system CEOs are an important show of support but we also need action and attention to health disparities. I want to share two heartfelt CEO statements that were the most impactful for me. They are from healthcare leaders I have worked with and greatly respect. Continue reading →

Be a part of the change

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I have watched with sadness, anger, and disappointment the events of the past week. Amid a public health crisis and a historic level of unemployment that are disproportionately impacting people of color we saw captured on video the death of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis.

I am a liberal white woman. I grew up in a white neighborhood in Northeast Minneapolis. As a young adult, I lived in South Minneapolis and later North Minneapolis – much more racially diverse parts of the city. My sister and brothers, nephew and nieces, and their children all still live in the Minneapolis area. My nephew has lived for over 20 years just off Lake Street in South Minneapolis where nearly every business has been damaged or destroyed in the past week. But this destruction was not limited to Lake Street which you saw on the news. It happened all over the Twin Cities area as people intent on causing trouble and more divisions scattered to set fires and smash windows. As of late Sunday night, 270 businesses had been damaged or destroyed. It broke my heart to see that beautiful, diverse city so broken. And then to see that destruction spread in other cities over the weekend.

I am old enough to remember the riots and social unrest of 1968. I came of age during the women’s movement in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. I have been to my share of peaceful marches and protests over the decades starting with an anti-war demonstration in 1970 on the University of Minnesota campus with one of my high school teachers and several classmates. In recent years, my husband and I have showed up for women’s rights, gun control, and immigration reform.

While I have experienced sexism, I also experience white privilege. I try to understand racism and its impact on people, but I cannot fully understand what it is like to be a person of color in America.

As a citizen, it is our right to peacefully protest. Thousands of people are in the streets in every major city across this country peacefully protesting racism and police brutality. A small number of extremists are turning these protests to violence and destruction each night.

We are seeing the best and the worst in people right now. Continue reading →