Yearly Archives: 2021

End of year thoughts and advice for 2022

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We are entering the third year of this pandemic. Vaccines have been available for over a year – a turning point we anxiously waited for as 2020 came to an end. But 2021 was not the turnaround year we had hoped for. Over 840,000 people have lost their lives in our country since the start of the pandemic – the majority of people who died of COVID since this summer were not vaccinated. Anti-vaxxers proudly proclaim their resistance and misinformation continues to spread. Our health system and healthcare workers are under incredible strain. Hospital leaders are pleading with their communities to get vaccinated and boosted.

It is hard to be optimistic at times.

Those who can continue to work remotely. Kids are in classrooms and used to wearing masks with parents and grandparents viewing school holiday concerts over Zoom. Families cautiously gathered over the holidays or changed plans at the last moment.

We crave normalcy and getting out in the world to do the things we enjoy – spending time with family and friends. live music, sports events, travel and more.

We tend to look ahead to the new year with hopes and dreams of a better year. We ask ourselves how can things get worse? We make resolutions.

David Muntz, my StarBridge Advisors colleague, recently wrote a blog post, “12 Steps to Prepare for 2022 – Big Challenges – Bigger Opportunities” that was far more than just a professional health IT perspective and advice. As this year comes to an end, I leave you with a few excerpts from his steps 1 and 12: Continue reading →

Thoughts on the Oracle acquisition of Cerner

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Without question, the announcement yesterday that Oracle is acquiring Cerner for $28.3 billion is the biggest health IT story of the year. I won’t speculate on what I don’t know. I’ll leave that to others. But I can

source: www.hitconsultant.net

speak from experience as a CIO who has worked with all the big EHR vendors over the years including Cerner, Epic, Allscripts and Meditech. I’ve talked with and at times commiserated with many CIO colleagues who have experience with some or all of these EHR vendors.

While Cerner clients are trying to figure out what this acquisition will mean for them, good or bad, I’ll go back to the basics. Over the years I’ve written several blog posts on vendor management. They all seem pertinent and good reminders for health IT leaders trying to sort out how to work with Cerner going forward and how to manage within their organizations as they are faced with questions this week that they probably can’t answer.

12 tips for effective vendor management outlines what to look for in your current and future vendors. If I were a Cerner client or contemplating a switch to Cerner, I’d pay particularly close attention to these tips:

  • A good product roadmap
  • More service than sales
  • Excellent customer service
  • Executive level relationship
  • Long term value for the investment

There will be much speculation and commentary in the coming days on what this acquisition means to Cerner clients and the health IT industry overall. At the end of the day, we must keep the Quadruple Aim in mind in all we do to serve our patients and our communities: enhance the patient experience, reduce costs, improve healthcare outcomes, and improve the clinician experience. That has never been more important than during this pandemic. Will Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner help or hinder? Will Cerner provide a superior, more reliable, more integrated EHR in 2022 and well into the future? Only time will tell.

Related Posts:

12 tips for effective vendor management

Keys to successful vendor management

What to expect from your vendors

Vendor relationship management revisited

 

On the other side of the digital front door – part 2

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My health journey continues with multiple focuses. And my journey through digital front doors continues as well. I wrote part 1 on this topic in early November when I was in the middle of various health and dental appointments and scheduling more. I also wrote about what I thought was an awesome example of how technology has evolved in “Patient friendly testing – yes, a positive story!” in September.  The end of that story was not so positive. More on that later.

Here are a few anecdotes from my recent experience:

Cataract surgery – I had my initial consultation appointment the end of November and have surgery scheduled for mid-February. Specialized eye drops were prescribed to start taking a few days in advance of the surgery. As soon as I left the doctor’s office, I received a text message that my eye drop prescription from my doctor was pending payment with this special pharmacy – for immediate delivery to my home I should click the link to pay $82.50. I was a little suspicious of a text asking for payment like that and knew I didn’t need to have the eye drops until February, certainly not immediate home delivery. I called the doctor’s office to confirm the text was legitimate and asked how to handle the timing of delivery. I was told I could just text back regarding delivery timing which I did and got a reply that they could do that. I thought great, there’s a person on the other end. But then I received several more automated text reminders to click the link so they could ship right away. Then they called me. I talked through the timing and gave them my payment info. Their proactive communication (and persistence) was a plus, but I was more comfortable with real-time communication to coordinate specific delivery schedule and payment.

Bone health – I had a virtual visit with a Nurse Practitioner from the Bone Health clinic at my primary hospital. This was part of follow-up from my fall and pelvic bone fracture in August. The virtual visit was easy to get into and very thorough. I learned that more and more elders are asking to be seen in person – not this one unless there is a reason to “lay hands on me”. Continue reading →

Developing next generation leaders (literally)

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Over the course of my 35+ year career in health IT management, I have led, coached, and mentored many IT professionals. And situationally I’ve mentored my adult daughters – meaning when they ask for advice. In doing so, I have found analogies with some of my mentees and coachees who are similar ages and at a similar stage in their career.

I am always happy and proud when I see any of them grow and develop, take on new opportunities, and progress in their career. And it’s nice to hear feedback on how I’ve helped on their journey as I continue to work with others.

Now we’re at the “literal” part in this blog post’s title – next generation leaders in my own family.  Both my daughters received awards this year from their employers recognizing their contributions and leadership. My oldest daughter, Katie Killinger, MSN, BSN, NP-C, is the Chief NP of Orthopedic/Spine Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. She received the second annual APP in Excellence Award which recognizes the important contributions Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) make to the hospital. My youngest daughter, Ann Ochiltree, works in the seafood industry and is the Sr. Manager, Executive Communications & Administration at Thai Union North America. She was recognized with the Big 6 Value Award – Innovation. I am very proud of both my daughters and love seeing the examples they are setting for their own young children.

To even mention my daughters here may be considered “parental bragging” as my husband calls it. But I mention them in a broader context of how leaders lead and influence in many different circumstances. Continue reading →

With gratitude – family says it all

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I’m challenged to write something brand new on gratitude this Thanksgiving week even though this has been a far better year than 2020. At the same time, it has not been as positive and as “back to normal” as we had all hoped as COVID cases surged over the summer. So, I went back to my 2020 post to see how I had reflected on gratitude a year ago at a time when we weren’t gathering as families the same as we are now. I share it again here as some things haven’t changed.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our immediate family this past Sunday at our new house. My two daughters, their husbands, and four grandkids. One of my daughters has in-laws in Florida so she and her family will travel there for the holiday. We now live within half hour of our other daughter and her in-laws live near her. We will celebrate with all of them on Thanksgiving as we have done many years in the past.

While my husband is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister, if I suggest we say something before dinner at a special family gathering, he will often pass it over to me. This year it was simple. I asked everyone to hold hands (as the grandkids wondered what I was doing) and I commented on family being together again and that I was thankful for each and every one of them as I looked each one in the eye around the table. The adults know they are my “big rocks” as Stephen Covey would describe. And someday the grandkids will understand that as well.

Being together with family says it all. I am truly grateful that we didn’t lose anyone to COVID, that we are fully vaccinated and that we can all be together again.

May you share similar love and gratitude with those closest to you this Thanksgiving 2021. As my StarBridge Advisors colleague, David Muntz, likes to say – “let the season of gratitude begin”.

Related Posts:

Treasuring family after a long year

The year we meet again

Family first

 

CHIME21 recap and CIO perspectives

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about FOMO – what I felt about not going to the CHIME Fall Forum this year. After all, I had not been to either HIMSS or CHIME to see colleagues since spring of 2019. Being in-person with colleagues I’ve come to know well, like a lot, and respect even more, was something I had looked forward to. So yes, I missed reconnecting in-person after all this time. But I am grateful to get some of the content and perspectives from the forum second hand through trusted sources.

It’s no surprise that Bill Russell has dropped a series of excellent podcast interviews with some of the leading healthcare CIOs as well as vendor experts in his Today in Health IT podcast special series he calls “Interviews in Action”.  It includes 10 interviews at CHIME, 8 at HLTH, and 5 from the Sirius Healthcare 2 Healthcare Event. Each one is no more than 15-20 minutes long so perfect for a brisk one-mile walk. Learn from CIOs such as Donna Roach of University of Utah Health, Stephanie Lahr of Monument Health, Dr. Zafar Chaudry of Seattle Children’s, and Scott Joslyn of UC Irvine.

Through the HealthsystemCIO.com recap of CHIME21, Kate Gamble covered several topics highlighting presentations from more of my favorite CIOs:

Whether you are a CHIME member who didn’t attend the Fall Forum or someone who just wants to learn from some of the best IT leaders in the industry, I encourage you to check out all these resources.

STEM or not, own your career

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Did you know that November 8th was national STEM day? I admit that I didn’t realize it until I was tagged in a comment on a LinkedIn post about national STEM day. Geeta Nayyar, SVP Executive Medical Director at Salesforce, shared some important but disappointing statistics on women and STEM in that post. While women make up about 47% of the total workforce, she notes that we are statistically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – STEM fields. Women make up only 29% of the STEM labor force, 19% of STEM company board members are women, and among STEM industry CEOs, only 3% are women. No wonder I so often am the only woman in the Zoom room when talking with technology firms. We can and must do better.

In her post, Geeta encouraged people to tag inspiring women leaders they know. I’m grateful and humbled that Linda Stotsky, Content Marketing Strategist at Boston Software Systems, tagged me and several other women in her comment.

I have long been a proponent of more women going into STEM fields and have willingly shared my own stories. I started out as a programmer in the early 1980s and then moved into health IT management for the rest of my career – a field that has been male dominated. I recall a long stretch in the late 1980s when I was the only woman on an all-male IT leadership team and the challenges I faced. Challenges I overcame and that I have helped other women overcome since then.

I was honored to be one of the first women interviewed for the new podcast series, The Game-Changing Women of Healthcare, produced by The Krinsky Company. In this interview I share stories and lessons from my career, give career advice, and provide tips for developing next generation leaders.

As I always say, you have to own your own career and be open to the possibilities. Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace and the possibilities are unlimited. If a STEM career is right for you, go for it. Be sure to find role models and mentors who can support you and help you overcome the challenges you may face.

Related Posts:

Make career choices right for you

10 tips for next generation leaders

Career advice revisited

When to use a career coach

On the other side of the digital front door

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Being on the other side of health care delivery is always an eye opening experience as to the progress we’ve made with technology and making it easy for our patients, and how far we have yet to go.

Now that I have more flexibility in my work schedule and we’re past the house move, I’m taking time to prioritize my own health. The newest health issue I’m addressing is cataracts in both eyes. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the ophthalmic practice in the area who my eye doctor referred me to has a patient portal link on their website. As I waited on the phone to make an appointment, I perused the website. I thought it was odd that the portal had the same name as my health system’s portal. When it was my turn to talk to someone, they told me my new address asking me to confirm it. I had just updated it with my health system on the patient portal last week. So I asked how they, a separate ophthalmic practice knew. They said the patient portal showed it based on my phone number. Turns out it is the very same portal as my health system. I asked if they were part of the system and they said no but they share the portal. Guessing there is more to the story – possibly an Epic Community Connect relationship?

We scheduled the initial consultation appointment at a location reasonably close at the end of November vs one at an even closer location at the end of January. But my positive response to this encounter quickly took a step backwards. As they described my next steps pre-appointment it included writing down two fax numbers. One to give my eye doctor so they could send a report from my last eye exam. And a different one to give my PCP so they could send a referral. When will healthcare finally retire fax machines??

The fact that I can remember my patient portal password means I’ve become a regular user. And that means I’m taking care of my health. Due to my injury in August, I have multiple ortho appointments and now weekly physical therapy visits.

I was late to my first physical therapy appointment due to mistakenly thinking the e-checkin on the portal would be quick. Continue reading →

FOMO

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As I hear recaps of the HLTH 2021 conference in Boston last week and see colleagues posting about the upcoming CHIME Fall Forum, I admit I have a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out). The HLTH conference was never on my radar given my work and moving schedule though it was nearby. I had looked forward to attending the CHIME Fall Forum in San Diego this coming week and seeing colleagues in person after all this time with only virtual events. But for several reasons, I won’t be attending.

John Lynn with Healthcare IT Today and Bill Russell with Today in Health IT provided highlights of the HLTH conference for those of us not attending. I expect Bill will do the same during the CHIME Fall Forum between daily recaps and live interviews while there.

There will be the usual excellent keynote speakers and track sessions with members presenting at CHIME. One of the highlights I am sorry to be missing will be Wednesday’s pre-forum session – “CHIME’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Retreat”. It will include speakers on “Unpacking Identity and Bias” and a panel session with CHIME members titled “Sharing DE&I Successes, Challenges and Next Steps”.  As a member of the CHIME DE&I committee, I value the connections made and candid conversations we’ve had in the planning of these sessions. We are continually learning from one another on this journey. It was after watching/listening to the DE&I session at the virtual CHIME Fall Forum a year ago that I decided to join this committee and help with this important work finding yet another way to get involved and give back.

Virtual events have been abundant and gotten better over the past 20 months as organizers adapted to the tools and speakers got used to monitoring online chats and Q&A vs interacting with live audiences. Continue reading →

What I learned this week

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When I’m stuck and don’t know what to write about, to trigger ideas my husband asks me “what did you learn this week?”. As I wrote in last week’s blog post, it’s handoff time as my interim CIO engagement at Boston Children’s comes to an end. The past 4 days was a packed schedule for the new CIO, Heather Nelson, and me. A good amount of time was in standing meetings already on the calendar where Heather got to meet individuals or groups in the IT department as well as some senior leadership meetings. In all the non-meeting time, (the white space on the calendar), I inserted sessions for just the two of us to go through the lengthy 10-page transition outline I had prepared.

Heather joked each day about being a sponge and wringing it out at night to start again the next day. She now has multiple lists of to do’s and discussion items for others as she gets started. Her priority in the coming weeks will be listening. What did Heather learn this week? A lot!

What did I learn? Through these standing meetings and handoff discussions I learned how much more there is to do that I didn’t have the time or opportunity to focus on. At one point I told Heather that maybe I’d write about “regret” this week. She was quick to say, no, look at how much you got done in a short time. My CIO colleagues know that our work is endless. We just need to step back occasionally and appreciate what we have gotten done. That’s true for ending an interim engagement as well.

And I learned how much value there is to being in these standing meetings together as part of the handoff so I could debrief with Heather afterwards adding more context and color. Without getting too distracted, using Zoom chat during the meetings to clarify and add context to topics being covered was also a plus.

And during this very busy handoff week, I learned (again) that moving is indeed a stressor! Continue reading →