My Heroes

Finding your passion

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One piece of advice I give young people is that they don’t have to decide what they want to do for the rest of their life at age 22. Just think of all the jobs that didn’t exist 10 years ago and what might exist 10 yearscanstockphoto19577734 (1) finding passion from now.

As we acknowledge the nurses among us for National Nurses Week, think how much the nursing field has changed over the years and how many opportunities and different paths nurses can take these days. There is a growing need for nurses with informatics training but that is just one possible path among many.

My oldest daughter is a nurse practitioner. But she didn’t start there when she went to college. She got her undergraduate degree in hotel and restaurant management with a minor in business. She wanted to do travel and tourism – and see the world. On graduation day she looked at me and said, “Mom, I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life that’s meaningful, but I don’t think it’s travel and tourism”. I looked at her and said, “Just get a job and then figure it out”. That was the response of a parent having just put their oldest of two children through college and anxious for her to get started in the full-time work world. Can all you parents of young adults relate? Or did I sound like a callous and unsupportive parent?

She floundered for a year or two after college with a couple different jobs including work in the travel industry for a short time. But she started thinking early on after graduation about becoming a nurse. Whenever she talked to me about it, I told her she’d be a great nurse – super organized, able to multi-task better than anyone I knew, with fabulous people skills. But I also told her that she’d have to buckle down and study the sciences if she wanted to be a nurse.

She considered her options and decided to pursue a combined nursing / nurse practitioner program getting her second bachelor’s degree then her masters. She had found her passion! Continue reading →

Polar vortex – yet hospitals remain open

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10 states in the Midwest cancelled postal service. Schools were closed for days. Transportation was slowed due to the bitter cold. The frigid cold was blamed for at least 9 deaths. If you live in one of theopen states that had temperatures as cold as -25 or -35 with windchills lower than -50 and you could stay inside or work from home, you probably did. But hospital employees in all those states did what they do every day. They somehow made it into work and cared for others. Because hospitals never close. People need them even more at times of extreme weather conditions.

I grew up in Minnesota and except for a few years in the 1990’s, I have always lived in the north. Growing up, we had many bitter cold days and many feet of snow every winter. I remember back then trying to get my head around the concept of windchill when I first heard a number like -60. Growing up in Minnesota you learned to deal with cold and snow. But this is different. With global warming (yes, I believe it is real and we must address) we now see very extreme temperatures in both summer and winter and more frequent, more dangerous and disastrous storms.

I’ve written about every day heroes in previous posts. Hospital employees are certainly on that list! In appreciation of all they do every day, even on the coldest of winter days, I share again a post I wrote a few years ago while serving as a CIO in Michigan after a major blizzard.

Snow days and everyday heroes

If you live in the north, you know about snow days. Your kids feel cheated if there aren’t a few each winter. Parents juggle to find backup plans when school closings are announced. If your employer is quick to close when there is a major storm or tells you to work from home you may breathe a sigh of relief.  You’re just glad that you don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to shovel out your driveway and try to get down your unplowed street.

But hospitals never close, nor can they or should they. The everyday heroes I want to recognize are everywhere at the University of Michigan Health System. The nurses who pulled a double shift because their colleagues couldn’t make it in to relieve them. The support staff throughout the hospital who ensure patients are cared for, in a safe, clean environment. The diligent teams who ensure there are meals for patients and staff.  There are too many to mention but just think about all the hospital staff you see on a normal day – they all keep the hospital operating like nothing happened.
Continue reading →

Widen the circle

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Thanksgiving is often that day when we gather with family and friends, eat too much, maybe argue over politics, watch a lot of football, and generally have a good time being in the presence of people we carecanstockphoto21096824 (1) starts with you about. It’s that day when families widen their circle, make room at an already crowded table for friends and friends of friends who have no family nearby to be with.

I remember the last several Thanksgivings well. They represent our growing family.

Two of them were in Ann Arbor on long distance “baby watch”. In 2012, I was on my own having just started a new CIO position at Michigan Medicine. I was anxiously awaiting the call from our daughter in California to say she’d gone into labor and that I should get a ticket and fly out. It was our first grandchild. The plan was to help her out for the first week when they came home from the hospital. A couple I had met at church invited me to join their family on Thanksgiving as I waited. Two years later our second grandchild was due in Boston. Our best friends in Ann Arbor graciously invited my husband and I to join their family for Thanksgiving dinner as we waited for that call.

2013 was the only time we had our family at our Ann Arbor house – they travelled from both coasts for Thanksgiving. We also celebrated our grandchild’s first birthday together that long holiday weekend. And for my football fan son-in-law who grew up wanting to play for the University of Michigan, I bought tickets for everyone to go to the Michigan-Ohio game at the big house. A year to remember!

Over the next few years we became part of our Boston area daughter’s big extended family of in-laws. Now that my husband and I live in New England again and our California daughter and son-in-law live nearby, we have all been welcomed into the Boston area clan at the holidays. This Thanksgiving we were again part of that family but on a smaller scale. Continue reading →

Making time to give back

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As I noted in my recent post on tips for business travelers, I’ve been on the road a lot lately. Some of that travel has been for what I call “give back time”. Over the years I’ve participated on various boards andcanstockphoto28010569 (1) giving back committees, volunteering my time to advance our industry.

But it’s not all about giving – I get plenty from it as well.

I’m in my sixth year on the AAMI board. For this second three-year term, I’ve also been a member-at-large on the executive committee which means an extra day of meetings twice a year and more materials to review beyond the core board work.

As part of the AAMI board I have had the opportunity to get to know a diverse set of senior leaders in the medical technology industry. This includes the CEO of Steris, the Chief Quality Officer of BD, the Global Product Security & Services Officer for Royal Philips, and the Director for Health Technology Management for the VA – just to name a few. There are several board members from provider organizations including physician and health technology management (HTM) leaders. Along with a healthcare CIO on the board, Pam Arora from Children’s Health in Dallas, I offer a health IT and CIO perspective. Different than the contributions that other members make.

As a board we learn from one another and help advance the mission of AAMI which is to lead global collaboration in the development, management, and use of safe and effective health technology. Continue reading →

The changing face of leadership

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Ayanna Presley, Sylvania Garcia, Veronica Escobar, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Deb Haaland, Sharice Davids, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, and Lauren Underwood.canstockphoto354515 (1) diversity

These are names you may not recognize now. But you will. They are some of the more than 100 women elected to the House of Representatives on November 6th. Women have never held more than 84 of the 435 house seats according to a November 8th Washington Post article by Mary Jordan – Record number of women heading to Congress.

Ayanna Presley is the first black congressperson elected from Massachusetts. Sylvania Garcia and Veronica Escobar are both from Texas and the first Latino women elected to the House of Representatives. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the first Muslim women elected to the House. Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids are the first Native American women elected to the House; Sharice is the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in Kansas. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes is the youngest woman ever elected to the House at the age of 29.

Lauren Underwood is a 30-year-old nurse who will be the youngest black woman in Congress. In a district that is 86% white, she beat six men in the primary and unseated a four-term incumbent. Her campaign focused on healthcare.

Another woman to watch is Kyrsten Sinema. She now has a slight lead in the Arizona Senate race but it is still too close to call at the time of this writing. If she wins, she will be the first bisexual person elected to Congress.

Now that’s what I call a diverse group of determined women representing the next generation of leaders in Washington. Continue reading →

Everyday heroes among us

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In a week where we remember 9/11 and brace for a major hurricane expected to hit three east coast states, we are reminded of the many everyday heroes – emergency responders and healthcare workers.canstockphoto4424174 (1) families belong together

I’ve highlighted these heroes often over the years. I am grateful for all they do every day to keep us healthy and safe.

A year ago, I commented on the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. We now understand a year later that nearly 2,975 people lost their lives due to Hurricane Maria. 2,977 people died in the terror attacks on 9/11 seventeen years ago.

Pediatricians were the first to call attention to immigrant families being separated at the border earlier this summer. Over 2,600 children were separated from their families. As of August 30th, nearly 500 children were still separated from their families.

We’ve all seen stories of firefighters and healthcare workers who lost their homes to forest fires out west this summer yet showed up to do their jobs and help others. Dignity Health has 48 hospitals and numerous ambulatory facilities throughout California, Nevada and Arizona.  Lloyd Dean, president and CEO at Dignity Health, shared an important piece this week – “Coping with the Health Consequences of Wildfires”.

On a bright note, a team of creative and committed technologists using medical drone technology are delivering blood supplies and vaccines where roads are inaccessible in two African countries.

And we all probably know a nurse we’d consider a personal hero. Continue reading →

Heroes among us: pediatricians

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Pediatricians are one of the first and most trusted people you turn to when you have a new baby. They are a phone call away when your child is sick, and you don’t know what to do.  They give you advice on canstockphoto4424174 (1) families belong togetherhow to raise a healthy, well-balanced child.

Pediatricians and all healthcare professionals play an important role in our individual lives. They also play a critical role on a larger scale in our communities as they are some of the first to raise their voices and expose a public health issue.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the Flint, Michigan pediatrician and public health advocate who first reported there was lead in the drinking water. She went public with her research and faced backlash. She persisted. But despite the tireless efforts by her and many others, the Flint water crisis is a public health crisis that is still not resolved. She has just published a book called “What the Eyes Don’t See – A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City”.  A portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to Flint Kids.

Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), was one of the first to visit the facilities where thousands of children are being held after being separated from their parents as they cross our southern border seeking asylum. 70 children a day are being separated from their parents.

In a May 8th statement opposing the policy of separating families, the AAP stated: “Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians – protecting and promoting children’s health. In fact, highly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. This type of prolonged exposure to serious stress – known as toxic stress – can carry lifelong consequences for children.”

Clinical psychologists describe the human toll this crisis is taking on children. The trauma and long term psychological and physical effects. In a recent interview, Dr. Kraft said the “zero tolerance” policy separating families at the border “amounts to child abuse.”

Nearly 4600 mental health professionals and 90 organizations have signed a petition urging the president and the attorney general to stop separating families at the border.

The media are shining a spotlight on the crisis at the border day after day. Continue reading →

Celebrating, collaborating with, and learning from HTM

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Two weeks ago, it was National Nurses Week. This week is Health Technology Management (HTM) Week. If you work in a hospital, you may still refer to HTM as Clinical Engineering, Biomedical canstockphoto16403307 (1) HTMEngineering, or just Biomed. Regardless of what you know this department as, they are some of the unsung heroes in every hospital.

The nurses and physicians know these heroes well. The C-suite is recognizing their value more all the time. And IT departments are learning to work collaboratively with them as systems become more integrated.

These are the staff who design, install, maintain and repair the medical devices that connect to patients. Just think about a patient in an intensive care unit surrounded by all that equipment and all those connecting tubes and wires. If those of us in IT think we’re important and critical to the hospital, HTM staff are life critical to the patients.

As a CIO, I’ve always told my IT teams that we are part of the extended care team to emphasize the importance of our providing 24/7 support and excellent customer service. While we don’t touch the patient, the clinicians who do depend on the systems we provide and support. This is even more true for HTM staff.

AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) is a standards development organization and the professional society for HTMs. AAMI celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Its mission is to advance safety in healthcare technology.

While healthcare organizations recognized their HTM staff in various ways this week, June 1-4 will be a chance for HTM professionals to come together for education and networking at the annual AAMI conference in Long Beach. Continue reading →

Celebrate nurses, but more importantly listen to them

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May 6-12 is National Nurses Week. According to a Gallup Poll, nursing has been the most trusted profession for the past 16 years. It’s no surprise.Nurses Week (002)

Those of us with nurses in our family are grateful that there is someone we can turn to with health questions. They help us navigate complex healthcare systems when we have a worrisome condition and need to see specialists and subspecialists. I’m fortunate to have nurses in my family. I am grateful to them and know that I should never take them for granted.

As the President of the American Nurses Association, Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, said, “Nurses provide much more than bedside care. We advocate for patients, deliver primary care, meet the complex needs of patients with chronic conditions, volunteer for disaster relief efforts, and are a trusted voice in boardrooms across the country.”

When my daughter first considered a nursing career back in the early 2000’s, I was very supportive. I thought that with her personality, people focus, and an incredible ability to multi-task she would be an excellent nurse. I told her that she could take many different paths as a nurse over time. She already had a bachelors degree in Hospitality Administration/Management with a minor in Business, so she decided to attend a combined nursing/nurse practitioner (NP) program to get her BS in Nursing and her Masters in Science and Nursing.

She worked as a bedside nurse, first on a cardiac surgery stepdown unit and then on a cardiac surgery ICU. Her first nurse practitioner opportunity was working with patients who have atrial fibrillation (known as Afib). She later moved to orthopedics where she is now the Chief NP on a busy and growing inpatient ortho unit.

She balances clinical patient care with administrative responsibilities. And she is always looking at how to improve processes and care. Continue reading →

Technology making a difference at scale

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Post HIMSS18, there have been many recaps from people who attended. I won’t try to do that but have listed several of them at the end of this post under “resources”.  Instead, I want to share with you a keynote on the final day of the conference. It represents what is possible when a team of dedicated engineers set out to solve a real problem in healthcare at scale. In fact, as I listened, it seemed like the ultimate in “health IT connect” – the name I gave this weekly blog back in 2014.

Keller Rinaudo, co-founder and CEO of Zipline, captivated those still around on Friday morning with his keynote full of stories and video clips describing the first autonomous logistics system delivering blood and medical supplies to people in Rwanda and Tanzania. Or as one of my colleagues called it this week when we were talking about it – the “blood bomber”.

As their website says, “Zipline operates the world’s only drone delivery system at national scale to send urgent medicines, such as blood and animal vaccines, to those in need – no matter where they live.” The problem they are addressing is that “more than two billion people lack adequate access to essential medical products, such as blood and vaccines, due to challenging terrain and gaps in infrastructure.”  In his opening at the keynote, Keller showed a truck stuck in the mud on an impassable road and asked, “Why depend on roads?”

Zipline developed a solution to improve access to supplies “by flying over impassable mountains and washed-out roads, delivering directly to remote clinics”. Continue reading →