The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to begin online scheduling of medical appointments nationwide in January of 2017.

With the program, the VA will schedule primary-care appointments for more than 6 million patients through an app on their phones, tablets or computers, according to a San Diego Union-Tribune report.

In the future, VA officials plan to add appointments for optometry, audiology and mental-health.

Neil Evans, MD, chief of the office of connected care for the Veterans Health Administration said the move will be “a huge step forward” for the VA. “I think this is really, really, really important for us to be able to offer,” Evans told the Union-Tribune. 

Kathleen Frisbee, executive director for connected health at the VA’s office of connected care, added that the new software will open up in the agency’s health system for more public inspection as patients view open appointments and choose which times are best for them with the click of a computer mouse.

“I mean, we are exposing our availability to the world,” Frisbee said.

The Union-Tribune reported that for the new system, VA developers first planned to offer online requests for appointments rather than actual scheduling.

But vets who use the VA’s online portal, called MyHealtheVet, advocated for actual do-it-yourself online scheduling, Evans said. In fact, online scheduling was the most requested item of vets using the VA’s online portal.

The portal software cost $3.2 million, and runs on technology infrastructure from Agilex Technologies, now Accenture Federal Services, and the VA’s internal development.

Developing a more efficient scheduling system for veterans has been a sore spot for the VA in recent years.

In May, 2014, then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned after revelations that a VA hospital in Phoenix kept off-the-books lists for veterans waiting for care to hide the long appointment times — up to 115 days to see a primary care doctor — from federal managers overseers in Washington. Evidence emerged that the practice was more widespread.

In April 2016, in the face of growing doubts, the VA put on hold a $624 million contract awarded in August 2015 to Systems Made Simple and Epic to develop a new Medical Appointment Scheduling System. 

Healthcare IT News EHR Satisfaction Survey 2016
⇒ Comparison chart: How readers rated their EHR in 2016 vs. 2015
⇒ EHRs getting better? Readers rank them higher than last year in new survey
⇒ Health IT executives have a new favorite dirty word 
⇒ EHR interoperability: Ripe for disruption?

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Cerner and American Well partnered to integrate Cerner’s electronic health record portfolio with American Well’s telehealth platform.

The partnership will enable providers to manage care virtually from remote locations outside of physical healthcare offices.

The combined EHR-telehealth solution will enable patients to interact with the software through Cerner's HealtheLifeSM patient engagement portal, which is designed to provide access to health information, provider messaging and broad interaction with care teams.

American Well chairman and CEO Ido Schoenberg, MD, said in a statement that the partnership benefits the companies “joint health system clients,” as well as patients and providers.

"Cerner and American Well share the belief that all aspects of healthcare delivery should be unified, continuous and patient-centered,” Cerner vice president Don Bisbee added. “We're committed to developing a long-term strategy to align American Well's telehealth technologies, services and programs to deliver an enhanced user experience within the Cerner EHR and ecosystem." 

Healthcare IT News EHR Satisfaction Survey 2016
⇒ Comparison chart: How readers rated their EHR in 2016 vs. 2015
⇒ EHRs getting better? Readers rank them higher than last year in new survey
⇒ Health IT executives have a new favorite dirty word 
⇒ EHR interoperability: Ripe for disruption?

Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

When Healthcare IT News interviewed the winners of our Best Hospital IT Departments 2016 we also asked them which emerging technologies today have the greatest potential to improve healthcare in the future.

Their answers ranged from analytics to wearables – with chatbots, custom apps, mobile tools, population health platforms, sensing devices, speech recognition and virtual visits also on the list.

"It's the new tech associate: analytics," said Jon Brown, CIO at Mission Health System in Asheville, North Carolina (#5 Super hospital). "Sophisticated algorithms direct care without taking away a provider’s ability to put in judgment and not jeopardize a patient’s privacy and security in the process."

While Brown and Mission are tapping analytics to transition consumer and care process models in new ways, Mahaska Health (#2 Small Hospital) IT director Chris Hickie said population health tools enable value-based care and better decision about how to treat patients.

"Population health software systems and data warehousing are going to be a key technology for all healthcare organizations," Hickie said. "We're generating mounds and mounds of data and have been talking about this for years: meaningful use is enabling us to generate tons of data that will allow us to see this and analyze it and interpret it."

[Also: Post-EHR era: Buzzword or almost here? Best Hospital IT winners weigh in]

Just about any discussion of meaningful use, of course, leads to another emerging technological advancement, albeit one with its share of controversy or at least growing pains, that being interoperability.

In the case of Methodist Le Bonheur (#1 Super Hospital), interoperability is the underpinning for care continuity.

"We’re really focused on exchanging data, not just for meaningful use but in looking for opportunities to improve patient health in the community, including providers who serve underinsured and self-pay patients,” said Gayle Shepherd, director of consumer and physician innovation at Methodist Le Bonheur.

CIO Mark McMath added that the system is also putting considerable stock in Apple iPads, Watches and iPhones. With 90 percent of their doctors using Apple products, Methodist Le Bonheur created an algorithm that sits on top of its Cerner EHR to constantly survey patients and sends physicians an alert to their iPhone when something changes.

Indeed, several CIOs pointed to mobile health wares when asked about emerging technologies with big potential.

"I'm quite optimistic with the direction of mobile devices," said Alex Rodriguez, CIO of St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Kentucky (#4 Large hospital). "Once we can untether our clinicians from desktop units and carts and onto a true mobile platform, we can then obtain the next level of productivity from our nurses and physicians that strengthens the care of our patients."

Lucile Packard Children’s CIO Ed Kopetsky (#3 Super hospital) added wearables and sensing devices as changing the shape of healthcare moving forward.

"Today, almost all of healthcare is still location-based: you've got to come to the hospital or the clinic," Kopetsky explained. "In the future, we're going to be able to discharge patients as if they're in their bed, but on monitoring with a center that can pick up the alerts. Or we can do virtual visits with patients who don't need to come in but just need to show us their symptoms. For our patients, who in particular have long-term needs, this is phenomenal. For diabetes it's going to be a breakthrough.”

Custom apps and standardized interfaces topped the list of Tuality Healthcare CIO Sonney Sapra.

"Making apps specific to each specialty is important in getting the right info to the right doctor at the right time," said Sapra (#1 Medium hospital). "The easier we can make it on them, the better. Speech recognition can take place while a patient is there to get them involved in the documenting process."

And then there is the promise of technologies that teach providers more about patients than many ever thought possible — without the need to involve patients. Take chatbots, for instance.

"The world of the bots is coming," said Inspira Health CIO Tom Pacek (#3 Large hospital). "Chatbots are going to push the envelope of consumerism and help improve care as we can get a better understanding of our population based on what they tell Amazon and Google. The next wave is dealing with data from a social media perspective."

That will mean pulling information from bots and social crawlers into an EHR or database and then running analytics to learn about those patients from what they order.

"We’re going to start to understand why someone has a health condition so we can reach out in a non-threating way to help them deal with health issues in a proactive sense," Pacek said.

Bill Siwicki, Jessica Davis, Mike Miliard and Diana Manos contributed to this report.  

Healthcare IT News' Best Hospital IT Departments 2016: 
⇒ Meet the winners
⇒ CIOs reveal what makes an IT shop great 
⇒Interactive map: Best Hospital IT Departments 
⇒ See the people who make their IT departments winners

The Office of Inspector General has the National Institute of Health's security and data control in its crosshairs. Its recently released 2017 agenda highlighted the need to ensure protection and privacy of Precision Medicine Initiative volunteer data.

The 2016 fiscal year budget provided $200 million to NIH for PMI and more than 1 million volunteers will provide personal health information under the program to be studied by researchers. Official said securing this data is a high priority.

OIG also plans to audit HHS information security system security controls that track prescription drug disbursements. Officials will determine if these HHS applications – such as the network, tools and databases – meet federal information security standards.

Further, officials will also determine HHS compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services OIG Work Plan for fiscal year 2017 outlines both new and ongoing OIG projects within the HHS operations and programs.

"Our organization protects the integrity of HHS programs and operations and the well being of beneficiaries by detecting and preventing fraud, waste and abuse; identifying opportunities to improve program economy, efficiency and effectiveness; and holding accountable those who don't meet program requirements or who violate Federal healthcare laws," the report authors noted.

Also included in the plan are reviews to address issues with electronic health records. OIG will determine the extent of which providers in ACOs in the ASSP use EHRs for health information exchange to meet care coordination goals, as well as challenges to HIE like interoperability, financial barriers and information blocking.

Further, OIG will look at the U.S. Government Accountability Office's findings on improper incentive payments – the biggest risk for EHR incentive programs. OIG will assess CMS safeguards to prevent invalid meaningful use payments.

OIG will also audit providers who have received meaningful use payments to verify patient information is being properly protected.

Another important note from the report: OIG will review the FDA's plans to address the cybersecurity flaws in medical devices.

Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

Healthcare IT News EHR Satisfaction Survey 2016
⇒ Comparison chart: How readers rated their EHR in 2016 vs. 2015
⇒ EHRs getting better? Readers rank them higher than last year
⇒ Health IT executives have a new favorite dirty word 
⇒ EHR interoperability: Ripe for disruption?

Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Master decryption keys for the major ransomware strain Crysis were released on security blog BleepingComputer forum by a member on Monday. The user's post contained the master keys and directions on how it should be used.

Security firm Kaspersky Lab examined the master keys and determined their legitimacy, security expert Lawrence Abrams reported. The firm already used the keys to update its RahkniDecrytor program, which can be used to decrypt files of those infected with the Crysis virus.

Crysis was first discovered in February, but the frequency of attacks increased in June when it became the number one prevalent new ransomware. The strain is able to not only encrypt files and usernames, but actually copy and pull files from the network - placing healthcare organizations in the territory of an actual breach.

[Also: Meet the 'number one prevalent' new ransomware: Crysis]

Attacks started with the financial industry and quickly spread to healthcare and manufacturing.

The identity of the user who posted the keys is unknown, Abrams said. However, the fact that the user has intimate knowledge of the master decryption key structure, and that the keys were released as a C-header file indicate the user may be a Crysis developer.

"Why the keys were released is also unknown," he continued. "But it may be due to the increasing pressure by law enforcement on ransomware infections and the developers behind them."

Crysis victims can download the decryptor on Kaspersky's website, and once the program runs, users can follow the directions to decrypt files. With the release of the decryptor, victims can regain control of their data without paying the ransom.

Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

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Orange County, New York-based Horizon Family Medical Group has earned a 2016 HIMSS Ambulatory Davies Award of Excellence.

Horizon Family Medical Group, with more than 100 physicians and 40 locations in the Hudson River Valley, has demonstrated advanced use of health information technology to improve care.

HMFG was able to reduce its 30-day readmissions by 30 percent in just a year, thanks to its use of transition of care managers and an EHR-based tool that helped assess patients' risk status at the bedside. The care management tool helped standardize strategies for patient follow-up, appointment scheduling and care plan adherence monitoring.

The medical group also used clinical decision support and analytics to ensure high compliance with standardized care for drug and alcohol screening and weight management, reducing high alcohol consumption by 18 percent for at-risk patients.

Meanwhile it was able to increase provider time with patients increased by 27 percent for scheduled 15-minute appointments allowing more direct patient counseling.

"As an ambulatory care organization that has leveraged people process and technology to significantly reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, Horizon Family Medical group exemplifies how collaborative teamwork, effective planning and use of health IT can result in sustainable improvements in patient outcomes," said Jonathan French, senior director, health information systems, and the Davies Award program for HIMSS.

"Building a culture where good business results follow good medicine, we remain committed and enthused about technology, quality care, and lowering costs," said Horizon Family Medical Group CEO James Olver, in a statement. "We are delighted to share our story about the impact each group can have in a sustainable model."

Horizon Family Medical Group will be recognized in a ceremony at HIMSS17, which takes place Feb. 19-23, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.

The biggest public health concern in the U.S. is addiction, said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, in a massive report released Thursday. In it, he outlines the severity of substance abuse in the country, likens addiction to chronic disease and outlines how each healthcare stakeholder can work toward combatting the growing problem.

About 27 million Americans suffer with addiction problems - which includes alcohol, drug and prescription misuse and substance use disorders - and another 66 million partake in binge drinking, according to the report.

Further, 78 people die each day from opioid overdose. Murthy said despite these staggering numbers only 10 percent of these people seek treatment.

Key health IT components can address this 'treatment gap:' implementation of evidence-based prevention interventions, further use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, integration of behavioral health and general healthcare and the implementation of electronic health records, patient registries, computer-based educational systems and mobile applications.

"Use of Health IT is expanding to support greater communication and collaboration among providers, fostering better integrated and collaborative care, while at the same time protecting patient privacy," Murthy said in the report.

"It also has the potential for expanding access to care, extending the workforce, improving care coordination, reaching individuals who are resistant to engaging in traditional treatment settings and providing outcomes and recovery monitoring," he added.

Drug abuse costs $193 billion annually, while alcohol abuse has an economic impact of a staggering $249 billion, the report found.

Research on the neurobiology of substance abuse and addiction have revealed the impact on prevention methods, treatments and the crucial role of healthcare systems of addressing substance abuse disorders, the report said. However, there are a great deal of misconceptions and social stigmas around drug abuse.

"We must help everyone see that addiction is not a character flaw – it is a chronic illness that we must approach with the same skill and compassion with which we approach heart disease, diabetes, and cancer," Murthy said.

"Current health reform efforts and recent advances in technology are playing a crucial role in moving toward an effective public health-based model for addressing substance misuse and its consequences," he added. "But the healthcare system cannot address all of the major determinants of health related to substance misuse without the help of the wider community."

Murthy said he hopes the report will get the ball rolling for a culture shift on drug abuse, while destigmatizing addiction for it to be considered a chronic disease.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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Many organizations have asked me to comment on the impact of the Trump Presidency on healthcare and healthcare IT. I served the Bush administration for four years and the Obama administration for six years. I know that change in Washington happens incrementally. There is always an evolution, not a revolution, regardless of speechmaking hyperbole.

What am I doing in Massachusetts? I'm staying the course, continuing my focus on social networking for healthcare, mobile, care management analytics, cloud, and security while leaving the strategic plan/budget as is.

I have no inside information and no involvement with the Trump campaign/transition team. From talking to people in Washington and reading publicly available resources, I believe there are 10 themes that will guide us over the next two years.

1. It's likely that some corporate and personal taxes will be reduced, possibly increasing the funds available for innovation.
2. It's likely that some regulations will be simplified, possibly creating more free time/attention span for innovation.
3. It's likely that free market competition will increase and some of the political infighting around issues such as Medicare's inability to negotiate drug prices may dissipate. I'm hearing that Medicare may be encouraged to negotiate drug prices in the Trump administration.
4. As corporate taxes are restructured, we may see repatriation of funds currently sequestered offshore. The tax cost of bringing such funds back to the US today is 40%. It may be 10% in the near future.
5. Although much has been said about replacing the Affordable Care Act, it's likely that it will simply be amended to reduce the focus on health insurance exchanges. There will be no "public option" for health coverage. Private payers will be encouraged to offer products across state lines. Pre-existing conditions will still be covered. Children will be covered on their parents health plans until age 26.
6. Medicaid will be moved closer to the states. States will have more funds to invest in innovation. Since states will directly benefit from cost savings resulting from investments in innovation incentives will be aligned.
7. FDA scrutiny of new products may be streamlined.
8. FTC enforcement actions may be relaxed.
9. NIH funding may be cut and projects like the Cancer Moonshot, Precision Medicine, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation may be scaled back.
10. Most importantly, the transition from fee for service to value based purchasing will continue unmodified. This means that all the work we're doing to improve quality, safety, efficiency, patient/family engagement, and population health will still be high priorities.

I recently spoke with administrators in Washington and they reminded me that although political appointees all resign on January 20th, career appointees will continue doing the work already in progress. Regulation can be changed in the medium term, but legislative changes (even with a Republican House and Senate) takes a long time.

MACRA/MIPS is legislation. The Quality Payment Program is regulation implementing MACRA/MIPS. The career employees are on track to implement the Quality Payment Program as scheduled 2017-2019.

My advice is to remain agile, keep calm, and assume that many Obama era healthcare IT programs will persist. Focus on reducing total medical expense, measuring quality across the community, providing stakeholders with tools that are valuable to them, spreading the burden of data capture among teams of caregivers, and enhancing interoperability.

Working together and staying focused, above the fray of politics, we can make a difference.

This post first appeared on John Halamla's blog, Life as a Healthcare CIO.

Hartford, Connecticut-based Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has been achieved Stage 7 on HIMSS' Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model.

Specifically, Saint Francis is being recognized for its work driving collaboration between operational staff, IT experts and technology partners to improve internal interoperability in the service of better patient care.

The 617-bed hospital collaborated with two of its vendors to test workflow and data exchange between the technology systems, HIMSS officials say. Its IT team then worked with desktop, server and virtualization professionals to develop the application package necessary to deploy this functionality to all of the reading workstations in a uniform manner.

The teams also developed an application package that would allow for remote echocardiology reads.

"Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has implemented advanced capabilities that include capturing discrete data into the EMR from the cardiovascular information system and using RFID technology in the pharmacy medication dispensing process for the operating room," said John H. Daniels, global vice president, healthcare advisory services group, HIMSS Analytics, in a statement.

"They are experiencing some phenomenal revenue cycle benefits thanks to their focused attention on IT-enabled process efficiencies," he added.

HIMSS Analytics developed the eight-stage EMR Adoption Model as a way for hospitals to track IT maturity in comparison to other healthcare organizations nationwide. Just 4.6 percent of hospitals in the U.S. have achieved Stage 7

"Achieving EMRAM Stage 7 validates that we are using our technology to provide safer, more efficient, cost-effective and higher quality care for our patients," said Saint Francis President John F. Rodis, MD. "Our unified care transitions and enhanced communication between healthcare providers will result in better care for our patients."

Saint Francis Hospital will be recognized with its Stage 7 Award atHIMSS17, which takes place Feb. 19-23, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.

With the 2017 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition here before we know it, here’s a look back at what happened in Las Vegas last year during HIMSS16.

After a day of pre-conference symposia, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell kicked things off Monday evening with a keynote.

Burwell revealed that EHR stalwarts — including Cerner, Epic, Meditech and many others — had taken an interoperability pledge to support standardized APIs. AHIMA, HIMSS, Premier and several other organizations voiced immediate support of the HHS effort. 

When the show floor opened on Tuesday, innovation was everywhere. That lasted all week.

Here’s our comprehensive guide to product and vendor news, including moves by IBM Watson, Epic, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Xerox and dozens of others.

A first: HIMSS held its inaugural Women in Health IT reception and a roundtable discussion. HIMSS executive vice president Carla Smith recaps the conversation:

Our team of a dozen reporters and editors from both Healthcare IT News and its sister site Healthcare Finance live-blogged HIMSS16.

The top takeaways? The interoperability chase continues apace, Epic CEO Judy Faulkner opened up to the media, ONC stoked the FHIR, Mitt Romney told an exclusive HX360 lunch of executives that he was not running for president – but that any Republican would use tax credits to overhaul the Affordable Care Act if elected. Social media, meanwhile, was of course more prevalent than ever, with the optimistic buzz that healthcare will keep getting better and better. The complete summary of HIMSS16 major events. 

For 100 pictures that capture HIMSS16, check out the big gallery: 

As the week drew to a close, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, fresh from a late season drive to Super Bowl victory, took the stage to end HIMSS16.

Manning’s message: Revolutionizing healthcare is a mighty endeavor. "I've been on the receiving end of your efforts," the five-time MVP said on stage. "I can't even come close to doing what you do." Manning also joked that thanks to the catchy tune in his Nationwide commercials, people do not talk to him anymore. "They jingle to me." 

What are you most looking forward to at HIMSS17 when it takes place Feb. 19-23, 2017 in Orlando? 

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.

A new public-private partnership comprising more than 30 healthcare experts from Massachusetts will advise Governor Charlie Baker's administration on ways technology can help improve healthcare quality across the Commonwealth, reduce costs and increase job growth.

The council, an outgrowth of the Massachusetts Digital Health Initiative announced earlier this year, draws on dozens of leaders from tech companies, providers, payers, medical devices manufacturers, life sciences, academia and government to help Baker position the Bay State to capitalize on a digital health market estimated to reach $32 billion over the next decade.

"For Massachusetts to become a national leader in digital health, we need to continue to build on the momentum our Digital Health Initiative has already produced," Baker said. "This council will collaborate to move past barriers in the healthcare industry and solve significant challenges to make advances in patient care, lower health care costs, and address public health crises, like the opioid epidemic."

Baker, a former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, convened the first meeting of the Digital Health Council at the Massachusetts General Hospital Museum of Medical History and Innovation earlier this month, focusing on strategies to help Massachusetts grow its efforts in electronic health records, consumer wearables, data analytics, telemedicine and more.

"The digital health industry presents an enormous economic development opportunity for the entire Commonwealth," said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito in a statement. "The industry is poised to create jobs across the Massachusetts through its impact on patient care in community hospitals, potential for advanced manufacturing applications, and for our innovation hubs that span from Springfield to Lowell, to Worcester and New Bedford."

The Council will be co-chaired by Katie Stebbins, assistant secretary of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship at Massachusetts' Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and Jeffrey Leiden, MD, CEO of Boston-based Vertex.

Other members of the council, which will meet at least four times per year, and will be supported by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech:

• Jay Ash, secretary, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
• Scott Bailey, managing director, MassChallenge
• Jeff Bussgang, general partner, Flybridge Capital Partners
• Andrew Dreyfus, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
• Sandra L. Fenwick, CEO, Boston Children's Hospital
• Alan M. Garber, Provost, Harvard University
• Atul Gawande, MD, executive director, Ariadne Labs at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Louis Gutierrez, executive director, Massachusetts Health Connector
• John Halamka, MD, chief information officer, Beth Israel Deaconess System
• Kerry Healey, president, Babson College
• Colin Hill, Chairman, CEO, GNS Healthcare
• Keith A. Hovan, CEO, Southcoast Health
• Erin Jospe, MD, chief medical officer, PatientKeeper
• Stephen Kraus, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
• Laurie Leshin, president, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Travis McCready, CEO, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
• Alice Moore, undersecretary, Executive Office of Health and Human Services
• Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, president, Brigham and Women's Health Care
• Ed Park, executive vice president & chief operating officer, athenahealth
• Larry Renfro, CEO, Optum
• Martin Arnold Schmidt, provost, MIT
• Peter Sherlock, senior vice president, programs and technology, Center for National Security & director, MITRE Corporation
• Justin Steinman, chief marketing officer, GE Healthcare Digital
• Steven Strongwater, MD, CEO, Atrius Health
• Laurance Stuntz, director, Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech
• Marylou Sudders, secretary, Executive Office of Health and Human Services
• Steven Tello, senior associate vice chancellor for entrepreneurship & economic development, UMass Lowell
• David Torchiana, MD, CEO, Partners HealthCare
• Joel Vengco, CIO, Baystate Health
• Kate Walsh, CEO, Boston Medical Center
• Rick Weisblatt, chief of innovation and strategy, Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare

"We at MACP are honored to have led this outstanding public-private partnership toward accelerating the growth of the digital healthcare industry in the Commonwealth and are excited about the future growth of this segment of the innovation economy as the state takes this initiative forward to the next stage," said Leiden in a statement.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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Paying lip service to the concept of patient engagement is much easier than the reality of actually ensuring healthcare consumers are equal partners in their care. Equipping patients with the information and tools they need often requires fundamental rethinking of workflow, outreach and technology strategies.

In their HIMSS17 presentation, "The 'P' is for Participation, Partnering and emPowerment," Jan Oldenburg, principal at Oldenburg Consulting, and Mary Griskewicz, director of strategic sales at HIMSS will offer a talk – aimed at physicians, nurses and the C-suite – that seeks to demystify the process of an effective patient engagement strategy. 

They'll offer tips on creating a truly participatory healthcare system that involves patients and clinicians, judiciously deploying digital tools to help ensure patients are reached where and how they're most likely to respond.

Such systems do exist, here and there, at provider networks across the U.S. The goal of this session is to show what they're doing well – and the pitfalls they sidestep – as they work to build participation across process, policy, IT systems – and, importantly, attitudes on both sides of the doctor-patient equation.

Healthcare IT News asked Oldenburg, editor of the HIMSS book Engage! Transforming Healthcare Through Digital Patient Engagement for some perspective on the state of patient empowerment, and some strategies for doing it better.

Q. You've been working on patient engagement for a long time. How are are we doing nationwide (compared to, say, a few years ago) with empowering patients in their care? What are some continuing sticking points?

A.It is becoming mainstream to provide patients with access to their health data electronically and to accept that they will take a role in their own health – thanks in large measure to meaningful use rules and the widespread adoption of EHRs with patient portals. But simply making a patient portal available is a long distance away from building a delivery system that really focuses on empowering patients with the skills and knowledge to become partners in their own care – and until we shift the culture, beliefs, and systems that make it difficult for patients to fully participate in decision-making around their own care, we won't fully make this transition. I think we are much better than we used to be at understanding that patient engagement is a problem that requires both a high tech and high touch approach (to borrow from John Naisbitt). It requires us both to provide digital access to data and to support patients with in-person support and touchpoints – until we figure them both out, we won't really maximize the potential for helping patients change their lives.

Q. What are the successful providers doing right? What are some mistakes to avoid?

A. Successful providers understand that this change is far less about implementing a new system and far more about implementing a new culture. Success means moving away from the paternalism of "the doctor is always right" to a culture that embraces patients who ask questions and who come in with research. Successful institutions understand that everyone has a role in engaging patients: the scheduling clerks can mention that patients might be able to schedule appointments faster through the portal; the phlebotomists can mention that results are available faster through the portal than waiting for the postcard to arrive in the mail; the nurse who rooms the patient might mention that a summary of the doctor's orders will be available on the portal afterwards, etc. When the portal becomes embedded in the everyday operations of a clinic and everyone feels a part of its success – that's when it is most likely to be successful. Conversely, when everyone assumes that "Frank" or "Sally" is responsible for the portal's success or failure – that's when it is most likely to fail.
 
Q. How should technology fit into the equation? A starring role, or a supporting player? What sorts of tools work best?

A. Technology needs to fit the problem to be solved – and fit the individual with the problem. We fail when we try to apply the same solution to different problems, like the person with a hammer to whom every problem looks like a nail. In healthcare, we have often assumed that everyone responds to technology in the same ways. Further, we have also assumed that all severe diabetics or congestive heart failure patients will have the same reasons to change their behaviors. Technology will work best when it can help us match individuals to the solution that best fits their lifestyle and motivation. For some people, that will put technology in the starring role, for others, technology will be invisible. The key for technology to be effective is that it will match the person with information and tools that are most effective for that person's needs, processing style, and readiness to change.

Q. What about people and process – the "attitudinal and cultural barriers to participatory healthcare," as you put it. What are some keys to overcoming those?

A. This is such a hard question to answer, because people protect their current domains of expertise and power out of the fear that sharing them will reduce their authority, respect, and power. Making it safe to change is about showing people that sharing power and knowledge doesn't diminish them but enlarges them; that they have power in a whole different way. It also takes leadership, to model new forms of behavior that is participatory and egalitarian. It takes training, to help patients understand that it's safe to speak up and ask for what they need, that questioning is not just acceptable, but the best way to get optimal care.

Q. Do you believe most patients – especially those who might need to be paying close attention to their chronic conditions – want to be engaged, in your view? What are some keys to reaching those who would most benefit from engagement?

A. I'd like to suggest that the idea that "we" the healthcare system can "engage patients" starts us thinking in the wrong direction because it implies that engagement is something we can "do to" people. Engagement is always a choice that people make for themselves. We can create conditions that make them more or less likely to engage with us; we can be more or less engaging as individuals, as systems; we can create technology with features that are more or less engaging – but the choice of whether or not to engage is always the person's, not ours. This is one reason I have started to talk about "personal health engagement" rather than "patient engagement" because I think maintaining the focus on individual autonomy, choice, and intrinsic motivation is important.

At the same time, I think that most people want to be healthier. When you look at the list of things that people choose for New Year's resolutions, for example, the vast majority focus on health and lifestyle factors. Yes, people fall off the wagon, but most of the time it's because they don't know how to make or sustain changes, not because they don't want to make them. We in the healthcare system have done a pretty bad job of providing them with the tools they need to make the changes they want to make.

"The 'P' is for Participation, Partnering and emPowerment," takes place February 20, 2017, at HIMSS17, from 3-4 p.m in Hall F3 of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN 

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.

Inspira Health Network is currently in the process of building two gyms on its New Jersey campuses and developing a fitness app that patients and trainers can use to determine personalized exercise regimens.

The software captures patient generated health data from wearables and workout equipment, such as cardio machines. Users can also manually input old-fashioned types of exercise, including weight lifting repetitions, and trainers can verify that patients are doing what they're supposed to be doing, said Inspira (#3 Large hospital) CIO Tom Pacek.

Such data will ultimately be pulled into the EHR. Inspira is a Cerner shop, he said, undertaking an 18-month enterprise wide switch from 18 disparate platforms. 

New EHRs: A platform for innovation
Much like Inspira, three other health systems – Roper St. Francis and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford – are also harnessing their relatively new EHRs as a foundation for innovation.  

Lucile Packard (#3 Super hospital), for instance, earned a HIMSS Stage 7 award for ambulatory and inpatient within one year of implementing Epic, according to CIO Ed Kopetsky.

The team invented and put to market a continuous monitoring tool for Type 1 diabetics, Kopetsky added. 

"One of our physician fellows here worked with Apple and Epic to develop GluVue, a tool to continuously monitor blood sugar levels regardless of the patient’s location," Kopetsky said. "This technology replaces four to five needle sticks a day and data is sent every five minutes to our EMR and doctors. You can see patterns of glucose levels and we can actually intervene."

[Best Hospital IT 2016: CIOs divulge their worst nightmares]

Roper St. Francis (#5 Large hospital) went live with a Cerner EHR this fall, said CIO Keith Neuman.

"An integrated system is primary," Neuman said. "And then the ability to implement fresh technology in our environment that will allow us to more easily pivot toward where we need to go."

That new direction includes what Neuman described as an App Store-like scenario.  

"We want to provide that same kind of experience to our patients when they book an appointment or see a doctor or be there for follow-up," Neuman added. "Virtual visits and Open Table-like appointment scheduling, that sort of thing."

Mission Health (#5 Super hospital) is also ramping up its patient experience efforts with an unlikely technology: Microsoft Xbox. The game console, in fact, works with Mission's electronic health record software as well as an app, camera and microphone to comprise what CIO Jon Brown called "virtual sitters," that enable clinicians to communicate with patients from a central location rather than having to be in the room every time they get out of bed.

Not limited to large providers
Cutting-edge technologies are not the sole domain of large and super hospitals.

Mahaska Health Partnership (#2 Small Hospital) is also embracing innovation out of a spirit of necessity, using Raspberry Pi technology – inexpensive single-board computers – to create digital signage across the organization, IT director Chris Hickie said.

Meanwhile, when Mahaska built a new wing for surgery patients, Hickie said the IT team installed Apple TV in every room and integrated iPads with a third-party translation service patients can use.

[Best Hospital IT 2016: CIOs share secrets of managing a happy IT team]

Next up for Hickie and his team: MIPS and MACRA. "A big part of that for us is onboarding to patient-centered medical home in our medical group," Hickie explained. "I think that is going to have a large impact on our ability to drive toward increased value-based reimbursement."

Back at the gym
Inspira CIO Pacek said that the network is doing everything it can to create the kind of patient experience that keeps people coming back.

In addition to building the gyms and fitness app, Inspira is beginning work that Pacek said will ultimately enable clinicians to prescribe medical devices to patients.  

The next phase for Inspira will be using social media tools and chatbots, pulling appropriate data into the EHR, then analyzing it to better understand patients.

"We're developing apps for patient engagement, trying to improve patient registration so they don't have to fill out papers, also to get rid of the clipboard," Pacek said. "We're working on interfaces for call ahead seating so patients can look at wait times for urgent care or put yourself in line."

Jessica Davis and Mike Miliard contributed to this report. 

Healthcare IT News Best Hospital IT Departments 2016: 
⇒ Meet the winners
⇒ Post-EHR era: Bunk buzzword or almost here?
⇒Interactive map: Best Hospital IT Departments 
⇒ Gallery: The people behind winning IT shops

You will be hearing a lot about Cuba after the death of Fidel Castro. I am certainly not an expert on Cuba, but I learned a lot about the country and its people recently on an eight-day Road Scholar tour. I was particularly interested in learning about their healthcare system.

“I wanted to see and experience Cuba before it drastically changes with American influence and investment”. That was the sentiment from many of our fellow travelers.

The trip was called “People and Society: Cienfuegos to Havana”. It included day trips to Trinidad and Santa Clara plus a stop at the Bay of Pigs on our way to Havana. Everywhere we went, we experienced the cultural arts first hand – music and dance from young grade school age students to seniors well into their eighties. We heard a chamber orchestra and saw a contemporary dance show.

We heard lectures on history, politics and religion as well as how Cuban millennials view the future. We learned how negatively the U.S. embargo has impacted the people of Cuba – and how they want the embargo fully lifted, but with future U.S. investments and development managed.

We had a chance to sit and talk for an hour with a young man who works in a telecom job in healthcare. I asked about electronic health records and he said they are in the process of implementing a system they have developed.

When I got home and caught up on my email, I learned that a 15-member delegation of healthcare executives visited Cuba while we were there. That delegation was led by former HHS Secretary and Gov. Mike Leavitt, and included David Blumenthal, MD, a former National Coordinator at ONC and Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president and CEO.

Lieber wrote an insightful blog on the experience. The delegation was a mix of vendor, consulting and provider executives who had gone to see the Cuban healthcare delivery system up close.

On our Road Scholar trip, we learned about the healthcare system more broadly from our tour guide. There is clearly an emphasis on prevention and as Lieber says, it is truly a patient-centric approach.

There are multiple levels to the delivery system. At the base level where the emphasis is on prevention is the family physician and nurse who are assigned to a group of families. They know them well as they live in the same community. The doctor and nurse maintain the health records for those in their care. They have office hours in the morning and in the afternoon visit seniors in their homes.

The next level up are public clinics that provide specialists, lab services, and small wards for surgery or rehab services. The next level are hospitals and at the highest level are institutes and research centers.

Healthcare is free at all levels for all patients.

More than 50 percent of physicians are women. Our tour guide noted that more than 50 percent of all professionals are women. Most likely it’s a sign of the education system and a focus on developing equally both men and women in all sectors.

As noted in a Forbes article from two years ago, “Cuba’s Surprisingly Cost Effective Healthcare,” outcomes are impressive. Life expectancy is almost identical with the U.S. Infant mortality in Cuba is lower than the U.S.

Everyone we spoke to was friendly and gracious.They asked us to go back to the U.S. and tell people that Cuba is neither a socialist heaven nor a communist hell. They want the U.S. embargo lifted and to see continued efforts to normalize relations between our countries. I hope that more Americans can visit Cuba in the months ahead and understand the people and their hopes for the future. And that our leaders will continue to improve relations between our two countries.

Suggested reading on health care in Cuba:

Walking the Talk of Patient-Centric Healthcare in Cuba  

Prevention Better than Cure in Cuban Healthcare System

Cuba’s Surprisingly Cost-Effective Healthcare 

Cuba’s Health Care System: A Model for the World  

A Different Model – Medical Care in Cuba  

This post was first published onSue Schade's Health IT Connect blog.

IBM companies Watson Health and Merge Healthcare unveiled several new machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies for imaging at the RSNA Annual meeting in Chicago this week.

Big Blue also showcased new advancements in how Watson technology can learn and gain understanding from image information, which researchers say now accounts for some 90 percent of all medical data.

IBM has taken a keen insight in applying Watson's supercomputing capabilities to imaging – especially since its 2015 acquisition of Merge. Big Blue, in fact, is developing numerous tools to help automate analytics, enabling cross-reference X-rays, MRIs and other images against electronic health record data, lab results, genomic tests and more.

[Also: IBM Watson antes up $1B to buy Merge]

At RSNA, Watson Health is showcasing: a cognitive peer review tool aimed at reconciling differences between a patient's clinical evidence and data in his or her EHR; a data summarization tool meant to give radiologists, cardiologists and others patient-specific clinical information when they're interpreting imaging studies; a decision support tool to enable physicians to integrate imaging data with other clinical information; the new MedyMatch "Brain Bleed" App, a cognitive image review tool intended to help ER docs diagnose strokes or brain bleed in trauma patients based on evidence in their patient records.      

Merge, meanwhile, unveiled Marktation, billed as a new process for interpreting images to help physicians improve reading speed and accuracy, with an initial application in mammography; Watson Clinical Integration Module, a cloud app for radiologists that aims to counteract common errors in medical imaging, such as base rate neglect, anchoring, bias, framing bias, and premature closure; Lesion Segmentation and Tracking Module, which Merge says can help radiologists faster interpret and report comparison exams in cancer patients and others whose conditions require longitudinal tracking.

"Watson cognitive computing is ideally suited to support radiologists on their journey 'beyond imaging' to practices that address the needs of patient populations, deliver improved patient outcomes, and demonstrate real-world value," said Nancy Koenig, general manager of Merge Healthcare, in a statement.

IBM Research has also partnered with RSNA to further advance how Watson can derive insight from text and imaging data, helping speed diagnosis and increase efficiency for providers, officials say. Recent features include the ability to use deep learning to recognize locations of specific anatomical structures and detect anomalies, with the technology performing clinical inference on the patient's condition for a diagnosing physician to use as decision support.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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Global information services company Experian has released its 2017 data breach industry forecast, and the news is sobering.

Among the report's top five predictions? "Healthcare organizations will be the most targeted sector, with new sophisticated attacks emerging."

Experian sees healthcare as particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks because medical identity theft remains so lucrative and relatively easy for hackers to exploit – and they continue to find markets for reselling patient data.

Electronic health records remain likely to be a top target for hackers, Experian found. Also, as more healthcare institutions deploy new mobile applications, it's possible they will introduce new vulnerabilities that will also be attractive targets for attackers.

"Ransomware presents an easier and safer way for hackers to cash out; given the potential disruption to a company, most organizations will opt to simply pay the ransom," the report states. "This has unintended consequences of funding more research and development by attackers who will in turn develop more sophisticated and targeted attacks."

As attackers shift their focus, an increase in hospital breaches means the consequences for healthcare organizations that don't properly manage this risk will increase, Experian warns. It makes it critical for healthcare organizations to have proper, up to date security measures in place, including contingency planning for how to respond to a ransomware attack and adequate employee training, the report concludes.

[Also: IBM: Employees, not outsiders, are responsible for majority of cyber threats]

Here are Experian's other predictions:

• Aftershock password breaches will expedite the death of the password."As more and more personal credentials are compromised, the risk for users may extend far beyond the initial breach as attackers continue to sell old username and password information on the dark web, sometimes years after the credentials were originally stolen."
• Nation-state cyber-attacks will move from espionage to war."Building upon last year's prediction that cyber conflicts between countries are leaving consumers and businesses as collateral damage, we may see a clear evolution of these types of threats moving from espionage to active conflict and possibly war between countries."
• Criminals will focus on payment-based attacks despite the EMV shift taking place more than a year ago. "In 2016, we predicted that the EMV Chip and PIN liability shift would not put an end to payment breaches, and unfortunately, we believe this trend will only continue into 2017. Driven by uneven adoption of the new technology, combined with attackers targeting new industries and adapting their tactics, we predict that payment."
• International data breaches will cause big headaches for multinational companies. "Given the high-stakes in an international breach and the lack of preparedness, we expect that at least one United States multinational company will experience a significant loss in its valuation due to an international data breach in 2017."

Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com

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The U.S. House of Representatives passed the long-awaited 21st Century Cures Act on Wednesday by a vote of 392 to 26. It will now head to the Senate for further debate, before it makes it to the President's desk.

The bill, the largest healthcare-focused legislation since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, contains $6.3 billion in provisions that will fund federal agencies as they work to speed the arrival of diagnostic tools and disease therapies, improve mental health treatment and bolster the fight against the ongoing opioid crisis.

Notably, it would provide the National Institutes of Health with $4.8 billion to help advance President Barack Obama's Precision Medicine Initiative (aimed at driving technology-enabled personalized medicine), the "Cancer Moonshot" spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden and Obama's BRAIN initiative, which is meant to improve understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia.

[Commentary: Trump must respect the value of health IT as U.S. President]

Specific to health IT, the Cures bill has provisions concerning the use and regulation of EHRs.

"The development of new drugs and devices is meaningless unless they are delivered to the right patients at the right time," according to a House statement. "Cures will help improve delivery by: ensuring electronic health record systems are interoperable for seamless patient care and help fully realize the benefits of a learning health care system.

The bill aims to create a reporting system to tap into stakeholder opinions about EHR usability, interoperability and security; drive better interoperability by, among other things, setting up a provider directory to facilitate data exchange and favoring exchange standards developed in the private sector.

Cures would take aim at several policy changes, such as combining ONC's Health IT Policy and Standards Advisory Committees, giving authority for HHS's Office of the Inspector General to investigate and penalize information blocking and requiring HHS to educate providers about data  sharing misunderstandings that could be hindering better interoperability.

"Setting interoperability standards, and requiring free and secure health IT exchange among disparate assets will improve patient care, reduce costs and unlock data silos in healthcare," said Blair Childs, senior vice president of public affairs at Premier, in a statement.

The White House, meanwhile,  lauded the bill for taking steps to "improve mental health, including provisions that build on the work of the President's Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force. "Like all comprehensive legislation, the bill is not perfect. But the legislation offers advances in health that far outweigh these concerns."

The bill would disburse $1 billion to states to fight opioid abuse, and give an additional $500 million to the FDA to do the same on a national level.

But despite the wide margin of approval, some of the bill's provisions – especially the deregulation of the FDA's approval process, have drawn criticism.

Some opponents, such as the nonprofit Public Citizen, called the act a "threat to FDA standards." The provision has been also opposed by Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

[Also: Lobbyists in frenzy ahead of 21st Century Cures Act vote]

"For more than two years, Congress has been working on legislation to help advance medical innovation in the United States," Warren said November 28. But "this final deal has only a tiny fig leaf of funding for NIH and for the opioid crisis. And most of that fig leaf isn't even real. … Most of the money won't really be there unless future Congresses pass future bills in future years to spend those dollars."

Sanders opposed the lack of provisions to combat rising drug prices and the inclusion of "corporate giveaways that will make drug companies even richer," he said in a statement. He also opposed the $1 billion cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Despite those objections, however, the large margin of the bipartisan House vote suggests the bill will pass the Senate.

For its supporters, the bill provides needed relief for medical research, product development and support to the mental health system.

"It can take more than ten years and $2 billion for new drugs and other therapies to get to market," said Janet Marchibroda, director of health innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center, in a statement. "This new legislation will help accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of life-saving, safe, and effective cures for patients."

House Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina, said in a statement that the bill is a bipartisan effort "aimed at improving the lives of Americans" afflicted by disease, and said the House vote "provides hope more cures are within reach."

"The real winners today are American families whose lives stand to be improved by the Cures legislation," said Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, co-sponsor of the bill. "This bipartisan legislation … will help us take advantage of the breathtaking advances in biomedical research and bring those innovations to doctors' offices and patients' medicine cabinets around the country."

Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

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Linda Stotsky has dominated the #HIT100 list, served as a Social Media Ambassador at past HIMSS conferences, and amassed a Twitter following more than 16,000 strong.

Stotsky, aka @EMRanswers, is the President of LSC Healthcare Consultants in Nashville, Tennessee.

Healthcare IT News asked the industry veteran what she is anticipating at HIMSS17 in Orlando in February – and also posed a few personal questions to uncover some things not even her devout Twitter followers would know about her.

Q: What are you most looking forward to at HIMSS17?
A: My focus is always on two things at HIMSS: networking and education. I’m anxious to attend the "Women in HIT" sessions, and to see friends and colleagues. In addition, I love learning about new, emerging technologies that connect the space between people and product. HIMSS17 provides the best opportunity to be introduced to processes that may bridge this connectivity gap. I always leave tired but with a renewed passion to learn more.

Q: What issues are top-of-mind for your social media followers?
A: A common thread for my followers is how to include the patient voice in the design and usability of systems and services as we move forward, and how this translates to patient involvement in the communities we serve. Everyone is also concerned about the changes that may occur as a result of the election, as we brace for restructuring or possible dissolution of the Affordable Care Act.  

Q: Who's your favorite healthcare hero? Why?
A: I have so many favorites, but if I have to choose one, I would say Rasu Shrestha MD, chief innovation officer at UPMC; @RasuShrestha. He gets it. He is a shining example of design thinking in healthcare, as well as an active participant in patient centered care initiatives. Healthcare transformation requires physician leaders with collaborative mindsets. Rasu promotes a transformative process while maintaining a focus on simplicity. He never loses sight of an opportunity to learn more, fear less and reach farther as a global community.

Q: What's your pet peeve? Either on- or off-line?
A: People who cut in line, chew with their mouths open, or speak with bad grammar. Triple threat. It's difficult to detect online but when this happens, I have to leave.

Q: What is something your social media followers do not know about you? 
A: Something most people would never imagine is my love for boxing. My Dad was a featherweight boxer for a brief time and I grew up watching the Friday Night Fights. The end of an era of great boxing. Being mostly vegetarian and a peacenik, I avoid confrontation, write poetry and stand up for the underserved — but there's still something about a great right hook that captivates me. 

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.

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Shafiq Rab is taking the position of chief information officer and senior vice president at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

He will leave Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J., where he has served as CIO and senior vice president of information technology since 2012.

Rush University executives announced their pick for the post after a comprehensive national search. Rab’s first day on the job is set for Jan. 9, 2017.

Michael Dandorph, president of Rush University Medical Center, said Rab’s extensive professional experience combined with his unique medical and public health background is a perfect fit with Rush University.

At Hackensack, Rab has employed technology to help grow a single 775-bed hospital into the largest health system in New Jersey, with more than 3,500 patient beds. He also introduced innovations and tools including bedside iPads and the Apple Health Kit, to give patients and families greater access to their medical records and to more easily communicate with their care teams.

[See also: How one hospital boosted care transitions.]

Moreover, Dandorph noted that Rab’s work at Hackensack led to improved patient outcomes and experience, and also operational efficiencies and taking the organization to the leading edge of mobile health care technology by developing an app that allows patient access to direct appointment scheduling, test results, prescription information and communication with physicians from any device. His team also developed facial recognition technology to accurately match and identify patients with their data.

As Dandorph sees it, as Rush continues to expand, Rab will help Rush use information technologies in creative new ways.

From 2008 to 2012, Rab was vice president and CIO at Greater Hudson Valley Health System in New York, where he led the system’s successful implementation of electronic medical records software. Before that he was vice president and CIO at St. Mary’s Hospital in Passaic, New Jersey, and CIO/director of information technology/information security officer at Carrier Clinic, East Mountain Hospital in Belle Mead, N.J.

Rab has a Master of Public Health degree from Rutgers University, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Dow Medical College in Pakistan, where he completed a residency in internal medicine. He also is a certified healthcare chief information officer by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives – CHIME. He has received numerous awards and recognitions and sits on several corporate and industry governing boards.

Rab received the 2015 Innovator of the Year Award from CHIME. The award recognizes people who are at the forefront of adopting technology solutions aimed at arming clinicians and patients with information that can help them make better decisions, as well as reduce healthcare costs.