Max Stroud, aka @MMaxwellStroud, is a lead consultant with Galen Healthcare Solutions and the founder of Doyenne Connections, a social network designed to foster opportunities for women in health IT. And at HIMSS17 she will a Social Media Ambassador.
Healthcare IT News asked Stroud about her pet peeves, health IT hero and what is top-of-mind among her social media followers.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at HIMSS17?
A: I am really looking forward to sharing the experience with my sister. My friends and family don’t always understand exactly what it is that I do, so getting to show someone what HIMSS is like – and for that person to be my sister is pretty amazing.
Q: What issues do you think are top-of-mind for your social media followers?
A: My followers are pretty diverse, and I see three things as top of mind when I look at the group as a whole. First: What to do with all that data. We’re reaching a point in time when people have been live on EHRs for so long, that some systems are getting sunset, some are getting retired in favor of new ones — and finding the right way to deal with that legacy data over time has been a big discussion point. Second: Putting the Patient in the center. We have a system today where health data flows around physical locations and not individuals. This comes up time and again in online chats in HealthIT circles and in patient chats. The desire for the patient to be the central point in a record and all of their data from all points to be connected is palpable. Third. Gender Parity — 70-80 percent of healthcare workers are women, and yet they make up only a small percentage of executive teams. My followers are passionate about shaking this up and ensuring that there is room for everyone in the C-suite and beyond.
Q: Who's your favorite healthcare hero? Why?
A: I just love Karen DeSalvo. She is one of the most approachable government officials that I have ever met. I remember hearing an interview where she talked about her true north in regards to her work. She has a passion to make the world a better place. I can identify with that.
Q: What's your pet peeve? (Either on- or off-line?)
A: I have a really hard time with complainers. Complaining just to complain turns me off. If there is a problem, let’s come up with some ideas and possible solutions and talk about that.
Q: What is something your social media followers do not know about you?
A: I had bylines in a major newspaper before graduating high school. I had both photographs and an Op-Ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Most people don’t know my first name — it is used only by my immediate family. And I have a very distinctive sneeze.
Related HIMSS17 Social Media Ambassadors:
⇒ Meet Drex DeFord: Former Air Force CIO who started as a rock-n-roll DJ
⇒ Health IT guru Brian Ahier: A big fan of analytics, Don Berwick and Jerry Garcia
⇒ Linda Stotsky: She writes poetry, sticks up for underserved and loves ... boxing?
⇒ Charles Webster: Find him in the first Innovations Makerspace at HIMSS17
HIMSS17 runs from Feb. 19-23, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center.
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.