HSX Annual Retreat: HealthShare Board, Staff, and Champions Gather to Celebrate Strides, Review Services and Outreach

At the Villanova University Conference Center, volunteers, HSX member representatives, employees, and technical contractors came together for a full-day program to advance electronic sharing of patient healthcare information in the Greater Philadelphia area.

The morning began with the end-of-calendar-and-fiscal-year meeting of the HSX Board of Trustees.  HSX’s board reconstituted itself, with re-appointment of trustees and re-assignment of board officers.  Karen Thomas assumed chairmanship, as Rich Snyder, MD, stepped down from his three-year tenure in that role, to assume an active vice presidency on the board.  The board then enabled the organization for the coming year through approval of the 2016 HSX budget proposal and goals.

The board also reviewed HSX:

  • business policies
  • member fees
  • status of participation agreements
  • Pennsylvania statewide HIE participation
  • service implementation and member engagement
  • business operations expansion

The staff then presented a year-in-review Prezi presentation, showing a road map of events and achievements by HSX for 2015, with objectives for 2016 and beyond.  The key note presentation followed, featuring Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Livongo Health, a consumer digital health company.  Glen discussed consumer engagement in healthcare, with a theme of how to make involvement and engagement of consumers with their own health and healthcare simpler, easier, and more appealing.

After lunch, HSX presented its 2015 HIE Champions awards to key staff of member organizations who have helped to make health information exchange a reality for the region.  This year included the “year of the team,” as critical groups on these staffs collectively served highlight roles in the year’s contributions to making patient information interoperable in the local healthcare system.  Learn about the 2015 awardees and see photos of the presentations.

For the afternoon program, the HealthShare Exchange staff presented a summary of HSX consumer communication efforts and plans.  Pam Clarke, Senior Director of Member Services and Chief Policy Officer, and Russ Allen, Communications Coordinator, reviewed strategies for broad HSX public outreach and opened up discussions of this effort.  The afternoon concluded with presentations by HSX’s two major technology vendors. Mirth representatives Jeff Peters (Vice President) and Marilee Benson (Vice President) reviewed Mirth’s role in providing IT infrastructure and solutions in support of HSX, and discussed Mirth’s broader services.  Audacious Inquiry representatives Christopher Brandt (Managing Partner) and Rob Horst (Principal) explained Ai’s role in providing HSX’s encounter notification service.

The day concluded with a reception for all attendees.  Martin Lupinetti, Executive Director of HSX made a special recognition and expression of appreciation to Rich Snyder, MD, for his invaluable service as HSX’s first board chair.