The program included leading-edge talks from professionals with special insight into the health information technology field —
In his keynote talk, Forget Everything You Know. Get Ready for the “New Normal”, Randall Gaboriault, CIO & Senior VP, Innovation & Strategic Development, Christiana Care Health System:
- described modern care delivery’s increasing digital-business aspects;
- discussed the ability of machine intelligence to surpass a human provider’s ability to detect patterns in clinical phenomena such as readmissions and the need therefore to combine this analystic insight with experiential recommendations from experienced professionals
- reinforced the importance of HIE data in revealing care patterns that help build a value-based approach to care and that aid in risk modelling in cooperative ways
- explained a care philosophy of “predict, keep well, and prehab,” especially with poorly engaged patients with poor health
- reminded that “Data becomes more valuable in the presence of other data.”
- noted that use of provider, payer, and HIE data must be approached in a respectful and transparent opt-in fashion, in accordance with privacy requirements.
In his talk, Personalizing fitness and wellness through technology, and using strategic incentives to motivate patients, Dhakshina M. Kasthuri , CTO, Ceragence & Vea Fitness:
- reviewed the question of motivation in fitness vis a vie health technology, including the factors of social support, accountability, and recognition for personal accomplishments
- explained that incenting the target audience requires more than prompts and rewards, and must be considered in social context
- emphasized two-way communication between consumers/patients and trainers or providers
- discussed the importance of personalizing the educational, community, and exercise aspects of health and fitness
In his talk, Telehealth Across the Continuum, Elliott Wilson, Manager, Telehealth, Virtua:
- profiled Virtua’s Teladoc program, which makes remote consultations available to patients, especially in the areas of radiology, neurology, and psychiatry
- reviewed the program’s Remote Patient Monitoring feature, which allows a monitoring medical team to coordinate care management with a community-based provider
- noted that the service is primarily for patients who need care but can’t wait for an appointment and their own doctor is not available, including if they are considering the ER or urgent-care center for a nonemergency issue or are on vacation, on a business trip, or away from home.
In their talk, Embracing the Consumer Perspective in Health Information Exchange, Beth Ann Swan, Former Dean, Jefferson College of Nursing and Senior Fellow, Jefferson College of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University; and Elaine Markezin, HSX board member and retired health insurance executive:
- shared compelling personal stories about the challenges of the current healthcare system from a care-coordination and patient-experience perspective
- used family stories to elegantly and poignantly point up the severe short comings encountered as result of poor continuity of care, especially in care transitions
- made these recommendations—>connect EMRs, connect providers from different entities, find a common platform for managing medications, provide understandable information to patients, and resolve the issue of multiple patient portals.
In this talk, Connected Care – Theory vs. Reality, Joe Tracy, Vice President, Connected Care and Innovation, Lehigh Valley Health Network:
- reviewed the services in his network available to practitioners for a connected care conversation
- gave examples of remote consultations
- reviewed reimbursement, licensure, and legal issues around this type of telemedicine.
In her keynote talk, Digital Health and Innovation in the Commonwealth, Lauren Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, FAAFP, Deputy Secretary for Health Innovation, Pennsylvania Department of Health:
- reviewed the struggles for viability today among rural hospitals, including the high portion of such hospitals with negative operating margins
- described the Pennsylvania Rural Health Transformation Program, which involves improving population health and quality of care and provides for financial sustainability for rural medical centers through a global budget model for these centers that is based on an all-payer agreed fee
- overviewed the state’s Rural Health Redesign Center, a public-private partnership, which helps with a global budget, analytics, technical assistance, and planning for rural Pa. healthcare facilities
- noted state efforts to advance telehealth, including through the Pa. Tele-Health Strategic Action Plan
- profiled the Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, which is available for query for all registered licensed medical professional and their delegates, and which will eventually be integrated with EHRs.
In his talk, The Health Enterprise Zone (HEZ): How Will This Impact the Residents of North Philadelphia? Bill Ryan, Assistant VP of Government Affairs, Einstein Health Network:
- described how the newly announced HEZ will look at and address both medical status and employment as overall measures of health and well-being in critical zip codes in the city
- reviewed the high portion of patients in the targetted communities who are on a public health insurance plan and living in poverty
- explained how and why Einstein is helping to lead this comprehensive new initiative involving public and private entities.
In their talk, Bringing Ideas to Life: Creating a Culture of Innovation, Patrick FitzGerald, Vice President, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Marc Tobias, Clinical Informatics Fellow, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Naveen Muthu, Clinical Informatics Fellow, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia:
- presented their work on population health risk assessment support, working out of CHOP’s Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics
- reviewed their development of an analytics program to predict health events in chronic illness, to provide alerts to clinicians in order to enhance prevention and to reduce risk and cost
- showed how their project, PHRASE, aims to permit hospitals to subscribe to current knowledge and import it into their EHRs in an operational form to help with clinical decision making
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