Highlights from CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum 2011

The 2011 CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum played to a pack hall on Sunday, February 20, in Orlando, Fla., with more than 500 in attendance.

Attendees experienced a full day of information and motivation, beginning with updates by Lynn H. Vogel, Ph.D., FCHIME, CHCIO, the chair of CHIME’s board, as well as taped presentations by several board members. The messages brought attendees up to speed on several CHIME initiatives, including advocacy efforts, collaborative relationships with other organizations, education and certification initiatives.

The pain of the current healthcare system, and the promise that could be fulfilled by information technology, provided the basis for the presentation by keynote speaker Nate Kaufman, managing director and founder, Kaufman Strategic Advisors, LLC.

“Organizations that will win will be those that operate as a team,” Kaufman told the audience. The push toward implementation of the medical home model, acute care bundling of payments, post acute care bundling and accountable care organizations all will force the industry to cooperate in coordinating care. The electronic health record will be the disruptive technology that will push the change forward, he said. “If you don’t have a fully functioning IT system by 2016-2018, there will be penalties,” he said.

Attendees also were addressed by Dr. Farzad Mostashari, Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

“We have to think about how can we work together to not only implement change in your own institutions but how can we be the ‘meaningful use vanguard’ that demonstrates how you’re accomplishing meaningful use – what are the ways you have succeeded, and what can we do to help?” he said.

The challenges of health information exchange in the U.S. was the topic of the town hall meeting Sunday afternoon. Gretchen Tegethoff, CHIME board member and CIO at George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC, led the discussion, with panelists Indranil Ganguly CHCIO, Vice President and CIO for CentraState Healthcare System, Freehold, N.J., and John Mattison, MD, CMIO for Kaiser Permanente.

An animated Dr. Iris Firstenberg, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology, UCLA and Adjunct Professor of Management at UCLA Anderson, led CHIME members into an interactive group project called L.A. Freeway, using the example of a California earthquake to identify how great leaders inspire innovation and lead change.

Shot down during a combat mission over North Vietnam, closing keynote Captain Charlie Plumb survived nearly six years as a Prisoner of War and shared with members a tale of remarkable self-reliance. Walking members through his inspiring journey, Plumb illustrated how perseverance, teamwork, and empowerment can help conquer adversity and change in one’s professional and personal life. His moving and thought-provoking lecture was met with a standing ovation to end the event on an uplifting note.

NEW THIS YEAR –The proceedings for the 2011 program have been upgraded from CD-ROM format. You can now access all of the same information a more convenient format.