What are you excited about learning at HIMSS 2013 this year? I can certainly say that I am looking forward to hearing about cutting edge solutions for the buzz that will be surrounding Patient Engagement. Dave Chase, the CEO of Avado.com and the co-editor of Engage! Transforming Healthcare Through Digital Patient Engagement, debuting at HIMSS, will make the business case for patient engagement. Earlier this week he wrote in mHIMSS,
“Recognizing that breaking down information silos is paramount to improving outcomes, the ONC’s ruling gives healthcare providers using EHR-agnostic (i.e., systems not from the EHR vendor themselves), multi-provider, patient-facing apps a major advantage over those using the old model of siloed EHR patient portals.”
I couldn’t agree more.
So many provider organizations are struggling with antiquated legacy systems that don’t “talk” with one another. By providing a vendor neutral portal where patients can receive their health information from multiple disparate systems, including labs, x-rays, ECG’s etc., patients win.
Then combine that information with a physician’s ability to add patient-RELEVANT educational materials and wrap it all up in language a patient can understand and it is a win-win.
I am hoping I can learn more about how our Healthcare System is tackling this in an innovative way. Carla Smith, Executive Vice President for HIMSS, also mentions patient engagement as the number one thing she is looking forward to seeing at the HIMSS conference.
So as I head off to “engaging” NOLA this weekend, in search of beignets and innovators, I will also be listening for the most talked about patient engagement tools during HIMSS Week. What will be your theme?
Speaking of beignets, get those and some great patient engagement discussion at our TweetUp on Wednesday at HIMSS.
