Healthcare

Microsoft Word has long offered support for loading images and templates over the network.  This is a great feature within corporate environments because it facilitates the reuse of assets like logos and corporate document templates.  Unfortunately, these features can be abused by bad actors to obtain operational intelligence on individuals, or even to steal credentials.  […]

Since my last post I’ve been working for a client that is actively engaged in establishing a Data Lake for the purpose of supporting their analytics efforts, but also looking to “re-architect” the way their systems collaborate by using this Data Lake environment to control and consolidate all information-sharing interactions within their environment. I was […]

They say the only constant is change and for the most part change is a good thing. However, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with change. I embrace the fact that it forces and challenges me to adapt which allows personal and professional growth, but I hate the disruption it causes to my […]

In my previous blog I discussed the growing use of alternative service delivery models to reduce overall IT costs. As a recap, examples of these delivery models include: Software as a Service (SaaS) or remote hosted agreements where the application vendor provides application support and operational services. Cloud based services where the processing and storage […]

It seems like once I stopped mainframe coding in COBOL and RPG and moved to Java, I have been continuously involved in mainframe retirement projects. There may be no bigger and slower moving pending disaster than the state of the corporate mainframe. The mainframe itself stands in stark contrast; they are better and faster than […]

Rolling forecasts in healthcare are challenging because Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are unique to each organization and market conditions are ever changing. MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) needed a standard forecasting process, while still offering choice-based budgeting and forecasting for the various divisions and institutes.Perficient implemented a driver based rolling forecast planning application that is […]

As a healthcare provider, there are a number of discrete digital tools on your website that form part of the entire patient/consumer digital experience. Each digital interaction through tools, such as a find-a-doctor app, patient portal, online appointment scheduler, virtual visit, health library, and symptom advice/checker, are meant to give patients a great, serviceable experience. Unfortunately, more […]

Meet your soon-to-be new best friend, healthcare marketers: your website’s chatbot. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Chatbots are software widgets that can have natural conversations with humans. Building on recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, they’re coming on fast and may be commonplace sooner than we all imagine. If they live up to their promise, your hospital’s […]

The Mystery I have worked in Healthcare Informatics long before it was called Healthcare Informatics, and this year was the first time I heard the term “IMO”.  While working on a data warehousing project the client asked if their Epic instance was storing Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO) codes. In typical consultant fashion, I said I’d […]

Smartphone penetration has increased significantly over the last decade, with figures up to 81% in the U.S., as of 2016 (Lella, 2017). Additionally, the number of health apps on iOS and Android devices have more than doubled in the last 3 years, to over 325,000 as of 2017 (Pohl, 2017). As treatments have advanced for acute […]

There is always contention for IT funding, especially with the increasing requirements for digital solutions and to incorporate emerging technologies such as block chain, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence into the more traditional IT application portfolio. As a result, provider organizations are constantly looking for ways to lower IT support costs.  In the past that […]

I see companies start down their Big Data/NoSQL journey with a Proof of Concept mindset and they almost always end up funding a science project by confusing early wins on established products with progress. Cassandra is ten years old and DataStax has 500 customers in 50 countries. This stuff works; what you need is a […]