A BlackBerry in an iPhone World

On May 28th, 2012 Dr. John Halamka, a physician and highly regarded healthcare IT thought leader, delivered the opening keynote address at the annual Canadian eHealth conference held this year in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Halamaka demonstrated how health IT is transforming the hospital in which he works and offered practical advice on how Canadian healthcare organizations and professionals can realize similar benefits. Fail to innovate, he warned, and “you risk becoming a BlackBerry in an iPhone world.”

Check out the rest of my article in Technology for Doctors

Mike

 

Guest Post: Glenn Lanteigne, candidate for COACH Board of Directors

Glenn Lanteigne, CIO for the SouthWest LHIN in Ontario, offers the following commentary on why he believes is qualified to serve as a COACH board member:

 

Why do you want to join the COACH Board of Directors at this point in your career?

COACH is an organization that I have supported over the years while in progressively more senior leadership roles in both the private and public sector.   At this point in my career and as CIO of the South West LHIN, I wish to apply my broad and varied experience developing and leading high performance teams in the health informatics landscape.  I am uniquely equipped to contribute in a meaningful way by balancing and representing all of the COACH community and make a difference by leveraging my experience in and insight into the overall system of care.   Combined with my open and approachable leadership style, I am confident I will be an asset to COACH Board when it comes to addressing  current and future sector challenges – and I look forward to representing you on the Board.  

What unique skills, perspectives and contributions would you bring to the COACH Board?

Those that know me professionally as the CIO of a Crown Agency involved in the management and delivery of health care for almost 4 million Ontarians would say I bring a broad, non-partisan, system wide understanding of the health care system and the health informatics community; that I am a team builder, a leader by example and a strategist by nature. Those that know me personally would say I’m energetic, passionate and enthusiastic – about leadership, about affecting positive change, and about the industry that I work in.  I am an MBA/MHA, Honours Economics, Six Sigma Black Belt with 20 years of progressive experience that spans the health care spectrum in both the public and the private sector, including experience across: Regional care, acute care, community care, primary care and consumer care at the provincial, national and international levels. In terms of contributions, I have diverse experience in vendor/private organizations and promote the view of private – public partnerships to support health care delivery, innovation and change for the better in the eHealth community.  By way of example, I point to an engagement process I introduced called Vendor Fridays which contributes to the public and private sectors working  more closely together on eHealth solutions to healthcare issues.

 In addition to being bilingual in English and French,  I am an ex-Tank Commander (as you can imagine, there’s more than a few parallels between the battlefield and  the eHealth and healthcare informatics landscape).

 What COACH committees, task groups or activities have you volunteered on in the past 5 years and what were your most significant contributions to COACH’s work?

1. Member of CHIEF:  Canada’s Health Informatics Executive Forum
2. Member of COACH’s Pan Canadian Governance Task Group
3. Ongoing activity of addressing critical business issues, building leadership and forging relationships, enabling peer dialogue and debate and mentoring others in the COACH community
4. Provided leadership within Canada and acts as an active promoter of COACH nationally and internationally

5. Active contributor to eHealth conferences as speaker
6. Contributor to the Interoperability Showcase at the eHealth Conference

What other board appointments or relevant leadership experiences have you had in the past 5 years?

1. CIO at South West LHIN
2. Chair of the South West LHIN eHealth Steering Committee
3. Executive Lead for connecting South West Ontario (cSWO)
4. Chair of the South Western Ontario eHealth Delivery Council and Steward of the South Western Ontario eHealth Oversight Committee
5. Chair of the Erie St. Clair – South West LHIN Clinical Connect Viewer Project

Do you currently have your CPHIMS-CA credential? 

I am committed to achieving my CPHIMS-CA.

Brief biography including highlights of experience and expertise in Health Informatics

Glenn Lanteigne joined the South West LHIN as chief information officer in 2010 and is responsible for electronic and information sharing initiatives to promote, maintain and improve health care delivery throughout the region.  His first task was the creation and implementation of a shared LHIN-wide eHealth strategic plan to ensure an integrated, aligned, and community-responsive health care system; prior to joining the LHIN, Glenn was the director, healthcare at TELUS Healthcare Solutions providing overall strategic leadership for a full range of business and electronic health initiatives in regional care, acute care, community care, primary care, home care and consumer care.  Glenn’s current focus is governance reform, cost savings, and support the care reform needed to sustain healthcare delivery.  

Glenn has also held leadership roles with the Federal Government,  ECLIPSYS (now Allscripts), CLINICARE (now a QHR Technologies company) and GE Medical Systems (now GE Healthcare), TELUS Health Solutions, spoken at major eHealth conferences and is routinely quoted in health informatics publications.

What segments within our COACH community do you feel you can best represent?

Executives/ CIOs	Emerging Professionals	Telehealth	Clinicians	Vendors	IT/IM Practitioners	Academic & Research	Institutions	eHealth Orgs
X	X	X		X	X		X	X

Guest Post: David Denov, candidate for COACH Board of Directors

Guest post from David Denov, candidate for COACH Board of Directors:

I am pleased to be running for a seat on the COACH Board of Directors, and would very much appreciate the opportunity to earn your vote!

My extensive and varied professional experiences make me very well qualified to participate and contribute as an active member on the COACH Board of Directors. I have:
• Spent the last 16 years in healthcare informatics roles in large and small organizations, both in the public and private sectors
• Gained both breadth and depth of healthcare informatics knowledge and perspective at almost all organizational levels and in varying contexts
• Recently worked extensively within Telemedicine and would also bring to bear a clear and thorough understanding of tele-technology and what is necessary to integrate Telemedicine with other eHealth delivery channels

I am also a strong facilitator with a history of leading successful teams, and I have the ability to stay focused on the strategic, without losing sight of the tactical approaches that will be required in order to help direct COACH’s programs and resources.

With this unique blend of experience and skills, I would bring an innovative point of view and a deep understanding of both the healthcare industry as well as health informatics to the COACH Board. I bring structure and clear logical thinking as well as a strategic mind-set to all problem solving opportunities. Most importantly, I am very passionate about healthcare informatics and am a strong advocate of COACH and the work that it does for its members.

It is my sincere hope, in my capacity as a COACH Board member, that I will be able to positively affect change within the Health Informatics profession, and that I will be able to continue to work with and support your needs as members.

 

COACH Board of Director Elections – Vote Today!

COACH is the Canadian association for health informatics professionals.   I am a member and have been  since I first got involved in the Canadian health IT sector.  I volunteer my time on several COACH initiatives and take every opportunity to support the organization.  

Today, I’d like to remind fellow COACH members that voting in now open for the COACH board directors.  22 candidates have been nominated for 5 open positions. There are many excellent candidates, many of who I know personally.   To help them promote their candidacy, I am offering all board of director nominees the opportunity to post their platforms as a guest post on this blog.    Simply reply with your platform as a comment to this post and I will create a new post that contains your platform.

If you are not a COACH member than I suggest you check out the many benefits at http://www.coachorg.com.  

Mike

 

Interest in the COACH Board of Directors is keen with 22 members stepping forward as candidates for the five vacancies for 2012 – 2014. Be sure to “meet” them and learn about their experience and reasons for wanting to join the Board on the Candidate Profile pages along with the Candidate Nomination Summary.

Due to the number of candidates, the summary is provided in lieu of an All Candidates Webinar.   

Online voting will open April 16 and be available to COACH members through April 27. Voting instructions will be emailed to COACH members.

Calling Ottawa health IT professionals, healthcare professionals, and IT vendors

As some of you may now, I chair the program committee for the OCRI IT in Healthcare speaker series.   Each month we  host informative speakers who share their insights and experience on topics of interest to healthcare providers, health IT professionals, and IT vendors.

On October 5th, we are teaming with COACH, the voice of Canada’s health IT professionals, to host a special one-day conference that brings the local health and IT communities to explore ways that these two communities can work together to develop innovative health IT solutions.   This unique event will focus on practical and affordable applications of health IT that address today’s healthcare challenges and offer near-term benefits.

Whether you have an idea for a new application that you think will benefit the local health sector or  want to share your challenges with people who can offer a fresh perspective, please join us on October 5th.     I look forward to seeing you there.

You can find more details here.

Mike

comunityies

OCRI, the voice of the Ottawa R&D community and COACH, Canada’s health informatics professions, have joined forces to host a special one-day event

eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band – C-H-I!

Sung to the tune from the theme song for the television show “Rawhide”

Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’ … (x4) … C-H-I! (do, do, do;
do, do, do)

Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’, get those projects goin’
Keep that money flowin’, C-H-I
Outcomes really matter, and Richard’s in a lather
Wishin’ CMA was on his side
All the things we’re missin’,
standards, doctors, vision
We’re waiting for the answer to arrive

CHORUS

Move ‘em on, hit ‘em up,
Hit ‘em up, move ‘em on,
Move ‘em on, hit ‘em up C-H-I!

Cut ‘em out, ride ‘em in
Ride ‘em in, cut ‘em out,
Call ‘em out, ride ‘em in C-H-I!

Movin’, Movin’, Movin’, though they’re disapprovin’
Jurisdictions groovin’, C-H-I
Don’t try to understand them
tell ‘em the “win” you’ll hand ‘em
Soon we’ll have a system nation-wide
My heart is calculatin’; The vendors will be waitin’
Waitin’ for the money to arrive

eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band – eHealth Adoption Blues

Sung to the tune of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”

I see that Blueprint comin’,
rollin’ ‘round the bend,
And I ain’t changed my practice
since I don’t know when
I’m stuck with paper records,
and time keeps draggin’ on.
But the Blueprint keeps a-rollin’,
on out to everyone.

When I was just a baby, my momma told me,
“Son, Always be a smart boy, don’t trust those
guys named “RON”  But then Infoway gave a
briefing, I really saw the light
This architecture’s brilliant
and Ron was oh, so right!

I bet there’s rich folk buyin’ … a fancy EHR.
They’re prob’ly goin mobile, and thinkn’ PHR,
We’ve got to keep it movin’, I know it has to be,
So when I’m old and needy,
eHealth will take care of me.

So free me from my bias,
and let eHealth save the day
And let’s all join the movement,
there is no better way
A fully coded record, that’s where I want to be
And let’s thank Ron for helping,
take my blues away from me!!

eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band – Theme Song

Sung to the tune of the Beatle’s “Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

We’re the eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band
We care about our health care state
Our journey takes us clear across the land
To find the tools to make it great

We’re the eHealth leaders
Just ask the Twitter tweeters
More than geeks and keeners
Yeah….

We’re the eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band
We’re trying to build the E-H-R…
So join us on our quest, we need a hand
To get adoption near and far
Come and join our “health” club
Not to get a back rub
Join the eHealth Lonely Hearts … Club … Band

eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band Rocks eHealth 2011

For as long as I have been attending the annual Canadian eHealth conference (known to many “old timers” as the COACH conference), the Blues Night has been the place where people at all levels let their hair down (those who still have hair) and have a good time.  Heck, I still remember dancing with Linda Miller in Quebec City.  Where else can do you get the chance to boogey with an Assistant Deputy Minister?

This year, the blue’s night organizers had a special treat in store.  In addition to the professional musicians, the opening act was a group of well known eHealth leaders with varying levels of music ability.   The “eHealth Lonely Hearts Club Band” served up a short set of familiar songs (at least for me, but then again, my hair has turned grey).  While the melodies might have been familiar, the lyrics to several songs were modified to have special relevance to audience.  I will post the lyrics as separate blog posts.

If you look at pictures of the audience, you can see me, beer in hand, singing along with the band.   I thoroughly enjoyed the band’s performance and
hope that we can get the band together again next year.   If we do,  I will be there again, in the front row, singing my heart out.

Mike

 

eHealth 2011 – Take Part in the Conversation

Next week the annual Canadian eHealth conference (hosted this year by COACH, CIHI and Canada Health Infoway) will take place in Toronto.   While I expect there to be a record turnout for this event, many of you will be unable to attend for a variety of reasons.   No worries, a number of social media advocates like me will be attending.  We will tweet from the various sessions and write blog posts offering our thoughts and observations.

If you’d like to follow events at eHealth 2011, I encourage you to follow twitter hashtag #eHealth2011.  Conversations to date using this hashtag have been sporadic but I am hoping that you can help change this situation.   Please join in the conversation, whether you are attending the conference or are just interested interested in what is being discussed at the conference.

Mike