It has been a long time since my last post to this blog. I took some time to reflect over the holidays with my family and close friends. Early in the year, I decided it was time to make a move not for career but for my family. I stepped down as a CIO to begin the process of moving back to the Boston area. My wife and I are both originally from that area and look forward to spending more time with family and friends.
With this decision came a decision to take on a new opportunity with a different company. I find myself on the "dark" side working for a great vendor. One that is innovative and is bringing many great solutions to the market. What I find funny is that my philosophy has not changed but rather the scope of positive impact I can make in the industry has changed. I am responsible to assist our clients in the Midwest region with their adoption of the technology and to achieve their strategic and operational goals using this technology. As I firmly believe, technology is only 20% of the equation....the other 80% comes from the way we use the technology and become meaningful users.
Healthcare is important to us all and many of us on the inside may not follow our own advice. Recently I learned about some family medical history that I was not aware of but certainly is important for me to know. I recalled a conversation with my primary care doctor during my last physical (when that was, I will leave blank as it was long ago) and he mentioned that I need to learn more about the family medical history. Think about his comment as 20% of the technology equation (provided me data) but I did not do much with it until recently (the 80% part of the equation). So I did not become a meaningful user of medical advice. I am now. My next physical is pending my primary care doctor’s availability. Nice doctor and worth the wait for his service and advice which I will now become a meaningful user of the information he provides.
A Meaningful User of electronic health records and a meaningful user of medical advice have one thing in common.... the user needs to change their past practice. Everyone wins in the end
