Future Thinking

What will the world be like in 5, 10 , 15 years? Today we look back at the last 15-20 years with amazement at the changes we are witnessing. Time marches on and brings changes some foreseen while others aren't. In university I took a "Future Studies" course. It was intriguing and enlightening. Did you know you can be a "futurist"? Simply join the World Future Society. Knowing about the future involves both an understanding of the past and the integration of the present. Everyone should study the future, after all it is we will be living the rest of our lives there. Flying cars, and trips to space were all promises of the future when I was a teenager. It did happen or at least not yet. We have seen a great deal of other developments, the internet, global communication networks are just a few. I also recall as a child thinking about having a computer companion. A know-it-all machine that I could ask anything and get an answer. Some may say its not quite there yet, but I believe we are very close to it. Imagining the future is the first step to creating a better one.

Sharing the "Wealth"

Like everyone, I have endured many challenging professional experiences and had to work closely with individuals that would not have been on my list of favourite people. Some would say “that’s why we get paid the big-bucks”. Regardless, the key question for me is what to do with the multitude of learnings I have acquired over more than 25 years as a health executive. Recently I was privileged to have the opportunity to provide leadership coaching to a bright young enthusiastic woman who had been promoted to the position of Executive Director. Our conversations primarily related to the challenges she was facing. While the specifics were unique to her and her organization, every one of her conundrums were ones which I had dealt with myself. What a delight it was to have someone else derive some benefit from my own experiences, failures and successes, all with the benefit of hindsight and reflection.

Clarity Healthcare Solutions at HIMSS10

Attending HIMSS10 in Atlanta afforded us the opportunity to speak with Medicexchange.

Canadian Health IT exports

The US Health IT initiatives are encouraging innovative Canadian companies to look south for business expansion. This week we participated in Mobile Monday an event in Philadelphia that brings technology leaders together to discuss portable application solutions. There were four Canadian companies represented, Life:wire an medical SMS service company, IdealLife a medical device manufacturer, Manyeta a Home telemetry company and yours truely representing Clarity Health Journal. Innovation in healthcare being exported to the US market will also benefit Canadian Healthcare. It does seem that these solution providers are paving the road to better healthcare on both sides of the border.

CIHI 2010 Changes Coming ...

Just thought that I would drop in a little note to all to let you know that we are currently working on implementing the mandated CIHI (2010) changes to the Clarity Healthcare CCRS, MHRS and NRRS modules. This year, CIHI has made some significant changes to all of the modules. These changes include - new Assessment fields - removed Assessment fields - updated Edit Rules (as always) - and most importantly this year - changes to the Outcome Measures in the modules The changes will be tested shortly with CIHI (for our vendor testing cycle) and once that is complete, you can begin to schedule your Test Server upgrades at your Facilities - so that you can review the changes for yourself. Stay Tuned

CHJ iPhone Applications

The Clarity Health Journal is being developed as a state of the art web application, with high levels of security and user friendliness. And in order to make this user experience even more portable, we are developing CHJ apps for the iPhone. These apps will allow a busy, on the road user to make self-monitoring entries for things like blood glucose without connecting to the CHJ, and commit their offline entries to the CHJ at their convenience. The app will also provide a web viewer for connecting to the CHJ proper, and server-side web views which are tailored for the resolution of the iPhone screen. The goal is to provide CHJ users with the convenience required to maintain an accurate and up-to-date personal health journal.

HIMSS10 in Atlanta

The annual HIMSS tradeshow takes place in Atlanta, March 1-4, 2010. This is the second year of our participation in this event. The show attracts thousands of healthcare executives seeking new solutions from Health IT. We are attending HIMSS as part of the Ontario Industry and Trade booth. Twelve of Ontario's innovative healthcare companies will present their products and services at HIMSS10. If you are attending come and visit us at Booth#1407. Many of the participants at HIMSS are US hospitals and agencies. Some attendants come from other countries. And of course a number of Canadian hospital and health agency representatives will also attend this international trade show. Canadians appear to look south to the US as a source of expertise. Even with our Canadian pride regarding universal healthcare we look to learn from the experiences of the US healthcare process. There are many resources and educational session. Tremendous opportunities to meet healthcare leaders. The main topics this year will be the concept of "meaningful use" in EHR/EMR deployment. The US is looking to invest $34 Billion to modernize their healthcare system. Standards and outcomes are central to the ARRA funding. While in Canada we switched to ICD10 in 2004/05 for health records diagnoses coding, the US is still using ICD9. Canadian companies can help with this transition. International standards are being adopted in Canada such as SNOMED-CT and HL7 V.3.0 data exchange and messaging, we can provide help with Health Information Exchanges(HIE) roll outs in many states. HIMSS is a great venue to present and share experiences. For us the Clarity Health Journal is the main reason for attending HIMSS. We see the personal health application as pivotal to meaningful use. Empowering patients and their families to be participant in their healthcare system. If you are attending HIMSS10 come and visit us at Booth 1407.