HIMSS Day #2

Shameless Plug -  I present today at  Booth #8310 at 11:00am – you can see a demo of Aperum and get some insights into how we work with hospitals to reveal data to improve HCAHPS #4. 

The only word I can use to describe day two….busy….running from meeting to meeting and trying to squeeze in seeing some new and cool technology.    It seems this year that everyone is saying the word “Data” and how much they care about it much more than years past.   As I listened to different people describe their products it was all about the analytics and improvement and their ability to provide more data.  It’s pretty mind blowing…however I was given the best quote of the conference at dinner last night from the CIO of North Shore LIJ Health System.  (If you stop by the booth #8310 – I will tell you)

So, instead of telling you about every booth I went to yesterday – I want to highlight the one that impressed me the most.  I have to admit, I was reluctant to go to the Versus booth, but a very persistent marketing person from their organization emailed several times.  RTLS is a competitive space with a lot of technology differences – while I am not 100% sold on the hardware side of Versus – their software blew me away.      The roundtable presenter was a hospital person talking about her experience – talking about actual documented savings.   Then their Sales team spent time one on one with me presenting the software and new analytics tool.  Loved it – drill down reports – well laid out – very impressive.  Versus # 5852 – ask for Susan.  Other vendors should take note of this professional group. 

I ended my day at The Walking Gallery - the best part of my day.  I was able to see my friend Regina Holiday.  She is so impressive - she just wants to make things better - she is not looking to gain anything for herself execpt the opportunity to share her story.  She is so focused on the patient - so focused on finding ways to encourage people like me.  If you haven't met her - don't have a jacket - contact her @reginaholiday 

I will challenge you all - the data is not yours.  I get it rules, HIPPA, proprietary......but the data is not yours to hold. It's not my data. Your technology is a tool to enable the care of an individual.  What is your motivation? 

Short and Sweet today – If you have a chance I present today –  Booth #8310 – you can see a demo of Aperum and get some insights into how we work with hospitals to reveal data to improve HCAHPS #4.

HIMSS 2012 Day 1

HIMSS is an ADD nightmare – moving shapes, lots of people, so much to take in and experience.  I get a little overwhelmed with the amount of information to absorb.    My day was spent in meetings with clients and colleagues understanding how different technologies could impact healthcare.   Looking into products, services, and software that Sphere3 clients would find of value.

My day started with a great meeting with a friend from Press Ganey – excited to go by their booth #552 tomorrow and take a look at their technology offering.  I am always impressed with people who know their offering well and know how it specifically impacts the hospital and patients. 

 I headed to the Cerner booth where I was able to enjoy a few moments with Clay Patterson.  We chatted about Health + Care (my favorite tag line at HIMSS because Cerner really means it),  the HIMSS show, and of course Sporting KC.   Then I enjoyed a presentation on Clarvia – Cerner’s latest acquisition.  I think is a great product.  It has that has the ability to apply data into the assignment models for the floor.  They focused on the dollars saved which don't get me wrong - is impressive and had great impact to the hospital bottom line.  However, what I saw was a tool that would create a an incredible environment to ensure that patients are cared for in the most effective way by optimizing the hospitals ability to leverage available staff.   It was geeky and cool (my highest compliment)  It will play into their suite of products well.  If you get a chance stop by Cerner’s booth # 476 and ask to see a demo of Clarvia.

I walked over to see the new GE Teligence workflow station that will challenge the Rauland Staff Terminal and the HilRom Graphical Room Station.   Their workflow station matches the competition in the ability to provide automatic alerting at the press of a button but really lacks the visual appeal of the two other products.  Don’t get me wrong - just because it’s not pretty does not mean it’s not effective, but I have concerns with all of these types of stations.  Is there a true ability to improve care and reduce workload?   The fuzzy line between automation and documentation is not well reported.   The only think I will add about the GE is that I am a little surprised that a company that offers EMR and owns a nurse call company would not make some logical alignment between the two products….you have all the pieces and they could talk to each other…in a really meaningful way.  See it for yourself at Booth #2635

While walking over to the Centrak booth – I happened upon Tibco #3571 really interesting take on compiling data and utilizing a “collaboration tool” which is much like facebook to drive better understanding.    Tibco, was really interesting.

The final booth I visited was Isorona # 12414 – the booth is in the lower level by the interoperability show case.  It is a software based medical device data collection tool - I assume kind of like capsule.  It would have been nice to see more about the product and learn more about it while there at the booth.  The description I received was that it collects the data from multiple sets of data and distributes them to EMR and alarm/alert software.   

Tomorrow you will catch me checking out medical device connectivity tools and you may even find me at the Burwood booth – great people who I really enjoy – in booth #8310.  If you have suggestions on booths I should see and maybe blog about send me a twitter message or comment on the blog.   @Sphere3CEO

All in all this has been a great day - while I am not a big fan of Las Vegas – the venue is actually a lot more convenient than most of the other cities HIMSS has been in years prior.  There is a lot better access to coffee and easy walk to the convention center – it’s nice to get some fresh air. (just avoid the smokers and the people with the little papers…oh my gracious)  

HIMSS 2012

I am really looking forward to HIMSS this year - it's always a lot of fun to see everyone and catch up on the year.  For the first time Sphere3 will be not simply attending HIMSS - we will be displaying in two of our partners booths. 

This is our new video that has had over 100 views in the past 2 days.

The Burwood Group is a consulting firm out of Chicago that really has an incredible practice around healthcare technology.  I have had the pleasure to work with them on several projects in the past year and would highly recommend their services to any hospital.  Their clinicians are really well spoken people with a great depth of knowledge in technology and transition planning.   

I will be presenting at their booth on Thursday at 11am  you can register here http://www.burwood.com/himss12

We will also have the pleasure of being a part of the Connexall Booth.  Connexall is an industry leader that has more than doubled their market size in the past year.  Their team is lead by John Elms and Mary Baum.  They are aligning the brand of Connexall US with transformational care by spending a great amount of time listening to hospitals across the United States.
http://www.connexall.com/listening/

As I did last year - I will be updating the blog throughout the conference sharing thoughts and learning.  Send me an email if you would like to see Aperum in person and we can coordinate a time to meet.

The Art of Location

Please turn left.....Please turn left.... The GPS lady repeated herself as I basically made a circle..... "When possible please make a legal U turn...." at this point I decided that my car was lost. How was this possible? She is supposed to know where I am at any point in time and direct me to go.... I think we have grown so accustomed to location accuracy that the idea of Lack of accuracy in hospital RTLS seems really strange.

The lawsuit that Centrak has filed against Ekahau is at the heart of location accuracy in a hospital. Products like Awarepoint and Ekahau are at a significant disadvantage to products like Centrak and Sonitor based on their ability to get bedside accuracy. Let's face it, if of you are including a RTLS system in your hospital you want to be able to do more than locate a pump in a room or cancel a call light. In the very least you want the ability to build into bedside location and accuracy. This enables the RTLS system to integrate to the EMR and provide meaningful integration of data associated with

The challenge is to identify where the ultimate accuracy needs to be - or what technology needs to hold it. Products like Capsuletech encapsulate it in their bedside interface. The neuron can easily forward it to the medical record. Products like Centrak are more independent and interface with multiple systems.

RTLS has been somewhat of a novelty "nice to have" product for healthcare. However, the increased need to be Lean and it's ability to support the legal processes has caused a real interest among hospitals. I will caution hospitals that the flash you see in a demonstration - moving dots on a page are really worthless without a quality reporting mechanism.

Leveraging the investment for real value comes from the ability to interpret the data associated with the movement, and utilize the information for meaningful automation of processes.

Let's just say mistakes were made......

It was a great Christmas holiday with my family this year.  There in front of me were all of the things I love – my kids, my husband, my parents, and mom’s famous hand decorated sugar cookies…..to say I “indulged” may be a bit of an understatement.    Sugar cookies are like a gateway drug.  They lead to fudge which leads to chocolate chip pecan pie and so on until I am like a desperate junkie looking for an IV drip of sugar.   So, when I hoped on the scale (for the first time in 2 weeks) I realized the inevitable……Let’s just say mistakes were made this holiday season.   

No worries, I know what it takes to lose – I have gone through the process before.  It’s simple  and only sort of about the ”what and how” – it’s mostly about the focus.  Paying attention and being aware of what goes in my mouth then monitoring with a scale. 

Isn’t that the truth with all improvement projects.  Haven’t most hospitals been through a number of processes improvements that have gotten them back on the straight and narrow.  Which makes me always wonder – do they really need a consultants?  I was recently in a hospital that had a “No Pass Zone” which simply means if the call light above the door is on – go in.    I have seen others like “KISS” and “Hello My name is “ the list could go on.  These aren’t bad things – it’s always good to look at things differently.   And don’t get me wrong consultants often know a very niche technology or methodology or have walked through programs so many times that their value is they are a lot like weight watchers – tell you what you already know but encouraging you to implement and holding you accountable for the implementation. 

I know this is funny coming from a consultant, but I am a business owner who is always evaluating what is needed in the market.    What the market has told me – don’t tell me what to do – give me the tools so I can do what I already know how to do.  So, in 2012 our goal is to remove the complexity of the “niche” for the hospital and put the tool in their hand that allows them to stay accountable (or to get back on the wagon).   

Our latest addition which releases in January is On-Call Fall™ a new module for Aperum™.  We are automating something that was once our service.   On-Call Fall™ was born out of a manual process we would do for a hospital to clearly document the Root Cause Analysis for each incident at the hospital.  It immediately draws a very clear picture of the activity on the unit, patient room, and caregivers assigned patients.  In an easy to use and understand way.  Our initial feedback from a Quality Director “This used to take me days and now can be done in minutes”     

All of this to say – there are sugar cookies on everyone’s path.  Most of the time we know how to fix it but it takes time and energy.  If the scale is not readily available the morning after the holiday season then how will we know we have fallen off the wagon.  

As for me and my 5 extra pounds – it’s time to get focused so I can be down to my end of KC Slimdown weight by HIMSS. 

Leading....

I really enjoy watching soccer – though I am a relative newbie to the sport, over the past year I have learned a lot about the rules and strategy from my boys.  One of my favorite things to watch is when the players are driving the ball down the field towards the goal.  It’s amazing how they kick it to a seemingly empty space and out of nowhere one of their teammates will appear.  My oldest tells me this is called “leading”.   He explained “If you kick the ball directly to your teammate – where they are – then you will never make it where you want to go.”  What a powerful statement for everything we are doing…..

As I watched the MLS cup last night, and read through some information on a few middleware companies – I wondered – who is “leading” hospitals and who is merely kicking the ball directly to them. 

I will submit that if I am truly honest with you all – I think most are trying to figure out where to kick the ball.  Many of them know there is more that can be done than what they are doing currently, but can’t really seem to identify the open space so that their teammate can kick the ball into the goal. 

There are two things in that statement if you are paying attention.  The first is identifying the open space – the second is so their teammate can make the goal.   

They cannot identify the open space because they are too busy worrying if they have a “trail” someone trying to come up and steal the ball from behind them.  (If they are playing Chance Meyers – they should worry)   This watch your back mentality has stifled their ability to take a really good concept – middleware – and leverage it into a really powerful platform.   Old data models and proprietary mindsets are crippling that industry. 

The open space is not in your hardware or even some of your proprietary software….it’s the data, and your ability to understand it and to model it is at the root of the future. 

The second part of that statement is “so their teammate can make the goal”.  Have you noticed how few real teammates there are in health IT?  I think it would be interesting if Middleware could accept their role on the field.  They are the midfielder – the person enabling the end point device to make the goal.  The midfielder is an interesting position – probably the most interesting position on the team because they play both offense and defense.  They run more than anyone else and frankly their ability can decide the game.  The midfielder positions the ball – leads – to the open space so the forward can send it in.  The forward may get the glory of the goal – just like the end point device that the clinician’s use or patients touch is visible.  The midfielder enabled that goal.

Just some food for thought on a Monday morning -  compliments to the LA Galaxy on the win - thank you for beating the Dynamo.  

Cerner Health Conference

Living here in Kansas City everyone “knows” or more accurately claims to know something about Neal Patterson.  As the iconic entrepreneur walked by my second row seat and took the stage for his Keynote at the Cerner Health Conference,  I wasn’t sure what to expect.    I tried to brush aside all the good and bad I’ve heard and just listen to see if I could connect to him and Cerner.  

I expected a politician – slick with perfectly constructed and managed content.  A more accurate description is comfortable, confident and owning the content.   Dressed casually, he appeared more approachable than intimidating. His speech style was more conversational than choreographed.  The “picture in his head” is much more detailed than what he could share in the time frame.   He was funny and entertaining – much more than I expected.  I take time to describe him because when you read about what he said I want you to see this picture of him.   These are sound bites with my interpretation. 

“We must separate Health and Care”
Cerner, throughout the conference, delivered the next frontier of their ambitious goals: Managing health as opposed to maintaining a sick society.   The Solutions Gallery Floor was split into three areas Foundation, Organizational Excellence, and Community.  When you entered the solutions gallery floor the first thing you see is Foundation.  Many times when I have talked to people about being able to interpret data we have to step back and look at the way it’s collected and the model in which it is stored.  The Foundation is representing the “Care”.  How hospitals document and gather the information that improves the care of the patient.   Though the pods were a little fragmented and hard to see the vision of how they all played together the message was one foundational platform to collect data.

If you think about the future of care it’s built on the foundation of data.  Think of it this way – if you build your house on sand there is no way to maintain the stability of the structure.  If you build your house on a solid foundation then expansion and stability are givens.

Across from Foundation is the next frontier the “Health” what Cerner noted as Community.  I thought the visual was quite nice – the past was facing the future.   We MUST start managing the wellness the health of not only an individual but of entire populations. 

“What Steve Jobs did in regards to music – Cerner is doing with health data”

I found this statement extremely bold, but accurate. The challenge with most leaders is to be able to drive vision, growth and domination in an industry you are often seen as prideful.  While I agree with some of the pundits – a self comparison to the actions of Apple, the benchmark for transformational innovation, is not the most humble of statements – the only thing I would throw back – isn’t it pretty accurate?   Cliff and Neal took the documentation of processes and have systematically transformed it into a billable standard. And amazingly have driven such change into the industry that the government has seen the benefits of this documentation and will now subsidize their growth through mandates to their core customers.

The thing I would challenge Cerner on is this – Apple has the unique ability to take a complex idea and make it simple to use, visually appealing, and extremely easy to understand.  On the BI side - I didn’t quite see that in Cerner yet – not saying they won’t get there.   They have built a firm foundation – collection and storage of data.  The hard part is the presentation of the data in a useable manageable format. 

The center of their Solutions Gallery was the Organizational Excellence.   I stopped in to see their dashboards and examine their process.   My take away and I hope this isn’t too harsh – they are just not there yet….a little bland and canned.   My encouragement to them – the people who will be successful in the BI space are those who can take the data and do what Neal told the audience Cerner will do “We will future proof your organization” he said that in regards to how the government will change reimbursement based on the collected data.   Somehow you have to take your incredibly complex data set and deliver it to leaders in the hospital in useable fashion.   Most people are not data junkies.

I will say this as a note to the other EMR companies – my money is on Cerner to do this first and from being first they will build the standard.  If you are not all ready in the space you are all ready behind and if you are looking at only the EMR data set – you won't catch them.

The final two statements hit home for me and if you listened to what Neal Patterson was saying they were actually quite revealing to who he is as a person.  

“We are all mortal with a huge instinct to survive.”

There is an underlying ambition to extend life and improve the quality of life.  While not the most personable way to put this thought to the audience – it was a directive.   From a technical standpoint this is the push to build PHR and build it well.  Driving home the point that we must manage health creating a foundational platform like Cerner has done in the “Care” space for the “health” space.  Fixing PHR.  

 “If we know something and we know how to predict it in the future why aren’t we doing it?”

I am not sure if the crowd heard it, but I heard frustration in this statement.   When you hold great power, knowledge, data……when you can see the future and you are pulling those around you to understand it…..when your mind understands that all the pieces of the puzzle are there and all we have to do is put them together….. it’s almost excruciating.  It’s a blessing and a curse to have a vision. 

When that type of driving vision is mixed with a personal experience it intensifies in a way that many won’t understand.  Neal’s top 4 things he wanted to accomplish in this decade – one was “Save Linda’s Life”.    Linda, his sister in law, died from Sepsis.    Can you imagine being one of the most powerful people in healthcare and losing a loved one to a preventable medical error?   Knowing that the data contained in your servers holds a key to change possibly annihilate this and other preventable medical errors?   With great understanding, knowledge, and blessing comes great responsibility - great responsibility engages great pressure.

In closing - Cerner is not Disney World – not what I would describe as “friendly” place but they are knowledgeable and they are incredibly capable and powerful.  They will find answers and save lives.   I am not sold on them as an organization, but after this speech I do see that the leader has passion and purpose.