President Clinton on Health IT at HIMSS 2013

Former President Bill Clinton’s keynote on March 6th at the 2013 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition ranged from politics to economics, and from climate change to health information technology. I was very fortunate as part of the Healthcare Transformation Project to have front row seats, so I have a few clips below where he specifically highlights the critical importance of health IT to transforming our healthcare systems. One of the tweets streaming by during his talk (there was a LOT of tweeting going on during #HIMSS13 :) was this one from @cascadia:

Bill Clinton no correlation between cost and quality of care- driver is quantity of procedures #HIMSS13 twitpic.com/c96cpc
— Sherry Reynolds (@Cascadia) March 6, 2013

So first up and very exciting for me, early in the talk he came right out with praise for the work the HIMSS Healthcare Transformation Project is doing and the commitment from HIMSS to support this important work. He also showed gratitude for the partnership of Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI) with Verizon and GE.

He then went on to discuss how healthcare information technology can help with lowering costs and engaging patients. He drew an analogy between the success of relief efforts during the tsunami as well as the earthquake in Haiti, and how technology can be used in similar ways to not only improve healthcare quality, but also health access.

Next he discussed how important systems are for success. Information and communications technologies and systems-engineering tools will be used to help realize vision of a patient-centered healthcare system. He said, "At some point in the life of every nation, almost every major system  gets long in the tooth." He then went on to explain the critical importance of some of the changes which are necessary.

He then later went in to some of the work being done by CHMI, as well as the Alliance for a Healthier Generation in combating obesity. Their agreement with the American Beverage Association has contributed to a 90% reduction in calories from beverages shipped to schools between the 2004-2010 school years, according to a report published in the American Journal of Public Health. The private market approach and the willingness of the business community to collaborate in the area of reducing obesity has had some stunning results. There was one hilarious moment where Mr. Clinton accidentally said "there has to be a way to sell drugs, ummmm, drinks in school and still make money." He then recovered nicely with "some people think sugar is a drug."

In one of my favorite moments President Clinton stated how much he liked Blue Button. Blue Button epitomizes the idea that people should be able to access and download their own health information. He also spoke of the importance of price transparency. He cited Pennsylvania which every year publishes comparative data on health procedures, including how much they cost and the measurable results.

There was a lot happening at the HIMSS conference this year, so keep your eye out for more posts on some interesting topics.

HIMSS13: Healthcare Transformation Project

Last year HIMSS became a member of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and committed to develop and implement the Healthcare Transformation Project (HTP). By fostering partnerships, providing strategic advice, and driving resources toward the adoption of the best uses of IT for health and healthcare, the HTP will address significant challenges in American healthcare. Through this project, HIMSS will harness the experiences and energy of early IT adopters to help recruit, activate, and convene a community of senior executive healthcare leaders who are well-positioned to develop and execute initiatives that realize the potential of IT to improve the way in which healthcare is delivered in the United States. Inspired by CGI, HIMSS will encourage participants to make commitments to their action plans. "Through the Healthcare Transformation Project, HIMSS has established its Commitment to Action as part of CGI. We know improving healthcare with the best use of IT takes a collaborative effort, one that senior executives can be part of through this HIMSS community," said H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS President and CEO.

In getting ready for the HIMSS 2013 conference I said that one of the most exciting things for me this year is HTP. HTP The is an invitation only initiative created exclusively for senior healthcare provider executives. This is an initiative intended to promote thought leadership and provide opportunities for an open exchange of ideas and networking for the entire leadership team, not just IT executives. As you can see from the agenda, the first day was pretty exciting.

Unfortunately, Patrick Buchanan was not able to make it to HIMSS due to some surgery, but he was more than adequately replaced in the opening keynote by Mary Matalin in a very interesting and friendly joust with Donna Brazile. They discussed the current, and often dysfunctional, political environment and how this impacts the healthcare environment. Mary, is a conservative who served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush made some excellent points about free market reforms that could be undertaken. Donna, who is liberal, and a Democratic political strategist, an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, television political commentator gave a very down to earth and hilarious . This was a perfect start to the day as we wrestled with how we can best use technology to transform our healthcare system in this politically charged environment.

Next we had an excellent presentation from Robert Tagalicod the Director of the Office of E-Health Standards and Services at CMS, which among other things enforces the Transactions and Code Sets and National Identifiers (Employer and Provider identifiers) regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Most of the time I hear his testimony to the HIT Policy Committee on the EHR Incentive Program. At HTP he gave our community some insights into some organization structures within CMS and the kind of strategic thinking that is going on at CMS. He described how they are designing an architecture so that providers and other stakeholders have a single source of information on coordinating efforts toward implementing ICD-10, EHRs and meaningful use, operating standards, electronic quality measurement, and payment models. The Office of Enterprise Management serves as CMS' primary resource for expertise on project management and integration and oversees the Office of Information Products and Data Analytics, the Office of Enterprise Business, Office of Enterprise Performance, as well as the Office of E-Health Standards and Services. The hope is that he adoption of ICD-10, operating rules, and clinical standards will facilitate electronic data exchange and put information in the hands of patients and their caregivers in a way that has never been seen before. His presentation was thoughtful and engaging and led into some great discussion around the tables.

We then moved into the workshop phase of the day which was facilitated by Kenneth R Jennings, PhD the Managing Partner at Third River Partners and author whose most recent book is 10,00 Horses: How Leaders Harness Raw Potential for Extraordinary Results.My hope is that with the incredible thought leadership around the room, we can move into some action leadership as the initiative moves forward. There was a great sense of shared purpose in the room and it will be very exciting to see the commitments to action that are undertaken.

Then in the evening we relaxed at a wonderful cocktail reception and had a fabulous dinner with a keynote presentation from Jeb Bush, former Governor of the State of Florida and the brother of President George W. Bush. There has been a lot of speculation that he may be a candidate for President in 2016, and he just that day had come out with a new book Immigration Wars. He was very gracious, and allowed me to interview him, and then hung out with everyone for an hour before dinner. In his keynote he discussed economic policy, energy policy, touched on education and then dove into healthcare.

He made some strong points that it would be good to give greater flexibility to the states on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He did say that this is now the law of the land so we need to find solutions that fit within the framework of health reform. One area where he thought flexibility would help is the idea of having Mediciad and SCHIP plans offered on the health insurance exchanges. He reasoned that this would provide a broad base for a pool of healthy people to support the exchanges.

He also said, "I am depending on health IT to help save the American healthcare system. It is only by using technology to create a platform for innovation that many of these difficult problems can be solved." He then went on to say that open source software should be part of the solution. I seemed to be the only one who cheered this prospect but I was very happy that he saw the value. It was pretty incredible he was able to show such depth of insight and understanding of healthcare and information technology. I was very happy to finish the day as it began - with strong consensus that health It is an issue with bipartisan support.

Get Ready for HIMSS 2013

The HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition for 2013 is right around the corner so I will begin writing some posts to cover the event. This year looks to be another incredible conference! With keynote presentations from Eric Topol and President Bill Clinton there is no shortage of excitement. There are numerous educational opportunities and of course the HIMSS Social Media Center will be brimming with activity. The new Meaningful Use Experience is something you won't want to miss, and you must stop by the Interoperability Showcase. Data liquidity is what we need and interoperability is a top priority if we truly want to transform our healthcare system. And for anyone interested in the Direct Project there is also a little known session that you need to be aware of:

Title: Beyond Certification: Making Meaningful Use Stage 2 Exchange Requirements Work in the Real World
Date: Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Time: 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. CT
Location: HIMSS13 Annual Conference, Room 293

The agenda for this session will include:

• Understanding and leveraging MU Stage 2 optional transports – a roundtable discussion with EHR vendors and health information service providers (HISPs)
• Creating scalable trust for Direct – an overview and discussion of the conceptual and technical approach to enabling cross-vendor/cross-HISP exchange for patients and providers using Direct

One of the very exciting things for me this year is the Healthcare Transformation Project (HTP). HTP The is an invitation only initiative created exclusively for senior healthcare provider executives. This is an initiative intended to promote thought leadership and provide opportunities for an open exchange of ideas and networking for the entire leadership team, not just IT executives. There will be robust discussion between the health IT and the non-IT professionals about how best to use IT to transform healthcare. Through roundtable discussions, educations sessions, and networking events we will develop actionable plans that will result in real results in our local communities.

HIMSS has become a member of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and HTP is the HIMSS commitment to action as part of CGI. In fact, HTP is implementing CGI's "Commitment to Action" model, and senior healthcare executives will have the opportunity to commit to taking actionable, measurable steps in their organizations that will make a real difference. This will transcend the HIMSS conference itself and be an ongoing initiative. We will document our commitments by specifying actionable, measurable steps they will take to make a transformative difference. Then from the semi-annual Virtual Conference & Exhibition to periodic conversational webinars, blogs and podcasts, we will have opportunities to gather knowledge and share stories with others in the HTP community throughout the year.

At HTP participants will make these commitments that will translate goals into meaningful and measurable results in their own organization or community. HTP will serve as a forum for healthcare leaders to create and share their commitments to action, with the promise of transforming their organization and community. As you can imagine, I am pretty thrilled about participating in this and will be writing more on the topic as some of the projects bear fruit.