Social Call: How Joining The Conversation Can Forge A Better Path

I find myself often describing myself as one of the luckiest guys on the planet. I love to learn and teach, and my career has turned out to be an endless string of great opportunities to do both. As a retired Air Force vet, and a CIO at some great health systems, I’ve been fortunate to team with some of the best men and women in the world, solving tough problems and making healthcare better for patients and families.

So I was really excited when HIMSS notified me I’d been selected at a Social Media Ambassador to the #HIMSS17 Annual Conference and Exhibition. I knew it would be a whole new opportunity to teach and learn, while working with some of the best and brightest in health IT social media.

Each year, HIMSS has pulled together a class of social media “ambassadors” to help push the envelope on important issues prior to, during, and after the conference. Our main goal is to try and translate insights gleaned from the rich conference social conversation, and convert those insights into an ongoing, actionable framework for health IT professionals to get involved and make their mark on our technology-enabled health revolution.

I’m not alone in all this — there is a group of us that includes physicians, nurses, policy experts, law experts, and more. Below are my fellow HIMSS Social Media Ambassadors:

• Andrew DeLaO @CancerGeek
• Bill Bunting @WTBunting
• Charles Webster @wareflo
• Colin Hung @Colin_Hung
• Danielle Siarri @innonurse
• Geeta Nayyar @gnayyar
• Jane Sarasohn-Kahn @healthythinker
• Janice McCallum @janicemccallum
• John Lynn @techguy
• Linda Stotsky @EMRAnswers
• Lygeia Ricciardi @lygeia
• Mandi Bishop @MandiBPro
• Matthew Fisher @Matt_R_Fisher
• Max Stroud @MMaxwellStroud
• Nick Van Terheyden @drnic1
• Rasu Shrestha @RasuShrestha
• Shahid Shah @ShahidNShah
• Tamara StClaire @drstclaire
• Vanessa Carter @_FaceSA

Take a moment and meet all the Ambassadors, and follow us as we collaborate toward better, faster, cheaper, safer, easier-to-access care for patients and families.

Even better, become a part of the conversation yourself. If you’re not on Twitter, you should be. If you’re a “social butterfly” — perfect, jump right in! We’d love to hear your thoughts on high-impact, actionable, and relevant health IT issues creating a clearer path for our industry.

And if you’re a social media “fly on the wall,” we’re cool with that too. Join us online, and listen, learn, and share the insights of those you agree (and disagree) with.

Together with the #HIMSS17 Social Media Ambassadors, you’ll strengthen the discourse, celebrate HIT’s wins, and help us unearth new opportunities to make healthcare better!

See you at the show. I’m looking forward to learning from you. And, I’ll see you online! Find me at @drexdeford and www.drex.io.

These days, Drex DeFord is doing the independent thing as a consultant and freelance CIO at his company, drexio digital health. But his many years of experience both as a hospital CIO (with Steward Health Care, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Scripps Health) and a CTO with the US Air Force.