CHIME21: The Conversations Leaders Want to Have

To say that it’s been a long time since leaders have been able to collaborate and catch up in person is an understatement. The CHIME21 Fall Forum, which takes place Oct. 27-30 in San Diego, presents an opportunity to do just that. So what will be the key topics of discussion?

We posed the following two questions to some of the most influential leaders in the industry. Below are their responses.

What are you looking forward to most at the CHIME21 Fall Forum?

Like most of us long-termers, I’m hopeful to see a lot of the colleagues I’ve missed seeing in person since the pandemic began. I’m also hopeful that, through presentations and vendor discussions, we will create more dialogue regarding consumerism and advanced digital/blended health systems. We are now seeing our industry transforming.

-George “Buddy” Hickman, Interim CIO, San Ysidro Health (Former CIO, Albany Medical Health System)

I attended the CHIME Innovation Summit in September, and it was great to be able to sit in a room together and have conversations. In person, you can have side conversations and impromptu one-on-one chats. It was great. I’m excited about seeing an even bigger group of friends and colleagues in San Diego.

-Stephanie Lahr, MD, CIO & CMIO, Monument Health

I’ve always been so amazed that in healthcare, even as competitors in some markets, we’re always sharing with one another and helping one another, because at the end of the day, we’re all about saving lives. Iron sharpens iron, and so the more we can help one another, the better our organizations get, and the more lives we save.

-Ed Marx, Chief Digital Transformation, Tech Mahindra (Former CIO, Cleveland Clinic)

What types of discussions do you hope to hear or participate in during the conference?

I’m excited to learn about what amazing innovations health systems have built, invested in, and organically grown in the pursuit of overcoming the pandemic and hyper-accelerating the intersection of the delivery of medicine and imagination of care.

-Aaron Miri, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Baptist Health

With COVID driving up technology literacy across the US and pushing new innovations at a rapid pace, I can’t wait to hear about the new use cases for home-based patient centered care. We have a wealth of data and new signals coming from the home — how are we using it to drive improved outcomes, reduced clinical burnout and lower costs?

-Carina Edwards, CEO, Quil

These are the discussions I want to hear:

• How to effectively manage the threats of cybersecurity, including ransomware monetary demands, rising costs of cyber-insurance, and increased vulnerability.
• How to safely achieve interoperability across our healthcare ecosystem and better understand the rules and solutions around information blocking.
• How to successfully manage and innovate in a world suffering from all the effects of the pandemic, including burnt out employees, rising mental health issues (including opioid use, alcohol use, suicide, etc.), supply chain issues, and Covid vaccine requirements.

And we should never forget who we serve. The patient, our employees, our industry, ourselves. Are we able to create a balance for all?

-Liz Johnson, Vice Chair, CHIME Policy Steering Committee (Former CIO, Tenet Health)