New ideas can come from many places. Are new ideas the same as “innovation” which has become almost a buzzword these days? According to Webster’s Dictionary, the answer is yes. Innovation is defined as “the introduction of something new OR a new idea, method or device.” In the past week, I’ve met with health care CIO […]
A Salute To The Nurses Among Us
National Nurses Week officially ended yesterday, May 12, on Florence Nightingale’s birthday. But of course, you can thank a nurse and recognize him or her any day, any time. Many of us have personal stories of being cared for by a nurse with great skill and empathy. When I was growing up, I wanted to […]
Making The Tough Decisions
Meet Your Future Workforce
Last week, the IT Department hosted 25 children for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. This annual event is a great way to encourage both girls and boys to consider careers in health care and information technology. I kicked things off at breakfast and talked with all the participating young people (ages 6-13) […]
Make The Most Of HIMSS15
The health IT event of the year is almost here. Yes, just a few more days until HIMSS15 and time for education, networking and vendor exploration. Whenever HIMSS is in Chicago, some people worry about the weather. But it looks like we’ll have high temps in the 60’s so you southern and west coast folks […]
Yes You Can: Encouraging Girls To Pursue IT Careers
Last week, I spoke with high school and college age women about the Journey to a Successful Career in Information Technology. I gave the keynote at an event jointly sponsored by the Student Resource and Women’s Center and Career Services at Washtenaw Community College. The event was part of a series on women in non-traditional careers. […]
Creating A Security Culture
I recently wrote that if the CIO is the only one worrying about the EHR implementation, it’s a problem. Likewise, if the CIO and the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) are the only ones thinking about IT security, it’s a problem. You only have to read the news any given week to see the rising number of breaches within […]
Surfacing Problems, Prototyping Solutions
According to Wikipedia, “a hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest) is an event in which computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers and project managers, collaborate intensively on software projects.” Hackathons are a great way to surface problems and prototype solutions in a short time period. I […]
Leadership Huddles: Not Just Another Meeting
It’s huddle time! No, I’m not joining a sports team. But along with my leadership team, we are taking the next step on our lean journey. In a few weeks we’ll be starting twice-a-week, 30-minute leadership huddles. This is part of Lean in Daily Work which also includes key visual metrics, visual boards, Everyday Lean Ideas (ELI), […]
Plans, Processes, People: Lessons From A Successful EHR Implementation
I recently had the opportunity to talk about lessons learned from EHR implementations as part of the faculty for the “Leadership Strategies for Information Technology in Health Care” course at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). And yes, I was fortunate to make it in and out of Boston between snowstorms for the one day […]