I hope we have 2 individuals with some brass tactics experience with Health IT here.  The responsibilities for both positions has changed so much in getting reliable systems and data in place for the agencies to function.  Without some first hand Health IT knowledge I’m afraid of what the ending results could be.  Again, nothing personal here, just my opinions on what I feel is needed for success.

Software rules 95% of the decisions we all make today and we need leadership that has the ability and knowledge on how to use Business Intelligence to create the decision making process, otherwise we are just grabbing at straws.  In all fairness, we have had to grab at straws of late as there was no “Business Intelligence” software solutions in place to create several “what if” scenarios, and that is what Business Intelligence can do, again loaded with the needed information and queries and algorithms do the work.  We are long past the era of “Magpie HealthCare” today and need real numbers and statistics to work with, and leaders that know how to use it as well.

I ran across another blog which was an opinion and gave background information on DeParle, and where she has been and her investments with various companies.  Just from a quick review of the post, she appears to be rewarded well and hopefully political ties are not an issue here.  Cerner Healthcare is listed as one of her past and present affiliations, namely with with health information systems and I truly hope there is some “hands on” or first hand knowledge here on how their products work and network with other systems too, since this is the big focus with the stimulus package and electronic medical records, since it has been since 2001 when she began and still sits on the Cerner's board compensation committee.  You can read the post and make your own assumptions.  

As a side note, I just recently posed this article about a free online test where one can become certified in Health IT as well:

Free Online Course Available for Health IT Certification – EHR, HIE, PHRs and HIT

One area that I didn’t seem to see enough mention with either candidate was the merging science/clinical area of genomics and hopefully those areas will be encompassed here too, as it’s more than just straight risk management with insurers today, we also need the funds to pay for personalized medicine and again, this just seems like it was not mentioned to a very large degree.  NIH has new funds, which is great, but do either of these candidates comprehend how it will need to mesh with risk management and the importance it has to our healthcare of the future? 

Scientists gather to chart out a 'total reboot' for medicine – Science and Medicine Coming Together

Genomics is science and new breakthroughs are announced every day, again we are once more back to software, R and D, as the breakthroughs all depend on software, no 2 ways about it.  Again, my question here is, so do we have potential candidates that can also bring this into the fold and be able to use Business Intelligence guidance on how to do this, as the picture does and will change every day. 

Business Intelligence Provides Support for Difficult Times – Hospitals

Down the ladder is the FDA Commissioner, a very tricky position these days with all the upheaval and changes, as that department had fallen way behind with their use of technology and is in the process of playing catch up.  Will we have a leader here that will also use some Business Intelligence for decision making?  One thing for sure, who ever lands the job will certainly need it, first hand, again without “Magpie Healthcare”.  None of us want to see a replay of what happened with the SEC, nobody understanding or knowing what to do with knowledge offered. 

Obama’s Proposed Budget Includes Billions to Bolster FDA — About Time

Computer-Designed Drugs Created with Algorithms to help create new and new variant antibiotics

Technology upgrades are all over, even with Social Security working to upgrade their Cobol based system, and here we have another agency relying and touching on Health IT that will need to work with HHS as well. 

US Loses it’s Cutting Edge on Innovation – Time to Wake Up…

This last year we witnessed tons of many “dead doctors” get paid from Medicare, again just something that shows how far we need to go and upgrade Health IT all over the place, and how leaders with hands on knowledge are needed. 

In a recent interview, Fred Smith talks about how FedEx gained and used their innovation, in other words, they were all over it, not afraid to try and were not afraid of technology. 

Hopefully we will have those leaders so I can bury this post forever:

The 2 New Hot Words in Healthcare: Algorithms and Whistleblowers

To be successful as a country we need to start shopping at the “smart” store and not the political store.  BD 

Obama named DeParle to the post during an East Room ceremony this afternoon, where he also formally named Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his secretary of health and human services.
Together, Sebelius and DeParle will be charged with helping to craft and sell the administration's ambitious effort to revamp the nation's health care system to both extend access and rein in runaway costs. In his remarks, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to push ahead on the initiative, despite objections from some Republicans and others who say that it will be too costly, especially given the nation's other fiscal problems.

Nancy-Ann DeParle and Kathleen Sebelius Announced to Lead Obama Health Effort | 44 | washingtonpost.com

Related Reading:

Madoff's Scheme – One Reason To Put the “Smart People” in the Right Places So We Don’t Get Fooled Again

A.I.G. To Get 30 Billion more in Bail Out Money from the Government
Concerned over Wall Street CEO Pay – How About Health Insurance CEOs?

Will Greed lead to Meltdown of the Health System?

Health Insurers Pondering Some New Business Models
Health Care Insurers Suggest Algorithms and Business Intelligence solutions to provide health insurance solution

Beware of Geeks Bearing Formulas

How Wall Street Lied to Its Computers – Software and Programming
Michael Moore – New Movie and looking for Wall Street Informers and Whistleblowers

Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas Governor for HHS – Please not! Put the “Smart” People in these key positions

0 comments :

Post a Comment

 
Top
Google Analytics Alternative