Network Infrastructure

Collaboration tools are undergoing drastic version updates and feature overhauls on a very frequent basis, which force security departments to keep a close eye on upcoming changes to determine whether their standards will still be met.

With dozens of healthcare facilities across the UAE, the country’s healthcare system is evolving faster than elsewhere in the world, says Christian Schuhmacher, CEO of King’s College Hospital London in Dubai.

Dr. Michael von Bertele, non-executive director of Rutherford Health and Salisbury NHS foundation trust in the UK, writes about the ways we can build systems to avert critical situations, and be better prepared.  

A proposal: Create a Federal Reserve-type structure for supply chain management of protective equipment, powered by distributed ledger technology.

As the COVID-19 crisis forces hospitals to get creative, a retired Air Force Colonel offers some perspective on IT preparedness gained from previous emergency medical deployments.

Join us for the first in a three-part series that will explore how a VNA creates the foundation for supporting your long-term data and AI strategy. In the first of these three webinars we will discuss the benefits of a VNA, best practices on how you can begin to plan for deploying a VNA, and how you can turn your data into the asset that it should be.

It's hard for me to believe, but I’ve been at Penn Medicine for 13 years. There has been a remarkable amount of change, growth, and learning that has occurred both within my organization and in myself during this time. Upon entering a new calendar decade, I thought I'd share a few reflections on past achievements, lessons learned – and thoughts to pave the way forward in setting new goals to keep trailblazing on the technology landscape. I find that it’s important as a leader to express gratitude. Doing so creates a high achieving mentality at work and builds connectedness, perhaps even solidarity, which can pay dividends and even transform the organization toward increased productivity. The Information Services achievements that I am most thankful for at my organization include these key items: First, I’m thankful that we successfully implemented our integrated electronic health record. This achievement significantly enabled the continuity of patient care and seamlessly unites our patients’ data in the ambulatory, inpatient and homecare settings. Second, I’m thankful for the high performing Information Services team that gives 100% each day - dedicated toward achieving our departmental mission aligned to support our enterprise goals. By building a strong team vision, culture, and establishing solidarity, we have achieved a 96% retention rate over the past seven years.   Next, I’m thankful for Penn Medicine’s leadership that participates in our information services governance, sets institutional priorities and provides our teams with the resources necessary to continue to be leaders in health care delivery.  I’m also thankful for our vendor partners whose employees develop some of the most functional and reliable technology and software solutions to assist our caregivers in their daily operations.  Lastly, I’m most thankful for all of my business partners in the healthcare IT industry that work collaboratively with me and members of the Information Services team to design, develop and implement solutions that meet the institution’s objective to deliver world class patient care, education and research.  Through these contributions and collaborations, my organization has changed in ways we never dreamed of at the beginning of this past decade. As we look forward to the next decade, I can only imagine the changes that will take place. I foresee significant advancements occurring in mobility, imaging, telemedicine, virtual reality, 5G/6G, artificial intelligence, data privacy and security, genomic sequencing and translational research. From my perspective, these are just a few of the factors that will shape the next decade: In the near term, Penn Medicine’s Information Services team is focusing our efforts on driving more value out of the technology assets in which we have made investments. Further optimizing our electronic health record to be more intuitive and useful for our clinicians; Expanding efforts to further engage our patients in the management of their care; Delivering timely analytics to decision makers across the enterprise to improve on-the-ground decisions and drive desired behaviors; Integrating our research and patient care efforts to deliver personalized patient care solutions; Ensuring that we engage our most valuable assets, our employees, with the most up-to-date technologies to enhance their career opportunities.  The next decade is sure to bring an accelerated rate of change to the healthcare industry. Like the metamorphosis that has taken place in other industries, healthcare technology will be the catalyst for provider organizations to succeed in the ever changing world of healthcare. Mike Restuccia is the chief information officer of Penn Medicine.

As healthcare continues to evolve, understanding data has become increasingly critical to being able to make timely, informed decisions. At City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, we replaced traditional data silos and manual processes with a data culture mindset and modern approach to managing our data and facilitating research.

Healthcare organizations continue to undergo major digital transformation throughout the continuum of care. Technology, business processes, new government mandates, industry consolidation, and strong consumerism-driven healthcare are just a few of the key underlying forces that continue to fuel the much needed changes in the healthcare space.

The patient-provider relationship is critical to improving patient outcomes. Yet only 11 percent of patients are satisfied with the time they spend with their primary care physician, and 42 percent of physicians are experiencing burnout. Administrative burdens and greater patient volumes are the key culprits - and implementing a connected technology strategy can relieve the pain.