Featured Speakers

Executive Institute Facilitator

Eric Gasser, RN, CHCIO, CDH-E is the Vice President/CIO of Information Systems at Wooster Community Hospital Health System (WCH) in Wooster, Ohio. Eric started his career at WCH in 2006 as a clinical systems analyst and during this time led the organization in implementing Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and electronic physician documentation. Over his 16-year tenure at WCH, Eric has served as the Supervisor of Applications, Director of Information Systems and has been in his current role since 2017. WCH is currently utilizing Expanse 2.1 running the web based version of Ambulatory, ED, Acute and oncology with plans to upgrade to Expanse 2.2 and Web PCS in 2023.

How Leadership Strategy Changes when Transitioning from CIO to CNO

Presenter:  Melissa Hall, RN, BSN, MSN, FNP,  Chief Nursing Officer
Organization:  CalvertHealth Medical Center, Prince Frederick, Maryland

Over the past eight years of her journey at CalvertHealth, Melissa Hall has primarily centered her strategic goal on the Information Technology realm with the added benefit of understanding the impacts to the clinical users. Her vision centered on keeping the information safe and secure, but usable in a fashion that allows the average nurse or clinical user to be more efficient in their workflows. 

Starting in November of 2022, Melissa found that her vision was going to need to change, and the focus is now on the nursing/clinical side of the organization. This is when she started the transition from Chief Information Officer to Chief Nursing Officer. Learn how her leadership strategy changed – but stayed the same.

Melissa Hall, RN, BSN, MSN, FNP is the Chief Nursing Officer at Calvert Health System in Prince Frederick, Maryland. Melissa worked as a nurse and nurse practitioner for more than 10 years before moving into an IT role. This experience has allowed Melissa to move from an IT role back to a nursing role. Due to her nursing experience, Melissa brought a unique clinical perspective to her team that allowed the organization to expand and target their use of technology. Prior to her current role, she worked at Calvert Health as the CIO and implemented numerous cybersecurity processes to assist the organization in their goal of delivering high quality and secure patient care. During her tenure as CIO, she expanded her role at Calvert Health to assist in Operations Management. Melissa belongs to several IT and nursing organizations such as AANC, MUSE, and serves on the MDHIMSS Board.

Adapting and Evolving a Leadership Style

Presenter: Sam Fielding, Chief Information Officer 
Organization: Southlake Regional Health Centre

Changing a title from Chief Technology Officer to the Chief Information Officer involves a single word change. Sam Fielding’s journey as a healthcare leader over the last five years has been much more complicated than one word. Sam has experienced different organization structures, funding models, and political landscapes; established a new network of peers; faced many unique situations; and started a new CIO role months before the global pandemic. The ability to succeed as a leader requires the ability to continually reassess, adapt, and learn. This presentation will reflect on a personal journey and understand how a leadership style has evolved to deliver success.

Sam Fielding is the Chief Information Officer at Southlake Regional Health Centre. His scope of responsibilities include Information Technology, Patient Registration and Scheduling, Health Information Services, Telecommunications and Switchboard.

Prior to joining Southlake, Sam was the Chief Technology Officer at Horizon Health Network for over 10 years when the New Brunswick health system underwent significant transformation with the merging of health authorities and the creation of a healthcare shared services agency. Sam has held a number of other roles in both the public and private sectors including Business Transformation, Project Management and Consulting. He has his Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and has experience in both change management and process redesign.

His formal education background includes a Bachelors of Business Administration (Honours) degree from Acadia University, an Applied Information Technology diploma and his Masters of Business of Administration from the Université de Moncton. Sam is currently a Director of MUSE International organization with a mandate to support MEDITECH-orientated collaboration and education across the North American healthcare sector.

Genomics is Here: How to Build a Precision Medicine Program

Presenter: Jackie Rice, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer 
Organization: Frederick Health

The role a patient’s unique genetic profile plays in their health has been a rapidly developing area of medicine since the human genome was fully mapped in 2001 — and the pace is only accelerating. Precision gene editing technology like CRISPR, a growing array of consumer genetic tests, and the rapid development of mRNA-based vaccines for COVID are just a few of the signs that we are on the brink of a revolution in medicine. But most physicians (and most healthcare organizations) still think they are years away from using genetic information in their own practices.

This session will demonstrate how one mid-sized healthcare organization developed an advanced genomic medicine program that is fundamentally and positively changing the practice of medicine for physicians of all specialties, and establishing truly personalized, precision medicine today. Through technology and workflow innovation, Frederick Health is extending the use of genomics beyond the specialties that have typically used it (oncology, immunology, neurology, maternal and fetal medicine, etc.) to include every specialty and area of medicine, including primary care and internal medicine. Attendees will learn how any physician at Frederick can order genetic tests just like any other lab test, receive and store genetic results in their patient’s chart (as discrete data, not auxiliary text-based reports), have results displayed in meaningful and actionable ways, perform pharmacogenomic drug-gene checking automatically, and receive the interpretation and guidance they need to steer their patients toward the most effective treatment options.

This is a remarkable achievement and it’s a sign that the era of genomic medicine is truly here. The personal patient genome can now be stored as discrete data within the patient record, which means it’s essential for all organizations to begin developing their strategies for incorporating genomics into their own clinical workflows, including how they will store, use, access, and share patient genetic data. With the right tools, training, support and guidance, physicians will embrace this new era of medicine and will provide their patients with safer, more effective care. Organizations that do it well will be leaders. Those that don’t will fall behind, losing patients who are becoming increasingly interested in how their genetics affects their health. This session will provide clear guidance and actionable takeaways to attendees from an organization that is doing it.

Jackie Rice, BSN, RN is the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Frederick Health. She provides leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment for Frederick Health. The primary responsibilities of her office encompass a wide variety of strategic technology initiatives:

• Governance and policy including cybersecurity

• Enterprise Analytics

• Resource allocation

• Information technology protocols

• Frederick Health technology needs and support

• Digital innovation

• Population health technology initiatives

Frederick Health is the only hospital in Frederick County, Maryland. It has 269 licensed beds, employs a staff of nearly 4,000, and offers services in 24 locations through a network of primary care and specialty providers. Jackie’s team provides support for and delivery of IT infrastructure and services, information security systems, administrative systems, and client support services.

Jackie serves as President of the Maryland HIMSS Chapter. Prior to joining Frederick Health, she served in multiple healthcare roles, starting with a nursing background of 20 years which led her to a career path in Information Services. She follows the mission of Frederick Health to positively impact the well-being of every individual in our community.

Developing Data Driven Strategies

Presenter: Rachel Wilkes
Organization: MEDITECH

Join this roundtable discussion to dive into the metrics that fuel the decisions your organization makes.

Topics:

• With an abundance of data, what strategies have you employed to build up data literacy on your teams? To establish sources of truth within your datasets and tools?
• Does your organization employ a Chief Data & Analytics Officer or other type of analytics leader?
• What are the key metrics your organization uses to drive strategy, grow business/revenue, decrease costs, and increase productivity?
• Which information is being reported up to your leadership team/board?
• What metrics will you need to support future strategic decisions?
  

Come and share insights with your peers about developing data driven strategies.

Rachel Wilkes is a Director on the Strategic Product Management team at MEDITECH. She has oversight over product strategy for MEDITECH’s Analytics, Population Health, Patient Engagement, Revenue Cycle, Practice Management and Financial solutions. Rachel is a Certified Product Manager and holds an MBA from Bryant University.

Measuring IT Efficiency with Objective Analytic Data

Presenter: Carl Smith, Chief Information Officer
Organization: King’s Daughters Medical Center, Brookhaven, Mississippi

The use of data analytics in hospitals has become a crucial part of how we make decisions, provide performance improvement, capture patient/employee engagement and satisfaction, and improve healthcare throughout our facilities. There are many tools and surveys that have become commonly useful for gathering this data including HIMSS Stages, Chime Most Wired, HCAHPS, Best Places to Work, and others. However, there are very few formal solutions that actually capture IT satisfaction within organizations in order to provide better service and proper staffing. In this session, we will discuss objective ways to measure efficiency and client satisfaction in the IT environment.

Carl Smith is the Chief Information Officer at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven, MS. KDMC is a 99 licensed bed facility supporting the Southwest Mississippi area for over 130 years. Carl has served at KDMC for 29 years over IT, implementing MEDITECH Magic in 1996, 6.15 in 2016, and Expanse in 2018. KDMC has achieved Most Wired twice, Best Places to Work for 9 out of the last 10 years, and received the InfoTech CIO award three times which measures objective IT data benchmarked across all industries.

CHIME’s Digital Health Most Wired Community: Harnessing Best Practices and Support

Presenter: Christine Parent, Associate Vice President
Organization: MEDITECH

CHIME’s Digital Health Most Wired program recognizes healthcare organizations that are improving patient safety and health outcomes through their use of information technology. This important initiative uses levels 7 through 10 to designate those organizations with the most advanced digital health capabilities in the industry. As healthcare IT leaders, we all must prioritize digital technology adoption and innovation in order to guide our institutions toward future success.

Don’t be left behind. The CHIME Digital Health Most Wired survey grew by 20 percent in 2022, and now represents over 38,000 facilities from 10 countries. Christine Parent will review highlights of her company’s Most Wired Program and Best Practices, encouraging all customers to leverage these resources as they undertake the 2023 survey.

Associate Vice President Christine Parent’s well-rounded and smart approach to problem solving has long guided MEDITECH toward stronger relationships across the care continuum. Today, she brings her rich EHR knowledge to the role of associate vice president of marketing--spreading the word on how MEDITECH empowers healthcare organizations, through our company branding, online presence, public relations, and customer events, as well as developing and executing MEDITECH’s “go-to-market” strategy.