Presenter: Jackie Rice
Organization: Frederick Health, Frederick, Maryland

This title captures the essence of how we leverage imagination and innovation to drive progress in health IT. In this presentation, we will explore the journey of an organization embracing the role of being an early adopter for innovation and how we decide when to wait for others to forge the path. We will delve into the benefits and challenges associated with early adoption, and how it influences the overall growth and success of health IT projects. See real-life examples from our experiences at Frederick Health, showcasing the practical applications of early adoption and the tangible impacts it has had on our organization. The presentation will highlight key strategies and guidelines for assessing an organization's readiness to embrace innovation, ensuring that the audience leaves with valuable insights and actionable takeaways.

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 issues.

Frederick Health is the only hospital in Frederick County, Maryland. It has 269 licensed beds, employs a staff of nearly 3,300, and offers services in 26 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 on the Maryland HIMSS Chapter Board of Directors as past president. Prior to joining Frederick Health, Jackie 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.

Presenter: Randall Brandt
Organization: Mile Bluff Medical Center, Mauston, Wisconsin

What happens when imagination meets necessity in a rural healthcare setting? In Mauston, Wisconsin – a city of just under 5,000 residents – our independent medical facility serves a sprawling eight-county region. Faced with deteriorating conditions in outpatient dialysis, retail pharmacy, and urgent care, we confronted a critical decision: adapt, innovate, or fall behind.

This presentation shares the story of how our team reimagined the future of rural healthcare by transforming an abandoned Shopko department store into a vibrant hub of essential services. With community needs and sustainability top of mind, we turned a symbol of retail decline into a revitalized center for urgent care, dialysis, and pharmacy services – while also paving the way for a safer, more efficient emergency room expansion.

More than just a facilities project, this was a strategic move grounded in bold thinking. Attendees will gain insights on:
•    Leveraging underutilized community assets to solve care delivery challenges
•    Enhancing patient experience and operational clarity by separating urgent and emergency care
•    Strengthening rural healthcare resilience through proactive design and creative partnerships

In today’s climate of financial strain and shifting expectations, rural providers must think beyond traditional ROI. This is a story of Return on Imagination – and how thinking outside the box helped us better serve our patients, families, and communities when it mattered most.

Randall Brandt is a dedicated healthcare professional and community leader with over 30 years of experience as a Family Medicine Physician Assistant in Mauston, Wisconsin. Throughout his career at Mile Bluff Medical Center, he has served in key leadership roles, including Lead Advanced Practice Provider, Urgent Care Director, and member of the Medical Executive Board. Known for his passion for advancing healthcare delivery, Randall is driven to bring the latest innovations and technology to the medical community – improving care for patients and reducing the burden on providers.

Presenter: Joe Farr
Organization: King’s Daughters Medical Center, Brookhaven, Mississippi

Innovation in healthcare technology faces the challenge of long-term sustainability. This session will explore how King’s Daughters Medical Center implemented Expanse Point of Care as an early adopter project in 2018 to enhance nursing mobility—and how it continues to drive success today. Attendees will gain insights into key factors that contributed to the project's longevity, the impact on clinical workflows, and lessons learned in sustaining innovation over time.

Joe Farr is the Director of Information Systems at King’s Daughters Medical Center and is responsible for managing IT infrastructure and security, overseeing staffing and budgeting, project management, and ensuring application support for the organization’s Meditech systems. In his prior role as Clinical Applications Coordinator, he led two successful Early Adopter projects for Meditech applications—Point of Care in 2018 and Expanse Patient Care in 2020. He is a registered nurse with a strong clinical background in emergency care and continues to serve as a staff nurse in the Emergency Department on a PRN basis. Joe holds an MBA from Delta State University and a BSN from Mississippi University for Women. 

Presenter: Sam Fielding
Organization: Southlake Regional Health Centre, Newmarket, Ontario

All healthcare organizations are faced with addressing financial challenges, operational work, keeping the lights on projects, and strategic expectations. At the same time, organizations need to evolve and think differently. How do you balance these competing constraints? This session will discuss and explore challenges that we are collectively facing, review perceptions vs. reality, and provide some considerations and strategies to innovate and evolve.

Learning objectives:

• Understand how organizations interpret concepts and terms differently
• Learn about a case study at Southlake Health and how we are tackling / balancing innovation against other priorities and challenges
• Engage leaders to understand their alignments with the case study and get feedback on alternative considerations / opportunities

Sam Fielding is the Chief Information Officer at Southlake Regional Health Centre. He is passionate about advancing Digital Health both within and beyond Southlake. 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 will be the 2025 Board Chair of MUSE International organization with a mandate to support MEDITECH-orientated collaboration and education across the North American healthcare sector.

Presenter: Priscilla A. Frase, MD
Organization: Ozarks Healthcare, West Plains, Missouri

This inspirational session will highlight Ozark Healthcare’s (OZH) journey towards EMR satisfaction through the imagination of Dr. Frase, a hospitalist turned CMIO. From the transition to Expanse, participation in KLAS Arch Collaboration, early innovation and continual optimization, Dr. Frase has held firm to her vision that OZH can achieve high satisfaction and transformational change despite resource limitations. Passion, persistence,  purposeful (sometimes fanciful) planning and internal & external partnerships have been the cornerstone of her work to date. Leave eager to reimagine roles, workflows, possibilities at your own organization.  

Priscilla A. Frase, MD is CMIO at Ozarks Healthcare (OZH) in West Plains, Missouri. She also still practices as a hospitalist in limited capacity. OZH is an independent rural health organization serving an 8-county region in South Central Missouri and Northern Arkansas with 114-bed acute care facility, 28 clinics, inpatient and outpatient Behavioral Health, Cancer Treatment Center and Home Care plus rehabilitation services.  Dr. Frase has been an integral member of the Information Technology team at OZH since 2014, bridging gaps between clinical, regulatory and financial aspects of care.

Through participation in the KLAS Arch Collaborative, led by Dr. Frase, OZH realized significant improvements in EMR satisfaction when they transitioned to MEDITECH Expanse 2.1.  In July 2024, OZH received EHR Experience Breakthrough Recognition for physician and nurse end-user satisfaction. Dr. Frase regularly engages with MUSE, MEDITECH, and other technology vendors to find ways to improve EMR experience for all clinicians and has volunteered time and expertise to help other organizations implement Expanse.  She serves on several vendor advisory boards and advocates for needs in her own and other rural health communities. In 2024, Dr. Frase received a HIMSS Changemaker in Healthcare Award in the category of Senior Executive, was keynote speaker at KLAS Arch Collaborative Summit and was named CHIME Innovator of the Year. From "that doctor" who begrudged every moment spent using an EMR in the early 2000s to the passionate, persistent healthcare leader she is today, Dr. Frase ensures the voice of EMR end-users and rural health organizations is heard.

Presenter: Eric Carey
Organization: Valley Health System, Ridgewood, New Jersey

In today’s healthcare environment, we are being overwhelmed with new technology options. Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be in every system on the market. We don’t have the resources to implement every new system. Our internal customers are being encouraged to implement systems that will solve “all” of their problems. These systems purport to improve operations, reduce staff costs, provide higher quality outcomes, and are often said to include other amazing value.

If all of this is true, what are the specific ROI metrics that the vendors will commit to improving?

Are these metrics ones that our health system agrees need to be improved?

Will the improvement in the metrics actually provide ROI that is acceptable.

Without gaining organizational agreement on an acceptable ROI value, why implement?

In this session we will review processes to embed ROI requirements and tracking mechanisms into projects that will aid product evaluation, selection, implementation, and show value outcomes. Ultimately, the goal is to optimally invest in technology that brings validated value to your organization.

Eric Carey, Vice President and CIO for the Valley Health System, has been at Valley for over 31 years. Valley is located in Northern New Jersey and services both Northern New Jersey and Southern New York. Valley provides healthcare services in over 60 locations. Valley opened its new hospital in Paramus, NJ on its 40+ acre Paramus Campus in April of 2024. The previous hospital campus is being repurposed to provide a myriad of services, including same day surgical services, Recovery and Wellness services, outpatient Diagnostic Imaging, outpatient Lab, Community Care clinics, Graduate Medical Education (GME), Skilled Nursing Services, and much more. Valley welcomed its first classes for Primary Care and OB services into its new (GME) program in July of 2024, and they are starting a surgical program this year. As VP/CIO, Eric is active as a member of the Executive Staff Team. He oversees Information Systems, Telecommunications, and Clinical Engineering. The technology teams consist of about 200 team members who provide 24/7 services for the entire Valley Health System. They are using MEDITECH Expanse and have been a MEDITECH customer since 1995.