Exclusive Article By Thanh Tran, CEO of Zoeticx, Inc.
Thanh Tran is CEO of Zoeticx, Inc., a medical software company located in San Jose, CA. He is a 20 year veteran of Silicon Valley’s IT industry and has held executive positions at many leading software companies.
‘Twas the night before interoperability, and all through the hospital, all of the medical records were silent, interoperability not possible!Patient charts and nurses’ sheets were hung alongside patient beds with care,in hopes that EHR connectivity would also soon hang there!
The patients were all snuggled safe in their beds, while visions of obtaining their own disparate medical records danced in their heads!
The nurse with his laptop and the doctor with her voice dictation microphone, were searching an EHR for patient data, hoping they could one day go home.
When out in the hospital IT department, there arose such a clatter, the hospital CIO ran out to see what was the matter! He ran to the EHR silos in a flash, followed by the entire IT staff.
It appears the EHR passive data was trying to become active with a data switch and a mouse click, not a feat that could even be pulled off by St. Nick! The computer room was humming, but data integration efforts were going quite slow. The IT staff was determined, but their expectations were low.
But off in the distance, what should appear, a sled pulled by eight drone deer. With a steady gait, deliberate and quick, out of the moonlit night stepped Dr. St. Nick. He carried a few new tools in his bag of gifts, he was here to make changes and get the IT system fixed. He had the backs of the patients and the patience of St. Nick!
Reaching deep into his bag, like the wise men of old, he gave the IT folks integration, connectivity, and interoperability, the modern day medical equivalent to frankincense, myrrh and gold.
For the CMO and CEO, their gifts were more than some sox; he gave them the blueprints to connect the CMS Care Management Services dots. He brought them a solution beyond mere interoperability, creating a new CMS billing code to increase health system profitability. Today impacting 15 million patients all told, but through 2050 worth the growing aging population market’s weight in gold!
The hospital chiefs could now offer CCM patients better overall service and care, changing telemedicine everywhere. Face meetings now a thing of the past, doctors can review patient data submitted electronically very fast.
From the top of the nurse’s station to the operating room down the hall, it became clear that Dr. St. Nick was bringing more than interoperability to all. Hospital CIOs, CEOs, CMOs and other administrators liked Dr. St. Nick’s IT gift, but he also had more than a few IT tricks!
Now dash away, stash away hospital IT system operations and such, but welcome in 2016’s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), thanks very much. Dr. St. Nick promised a new way of thinking, organizing primary care, lowering costs and improved patient care to everyone’s liking. But without interoperability, this could not be foreseen, look for a PCMH rollout by 2016!
With cheers from the staff, Dr. St. Nick left the hospital in a bustle and the medical staff let out a whistle. He walked out in the darkness of a midnight sky, hoping onto his sleigh, and headed up high. He soon disappeared into the night, wishing happy holidays to all and have a great healthy life!
