It’s been nearly two years since I wrote a note, like this one, to appear here, in the opinion pages of Healthcare IT News. My absence from this newspaper reflects time spent having a first-hand experience of our healthcare system, with numerous physicians and other therapists, multiple therapies, and several treatment locales serving my needs subsequent to a “weekend warrior” cycling accident on a road bike two summers ago.
While I’ve been busy with physical therapy, mindfulness training, and other techniques appropriate for recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI), my friend and my partner, Jack Beaudoin (with whom I launched Healthcare IT News back in 2003) has amply filled my shoes at the office, managing the production of both the monthly newspaper and our daily online news service and related e-newsletters, with tremendous support from our very fine team of professional journalists. His keen editor’s eye for our subject material has helped, as has his ever-watchful publisher’s eye, which he borrowed from me. “What would Neil do?” was an often-asked question, in particular with regard to the bringing together of buyers and sellers, even as the healthcare industry experienced its own, if muted, economic crisis. But the financial crisis in healthcare was tempered by steady movement toward the adoption of information technologies that promise better health care delivery, even, at a lower cost.
Indeed, the global economic meltdown left fertile ground for seeing healthcare IT as a fundamental part of the healthcare financial fix. Simultaneously, President Obama’s healthcare initiatives, though focused on the payer component, put the high cost of care in the crosshairs, and recognized healthcare IT as ‘low hanging fruit’ that may make visible gains possible. So we all see, perhaps as never before, that we are doing very important work for our society. Our work can tangibly improve patient care and can significantly lower the cost of that care.
My own patient experience of diffuse treatment was tied together by a common electronic record that fostered communication among far-flung therapists. A ‘note in the record’ was set in an almost social milieu. But time ‘in’ the system is no substitute for time ‘watching’ the system, and I’m glad to be back at my desk, catching up on the goings on. But the very best place to catch up on all that’s new and different in healthcare IT won’t be at my desk. It will be at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition, held this year on the first few days of March, in Atlanta.
For those who may wish to see me, you’ll find me at the Healthcare IT News exhibit, right on the show floor. But for those who just wish to see what’s new, look for our helpful guidance in the pages here, online on our Web site, and also in the show daily newspapers our team will produce while in Atlanta.
And, on a personal note, I’m indeed counting my many blessings. The random nature of TBI left me, for the most part, cognitively unimpaired, though not without ill effect. I’ve learned first-hand about the many critical functions controlled by the brain, aside from the ability to think.
