In the spirit of looking ahead to 2005 and with high hopes for healthcare information technology in the new year, we asked a few of the movers and shakers in the industry to identify some other movers and shakers – people they expected would influence the adoption of healthcare information technology in 2005.
The clout of National Health Information Technology Coordinator David J. Brailer, MD, is a given, we figured. So, we asked our sources to surprise us with other names. We were looking for people who were likely to shake things up and make things happen, perhaps even inspire, whether they were center stage or behind the scenes. Who, because of their position, drive, energy and commitment might push healthcare IT ahead in 2005?
Here are just a few, not by any means an all-inclusive list:
Peter Basch, MD, e-Health Initiative's medical director, put forth Francois deBrantes of GE Corporate. deBrantes is the project director for the Bridges to Excellence Program and the driving force behind the National Alliance for the Advancement of Health Care IT, a coalition of six associations representing large employers, insurance companies and health plans. The public-private partnership is working on establishing ground rules for all payer participation in pay-for-performance programs.
"My own view is that the misalignment of HIT costs and benefits is the single biggest barrier (perhaps the only barrier) to rapid IT adoption and optimal use - and that the individual or individuals who can help to move reimbursement reform forward will be the hero behind the scenes."
William F. Jessee, MD, president and CEO of the Medical Group Management Association will be watching Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D, R.I.,who has in the past shown strong leadership in putting forth healthcare IT legislation. It's important to have a "bi-partisan set of movers and shakers," Jesse said.
Jessee also selected one of MGMA's own: Robert M. Tennant, senior policy advisor, health informatics, with the Washington D.C.-based Government Affairs Department of the MGMA.
Tennant has a clear grasp of what needs to be done and is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and do the nitty-gritty work on standards and HIPAA requirements – work that will underpin all IT implementation. Tennant's work, particularly on the business process side is essential to the building of a national health information network, Jessee said.
Tennant, who has made more than 100 presentations on HIPAA and other e-health issues, was the recipient of the 2001 WEDI (Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange) Distinguished Service Award and the 2002 WEDI Leadership in Technology Award.
Jessee also predicted that Carol C. Diamond, MD, managing director of the Markle Foundation's Healthcare Program, would continue to make waves on the healthcare IT front. As the leader of the Markle Foundation's Connecting for Health, Jessee said, Diamond did a "masterful job" bringing all stakeholders together to begin to address the barriers to development of an interconnected health information infrastructure. Her work has already had a profound impact, Jessee said, and it will continue to influence the industry as the Connecting for Health coalition moves to the next stage to work closely with Brailer.
Diamond is also on Donald Mon's list of people to watch. Mon, vice president, practice leadership for the American Health Information Management Association, said in 2005 Diamond, through her leadership on Connecting for Health, will likely remain a major force in the industry to work on the design of the national health information network.
Two physicians who are now in positions to influence the adoption of information technology by other physicians offer promise for this year, Jesse noted.
Mark Leavitt, MD, is very influential in his roles as director of ambulatory care at HIMSS and also as head of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology. Leavitt's credentials are impeccable, Jesse said. Leavitt practiced internal medicine from 1982 to 1992. In 1985, he founded MedicaLogic, an electronic medical records company he later sold to GE Medical Systems.
David Kibbe, MD, has been responsible for several projects aimed at advancing the adoption of IT by physicians, in his role of director of the American Academy of Family Physicians' Center for Health Information Technology.
Kibbe was key to forming PEHRC, the Physicians Electronic Health Record Coalition, which has drawn representatives from 20 medical associations to the conference table to discuss ways to achieve widespread adoption of electronic medical records. Kibbe is co-chairman of PEHRC with Peter Basch, MD, medical director of e-Health Initiative.
Mon at AHIMA also singled out Leavitt as someone who bears watching in 2005 and for the same reasons Jesse offered, especially for his upcoming work on the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.
Besides Diamond and Leavitt, Mon has high hopes that Linda Kloss, Michael Leavitt and Mark McClelland will influence HIT adoption in 2005.
Kloss is CEO of AHIMA. "She remains a major force for a number of industry initiatives, including the EHR, PHR, NHIN, RHIOs, SNOMED and ICD-10.
Leavitt was recently named to succeed Tommy Thompson as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
"He's got to fight to get back the funding for HIT initiatives, and provide the executive support for ONCHIT"
McClelland is administrator of CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "He's got to make e-prescribing a reality in 2005, as well as make the pay-for-performance and pay-physicians-for-the-use-of-EHR programs work.
Scott Wallace, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Health Information Technology, said he, too, would be watching Michael Leavitt, who has already surprised him.
"I know of absolutely no one who had Leavitt on their short list for secretary," Wallace said. But, Leavitt is a friend of HIT, said Wallace, who noted that when Leavitt was governor of Utah, his IT initiatives on all fronts were considered ahead of those in most states.
Wallace also believes Senate Majority Leader William Frist, MD, will be influential on the HIT front as the White House increasingly looks to him, a physician, to take the lead on healthcare.
Frist pushed very hard to make sure the Commission on Systemic Interoperability would continue to be created even after the establishment of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology. Some believed ONCHIT obviated the commission, but Frist disagreed. The commission, chaired by Wallace, will meet on Jan. 10.
In Wallace's view, Frist will prove himself on the HIT front. Moreover, Wallace said, "Frist has a very, very good staff, who are very sophisticated about IT."
In the public sector, Wallace said U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn, and Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., are two people to watch because they chair important committees. Johnson, architect of a patient safety bill, is intent on addressing the the issue of healthcare," said Wallace. She chairs the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. Enzi is the most senior member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is expected to become chairman of the committee pending approval of committee membership in January.
In the private sector, Wallace suggested watching Steve Williams, CEO of Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Ky., and Thomas M. Priselac , CEO of Cedars-Sinai.
Cedars-Sinai had a very public meltdown of its CPOE system that forced the Los Angeles-based organization to suspend use of the multimillion dollar computerized system nearly two years ago. Today, under Priselac's leadership, Cedars-Sinai is addressing its workflow issues. How that plays out and how Cedars-Sinai turns around the CPOE fiasco will be instructive to others struggling with similar issues, Wallace said.
Norton Healthcare will be interesting to watch because it's a healthcare system that has limited resources, but one that has made a strong commitment to IT. "It's emblematic of an extremely well-led, but resource constrained organization," Wallace said. "If these organizations make real headway, then we'll be unstoppable."
