NASHVILLE, TN – National Coordinator Farzad Mostashari, MD, urged an audience at the annual Allscripts Client Experience Conference Monday morning to pick a health problem - stroke or heart attack, for example – and "knock the heck out of it."

"All of you out there, pick a target."
As he has before, Mostashari reminded the group that "technology is not an end to itself." Better care for individuals and better care for the population, along with lower costs are the goals, he said.

He forecast more innovation and more connection between healthcare providers and individual consumers for the future, and "more liberation of data."

Mostashari couldn't get out of the nation's capital this morning, since Hurricane Irene had played havoc with flights all along the East Coast, but he still joined Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman on stage Monday morning (via Skype) for the the opening of Allscripts annual user conference.

When Tullman took the stage to welcome 4,700 of his best clients to Music City for the annual Allscripts Client Experience (ACE), he quickly acknowledged his tendency to see the world – and healthcare IT – through rose-colored glasses.

“All of you know that I’m an optimist," said Tullman. "I refuse to believe that we can’t do this.”

He acknowledged that the audience is doing hard work, and said there's no better descriptor for transforming healthcare than “driving a car at 60 mph and changing all four tires at the same time.” 

“I see a real upside ... a real opportunity," Tullman told the audience. “We’re just getting started.”

Tullman introduced what he called the next chapter in healthcare IT innovation, "Insights to Outcomes," or i2O. Allscripts posted 100 examples of leading healthcare organizations that are leveraging the i2O concept, producing insights that are driving significant improvements in health outcomes. (To view their outcomes, go to www.allscripts.com/i2O.)

"This year at ACE, many of the nation's leading healthcare organizations will showcase the next stage of health information technology, where insights provided by electronic health records will begin to deliver measureable, broad-scale improvements in health outcomes," said Tullman. "ACE gives our clients the opportunity to network, learn from client conducted education sessions, and hear first-hand about the successes of some of the most innovative healthcare organizations in the nation. Together, we're leveraging technology to improve the safety, coordination and efficiency of patient care."

On Tuesday, the keynote presenter is serial inventor Dean Kamen, who will discuss innovation and how he earned more than 400 patents, including breakthroughs in healthcare such as the first wearable insulin pump, and lifestyle innovations such as the Segway personal transport system.