In this podcast episode, we delve into how Manifest Medex ensures seamless data sharing across diverse healthcare providers, including opioid treatment and mental health services, while adhering to strict privacy and security standards such as HIPAA. We explore successful integration examples that have aided in combating the opioid crisis, discuss the significant challenges of achieving interoperability between different EHR systems, and examine the strategies Manifest Medex has employed to overcome these obstacles and improve care coordination.

MODERATOR: Bill Cioffi, MPPA, CHCIO, ITIL 

Chief Information Officer, C10 Consulting 

Bill Cioffi is also an Advisor at StarBridge Advisors, LLC, and is a nationally recognized leader in health IT. With over 15 years of experience in healthcare IT management, Bill has served as CIO at CenCal Health and North Sonoma County Healthcare District, where he spearheaded strategic technology initiatives, EHR implementations, and IT infrastructure improvements.

GUEST: Erica Galvez 

Chief Executive Officer, Manifest MedEx 

Erica Galvez is CEO of Manifest MedEx (MX), California’s largest nonprofit health information organization, and has extensive experience in health information exchange (HIE) and interoperability. She has been with Manifest MedEx since 2017, previously serving as Chief Strategy Officer and Chief of Staff. She has been instrumental in guiding the organization’s growth and expansion while ensuring MX delivers increasing value to participants. Erica has helped MX achieve a 500 percent increase in health records shared across the health data network. MX now shares information for 38 million Californians across more than 140+ hospitals, 17 health plans, and 2500+ ambulatory providers. Erica came to the HIE space through years of healthcare quality and patient safety research at The Joint Commission.  

Before joining MX, Erica led the HIE efforts at Aledade that tripled the company’s hospital connectivity and evolved the use of health information to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and emergency department encounters. Prior to Aledade, she led the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC’s) Interoperability Portfolio, held a leadership position as one of the directors of ONC’s State HIE Program, and served as the program manager for AHIMA’s State-Level HIE Consensus Project.  

GUEST: Josh Longiaru 

IT Director, United Services, Inc.

As a champion for behavioral health and integrated care, Josh is passionate about advancing the conversation on interoperability and its critical role in transforming patient outcomes. With over 20 years’ experience in leading innovative programs at United Services and fostering collaboration among healthcare providers, he is committed to bridging gaps between physical and behavioral health systems to foster comprehensive care solutions. His hope is to get to a point where everyone has access to integrated care models that prioritize the whole person, ensuring that stigma and barriers are eliminated so that every patient can access the compassionate support they deserve. 

In this episode we hear from a Clinical Program Manager about the inception, operation, and impact of The Link, a community triage center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Learn how it was born out of a data-driven need for enhanced mental health and substance use services, and the collaborative efforts with community stakeholders, hospitals, and law enforcement that brought it to life. The episode delves into how the center combats stigma, addresses health equity, and provides culturally sensitive care, particularly to the American Indian population. Hear about the operational challenges, successes, and future vision for the center, highlighting how healthcare IT and data have played crucial roles in their ongoing efforts to improve community health outcomes. Practical insights and inspiration are offered for those looking to replicate or support similar initiatives in their own communities.

HOST

Janet Desroche

Associate VP, MEDITECH 

GUEST

Kelsey Sjaarda, MSW, CSW-PIP

Clinical Program Manager, Avera Behavioral Health and The Link

Kelsey Sjaarda, MSW, CSW-PIP, has been with Avera for over 12 years and oversees their partial hospitalization program as well as operations of The Link. Kelsey earned her Master of Social Work at the Mankato campus of Minnesota State University.

What you'll learn about:

A panel discussion led by the Co-chair of the CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF), featuring members of the Clinical Advisory Subcommittee, on their latest white paper. The paper outlines 13 essential opioid-related capabilities in enterprise EHRs that all health systems should utilize.

A discussion highlighting the CHIME OTF's white paper The Current State of Opioid Related Capabilities in Enterprise EHRs: Availability and Level of Technical Difficulty.

MODERATOR: Patty Lavely

Co-chair, CHIME OTF

CIO Consultant

GUESTS:

Sean Kelly, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Imprivata

Attending physician, Beth Israel Lahey Health

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, part-time, Harvard Medical School

Co-chair, Clinical Advisory subcommittee, CHIME OTF

Scott Weiner, MD, MPH, FAAEM, FACEP, FASAM

Emergency & addiction medicine physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Co-chair, Clinical Advisory subcommittee, CHIME OTF

Gregory R. Polston, MD

Clinical Informaticist & Associate Medical Director, University of California San Diego Health’s Center for Pain Medicine

Section Chief of the pain service, VA Medical Center La Jolla

Member, Clinical Advisory subcommittee, CHIME OTF

John Lee, MD

Emergency Medicine Physician, Edward-Elmhurst Health Clinical Informatics Specialist, The MetroHealth System

Member, Clinical Advisory subcommittee, CHIME OTF

What You''ll Learn:

This information is crucial for aligning IT and clinical strategies in combating the opioid crisis effectively.

A member of the CHIME OTF speaks to a serial health IT entrepreneur to discuss his blueprint for innovation and funding for technology solutions that are addressing the opioid crisis.

Chief Commercial Officer, Interlace Health and Member, CHIME Opioid Task Force

Founder and CEO, OpiAID

PART TWO OF A TWO PART SERIES

In this episode, Moderator Ed Kopetsky, Co-chair of the CHIME Opioid Task Force and former CIO of Stanford Children's Hospital speaks with Mara L. Schenker, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer at the Christopher Wolf Crusade (CwC), about how she’s leveraging CwC’s Life Care Specialists in her capacity as Associate Chief Medical Information Officer and Chief of Orthopaedics at Grady Memorial Hospital. She’ll share what initially gravitated her to CwC’s mission, how her expertise has helped to expand the scope of their work.

MODERATOR: ED KOPETSKY 

Co-chair, CHIME Opioid Task Force

Ed Kopetsky, former Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Stanford Children’s Health, is an accomplished healthcare executive with expertise in integrated healthcare systems, information technology, operations and cost improvement, digital transformation and consulting. Following a family tragedy, in 2018 Ed co-founded and continues to co-chair the CHIME Opioid Task Force helping healthcare organizations confront the national opioid crisis.

GUEST: MARA L. SCHENKER, MD, MBA 

Chief Medical Officer, Christopher Wolf Crusade (CWC) 

Associate Professor of Orthopaedics, Emory University 

Associate Chief Medical Information Officer, Chief of Orthopaedics, Grady Memorial Hospital 

 What you’ll learn about Dr. Schenker: 

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools. 

PART ONE OF A TWO PART SERIES

In this episode, Moderator Ed Kopetsky, Co-chair of the CHIME Opioid Task Force and former CIO of Stanford Children's Hospital speaks with Cammie Wolf Rice, Founder and CEO of Christopher Wolf Crusade (CwC) formed in honor of her son. CwC has since launched a new position in healthcare called the Life Care Specialist (LCS), now an integral part of a patient’s care team in hospitals where the role has been introduced. 

MODERATOR: ED KOPETSKY 

Co-chair, CHIME Opioid Task Force 

Ed Kopetsky, former Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Stanford Children’s Health, is an accomplished healthcare executive with expertise in integrated healthcare systems, information technology, operations and cost improvement, digital transformation and consulting. Following a family tragedy, in 2018 Ed co-founded and continues to co-chair the CHIME Opioid Task Force helping healthcare organizations confront the national opioid crisis. 

GUEST: CAMMIE WOLF RICE 

Philanthropist, Activist, Speaker 

CEO & Founder, Christopher Wolf Crusade 

Author: The Flight, My Opioid Journey 

cwc.ngo | cammiewolfrice.com 

As founder of the Christopher Wolf Crusade (CwC), Cammie Wolf Rice is dedicated to bringing an end to the Opioid Epidemic. After the tragedy of losing her son, Christopher Wolf, Cammie has turned pain into purpose by championing addiction prevention. In 2018, Cammie founded CwC in Christopher's honor and launched a new position in healthcare called the Life Care Specialist (LCS). Learn more about Cammie's journey by reading her memoir - The Flight, My Opioid Journey.

 What you’ll learn about: 

– Cammie's background and life experience which guided her involvement in the opioid crisis. 

– An overview of the Life Care Specialist (LCS) healthcare role and training program 

– Early findings and results of the accredited LCS training program. 

– CwC’s future roadmap and near-term goals going forward. 

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools. 

In this episode, Todd Rowland, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Motiv Health, sits down with Dennis (Denny) Morrison, PhD, Owner of Morrison Consulting, to explore the intersection of psychology, healthcare IT, and behavioral healthcare. Denny shares his insights on how his background has equipped him to lead behavioral healthcare facilities and orchestrate mergers of large networks, shedding light on effective strategies for addressing the opioid crisis. Listeners will gain valuable examples of leveraging technology to promote best practices in reducing opioid use and misuse within healthcare systems. Denny highlights the importance of understanding substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health, particularly for non-behavioral health providers, emphasizing the need for comprehensive approaches to opioid use. The conversation delves into the critical role of partnerships in driving innovative solutions, emphasizing the synergy between people, process, and technology in tackling the opioid crisis. By fostering collaborative relationships, healthcare providers and systems can enhance their ability to address the multifaceted challenges of substance use disorders. 

GUEST 

Dennis (Denny) Morrison, PhD

Owner, Morrison Consulting

MODERATOR 

Todd Rowland, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Motiv Health

Member of the CHIME OTF’s Promoting Leading Practices subcommittee

What you’ll learn about:

– How Dennis (Denny) Morrison, PhD has leveraged his background in psychology and healthcare IT to lead behavioral healthcare facilities and mergers of large networks.

– How healthcare providers and systems, can effectively use technology to promote best practices to reduce opioid use and misuse.

– What all non-behavioral health providers should know about the world of substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health as it relates to opioid use.

– How critical partnerships can help to improve the innovative use of people, process, and technology to address the opioid crisis.

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

Gravity Project is an HL7 FHIR Accelerator, collaborative initiative with the goal to develop consensus-driven data standards to support the collection, use, and exchange of data to address the social determinants of health (SDOH). In 2023, Gravity Project was named in the White House “US Playbook to Address the Social Determinants of Health” and ONC’s HTI-1 final rule requiring adoption of USCDI v3 as the standard for certification by January 2016 includes the four Gravity curated SDOH elements. Listen to learn about how data standards can accelerate your work as Health IT professionals to support individuals and families impacted by the opioid crisis.

GUEST 

Vanessa Candelora 

Program Manager, Gravity Project

MODERATOR 

Otto Reemelin 

CIO, Southwest Human Development 

Member of the CHIME OTF’s Technology and Interoperability subcommittee 

What you'll learn about:

- What Gravity Project is and why it exists.

- How it's system agnostic and can be utilized in any EHR/system.

- Gravity Project's existing/current/upcoming work.

- What Gravity Project offers, and who can access it and how.

- Why it was created and what issues and problems it's addressing, with real world examples.

-How Gravity Project can help to reduce the trauma and stress for families of fragile infants seeking care from agencies in the community who specialize in neonatal abstinence syndrome, food insecurity, or housing instability.

-The top 3 takeaways everyone in healthcare IT should know so they can leverage the power of the Gravity Project.

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

Explore the leading-edge work of Virtua Health a comprehensive healthcare system in Southern New Jersey recognized by CHIME in 2023 as a “Most Wired” Level 10 health system, a top honor shared by only 19 U.S. hospitals/health systems. Join moderator Bill Spooner, a retired CIO and Co-chair of CHIME OTF’s Emerging Technology/Interoperability subcommittee, in this illuminating podcast episode. Discover how Virtua Health seamlessly embeds FindHelp into Epic, revolutionizing patient referrals for opioid treatment. Krista Lokan, IT Population Health Architect at Virtua Health, shares the challenges and triumphs of implementing this innovative tool, offering real-time access to vital resources. Learn how FindHelp streamlines patient care, eliminates manual processes, and fosters collaboration among healthcare entities. Gain insights into Virtua's success metrics and their regional efforts to combat substance abuse. Don't miss this insightful conversation on leveraging technology to drive meaningful change in opioid treatment. 

Host: Bill Spooner

A mostly retired CIO and Co-chair of the CHIME OTF’s Technology and Interoperability subcommittee.

Guest: Krista Lokan

IT Population Health Architect, Virtua Health

What you'll learn about:

- Virtua Health, and how they received their Level 10 Most Wired certification in 2023, including for their technology implementations addressing opioids.

- What problems they were you facing, including for electronic referrals.

- What Findhelp is how it can benefit patients, clinicians, operations, and more.

- What tools FindHelp offers & how Virtua Health is utilizing them.

- How Virtua Health is measuring the impact of FindHelp in their community.

For more information from Krista reach out to her on LinkedIn.

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.

What you'll learn about:

- Why Dr. Baxter has focused her work and research on pain management.

- What prescribers can do to improve non-medication pain management options for pain control.

- Where the biggest opportunities are for reducing opioid use and how organizations like CHIME can help.

- What administrative IT and clinical IT leaders can do to ensure computerized systems improve the digital monitoring and ordering of both medications and non-medication pain treatment.

Host: Todd Rowland, MD, FAAPMR

Chief Medical Officer, Motiv

Chief Medical Officer, VitalFlo

CEO, Bridge2Medical

Attending Physician, Duke Hospitals

Dr. Todd Rowland has more than 25 years of healthcare experience which includes roles as practicing physician, CEO of health information exchange, CMIO (Chief Medical Information Officer), and most recently enterprise Senior Vice President and CIO. He has worked with multi-disciplinary teams to deliver solutions using several IT platforms which include Allscripts, Cerner, eClinicalWorks, McKesson, MEDITECH, Mirth, Optum, and other technologies.

Guest: Dr. Amy Baxter, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Augusta University

CEO, Pain Care Labs 

Dr. Amy Baxter, MD is a researcher, physician, and recent TedTalk speaker with a focus around understanding the connections that send pain from your body to your brain. Her insights provide practical neuroscience hacks to quickly block those signals. Her leading edge research offers alternative opioid-free treatment options for immediate pain relief.

TEDTalk : How to Hack your Brain When You're in Pain, Dr. Amy Baxter, MD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpaXqAQ4Wo

The CHIME Opioid Task Force (OTF) was launched in early 2018 with a simple mission: to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic using the knowledge and expertise of the nation’s healthcare IT leaders. While our mission is simple, achieving it is not. Opioid addiction is a complex disease that requires long-term, if not lifetime, care from well-informed clinicians who are supported with easy-to-use and reliable tools.