Everybody is talking about AI in Healthcare – but what can Interoperability do to make AI in Healthcare a reality? Do we have to throw out billions of dollars in legacy software to leverage the potential benefits of AI? 

In this episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Joerg Schwarz, the Senior Director for Healthcare Interoperability Solutions and Strategy for Infor. They talk about FHIR Bridge; how it works, what it can do for you, and what problems it solves. They also go over more innovations that Infor has to offer. Interoperability in healthcare is particularly important in order to make workflow more efficient and for quicker and more accurate care for patients. AI could help with streamlining the interoperability process.

In this episode, they talk about:

A Little About Joerg:

Joerg Schwarz is currently Senior Director for Healthcare Interoperability Solutions and Strategy at Infor with over 25 years of experience in the Healthcare Industry and in the interoperability space specifically. Prior to Infor, Joerg worked as a Director at GE Healthcare and Agfa Healthcare, designing, and implementing solutions for medical image- and document- exchange as well as integrated care.  He also worked at boutique Healthcare firms such as NextGate (EMPI) and Audacious Inquiry (ADT Data Intermediary), and he built and directed a $500M Healthcare & Life Sciences Line of Business at the Fortune 500 company Sun Microsystems until it was acquired by Oracle.

In this episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Therasa Bell and Dr. Peter Schoch, MD. When they created Kno2, they went in with the vision of solving the mess that was connectivity and they wanted to solve that problem with a single API infrastructure. Because of that, they chose to look toward the “overlooked markets.” Since they started, Kno2 has made a lot of great strides toward those goals. 

Today, Sandy, Therasa, and Peter talk about how Kno2 helps with communication connectivity and how they are trying to meaningfully change the industry. What does that mean? What will happen to the field and technology involving interoperability in the next five years? How will AI help in these efforts? All of these questions and more are answered in this episode.

In this episode, they talk about:

A Little About Therasa:

As Co-Founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer, Therasa defines the business vision for Kno2 and paves a clear path of execution for the staff. She is responsible for Kno2’s innovation, vision and engineering, and holds two patents for unstructured clinical content under the company. She believes that the combination of people and the company’s clear purpose makes Kno2 unstoppable.

For close to a decade, Therasa has been a thought leader in the healthcare information technology field, serving as a co-chair or member of healthcare IT standards committees that influence national and international standards for sharing clinical information. In 2009, she defined and pushed through a healthcare IT protocol for unstructured clinical content, which passed as part of legislation for the Meaningful Use Stage 2 section of the HITECH Act.

A Little About Peter:

Dr. Peter Schoch, is a board-certified internist and accomplished physician executive whose passion and life’s work is to drive value to those who consume, provide and purchase healthcare. Through his service of 20 years in clinical practice as an Internal Medicine physician and the better part of the last two decades serving as a physician executive leading 2 major health systems through transformational change in care delivery, practice transformation, network development, and home-based services, he has driven impact through improved clinical, financial and consumer outcomes. 

As the Chief Health Officer at Kno2 he is leveraging his experience in healthcare as both a provider and executive to transform Kno2 from an excellent technology company into a meaningful technology company focused on the application of their patented communications API to drive impact in healthcare.

In this episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Jason Sherwin, the Director of Healthcare Business Development at CLEAR, and James Lindgren, Executive Director for Revenue Cycle Optimization at the University of Miami about identity and healthcare. One problem with identity verification in healthcare is its inefficiency. The friction lies in the number of times consumers and patients have to verify their identity in the intake process or merely attaining their own patient records. The University of Miami Health System is using CLEAR to break down those barriers by way of technological advances and improvements in identity verification.

CLEAR is a secure identity platform that has been in the identity business for over a decade. Formerly operating mainly in airports, they work on tying their customers' verified identities to their credentials using technology such as facial recognition and scanning software. Their vision is to make healthcare more streamlined for their customers by using their single identity platform for healthcare employers, providers, and consumers.

The University of Miami Health System Optimization Department has been innovating new ways to deliver care on both the research and administrative side of healthcare. They are focused on how they can provide an engaging environment for patients while also creating a workflow for healthcare workers that reduces the amount of friction behind the charts

See CLEAR at the Vive Conference (booth 2324). Go to the Vive website to get more information about the upcoming Vive event which takes place in LA on February 25 - 28, 2024.

In this episode you will learn:

A Little About Jason:

Jason Sherwin currently leads healthcare business development at CLEAR where he focuses on how CLEAR’s single, interoperable identity platform can deliver value to health systems and payers, digital health and more. Prior to CLEAR, Jason spent 10+ years at NYU Langone Health, where he built their Virtual Health program, including during the organization’s response to the COVID-19 surge. He also led product management for NYU Langone’s Department of Radiology and deployed Epic across the enterprise. Jason earned his MBA at NYU Stern School of Business and his undergraduate degree from Skidmore College.

A Little About James:

James Lindgren has served as the Executive Director for Health System Optimization at the University of Miami Health System (UHealth) since October 2021. In this role, James leads a team of solution architects that serve to liaise between the UHealth IT department and UHealth Ambulatory, Hospital, Revenue Cycle, and Finance operational teams. His teams work to help identify and implement solutions that leverage industry best practices and smart technology that solve chronic and acute operational challenges.

Today Sandy talks with Mo Weitnauer, the chief product officer for MRO Corporation. MRO’s partnership with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield unlocks the potential of payer-provider data exchange for organizations to improve financial performance and healthcare delivery. Cutting-edge automation techniques and standardized APIs are being used to enhance accuracy and optimize performance for both payers and providers.

MRO uses their proprietary CDXP to serve as a conduit for structured and unstructured data, so providers and payer networks can share information in a meaningful, automated, and authorized way. The CDXP injects value across multiple workstreams to support interoperability and clinical data sharing. They are focused on what they can do to help efficiently get clinical information where it needs to be in a healthcare system that is focused mostly on outcomes.

In this episode, they talk about:

A Little About Mo Weitnauer:

As Chief Product Officer, Mo Weitnauer drives the product strategy and roadmap for MRO. Before coming to MRO, Mo was the SVP of Corporate and Product Strategy at Cotiviti, a healthcare company helping healthcare payers manage medical costs and advance care quality. Prior to Cotiviti, Mo was at FinThrive (f.k.a. MedAssets), a provider-focused company, where she led product management for its portfolio of billing and denials management technology solutions. Mo spent the earlier part of her career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and The Bridgespan Group. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Economics from Smith College and got her master’s degree in Health Policy and Management from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

One of the most significant challenges in healthcare delivery is the sharing of clinical datasets across multiple services and disparate systems. In this episode, Sandy talks with executive vice president of the dbMotion business unit of Altera Digital Health, Richard Strong and Kristen Short, the Director of Partnerships and Innovation for the South Western Sydney Primary Health Network, about how they are addressing interoperability and how they are working on addressing the issue of scattered patient health information.

In this episode, they talk about:

Go to the ViVE website to get more information about the upcoming ViVE event which takes place in Los Angeles on February 25 - 28, 2024.

About our Guests:

Kristen Short

With nearly 25 years of experience in leadership roles—ranging across industries including health, financial services and technology—Kristen was appointed Director of Innovation and Partnerships at SWSPHN in early 2018. Leading the Service Support, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement and Digital and Data teams, Kristen specializes in strategic planning, which leads to data-driven outcomes. She steers general practice transformation and quality improvement through innovation, process improvement and the adoption of technology. With a Master of Business and Technology, Kristen is also a proud member of the Institute of Company Directors.

Richard Strong

The Executive Vice President for the dbMotion™ business unit at Altera Digital Health, Richard Strong has been with the company since 2016 and has supported various roles in international business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He has more than 40 years of experience working in healthcare and healthcare IT, as well as a strong track record of successfully managing Healthcare and Life Sciences businesses. Richard has lived and worked in multiple countries, specializing in the implementation of comprehensive clinical solutions—regionally and nationally—as well as the delivery of consulting and strategy projects. Richard holds an MSc in Intelligent Systems and is a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.

It’s time to get connected! CommonWell Health Alliance has selected ELLKAY as its Technical Service Provider: CommonWell Health Alliance — powered by ELLKAY. ELLKAY will support health data exchange nationwide to 200 million+ patients across its network of over 34,000 provider organizations. In today’s episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Josh Evenson the VP of Software Engineering at ELLKAY, and Liz Buckle, the director of product at CommonWell Health Alliance about the changes that will be happening and what that means for the members at CommonWell. Learn more about CommonWell on their website.

Go to the Vive website to get more information about the upcoming Vive event which takes place in LA on February 25 - 28, 2024.

In this episode, they talk about:

About our Guests:

Josh Evensen is a software engineer & architect with over a decade of experience in healthcare interoperability. Josh has played an integral part in leading the ELLKAY team through the evaluation, development and implementation of the CommonWell 2.0 platform, working closely along the CommonWell Health Alliance. 

Liz Buckle, MBA, is the Director of Product at CommonWell Health Alliance, responsible for overseeing the execution of the Alliance’s roadmap. Liz was initially involved with CommonWell while at Greenway, which is one of the founding members of the Alliance. Through her work at Greenway, Liz was the P&L owner for all interoperability solutions including overseeing the development and integration of CommonWell services into the Intergy platform. Liz has been in health IT and interoperability for 10 years.

Join host Sandy Vance and guest Sean Kennedy from Salesforce for a conversation on the importance of interoperability in healthcare. They explore Salesforce's vision and strategy to enable an integrated and personalized care experience for patients and care teams. Sean talks about what they are doing to transform the industry and give it new capabilities. What is the future of interoperability? Sean also goes into how Salesforce will be supporting extensions, innovating around the standard, and what it means to be analytic-ready. 

Go to the Vive website to get more information about the upcoming Vive event which takes place in LA on February 25 - 28, 2024.

In this episode, they talk about:

A Little About Sean Kennedy:

Sean Kennedy, MS, MPH is the Vice President and General Manager for Global Health Strategy and Solutions at Salesforce. In this role, Sean matches industry needs to our capabilities and designs market-leading healthcare and public health solutions. He also leads our Interoperability planning where he promotes internal alignment to prevailing standards and emerging approaches to sharing data. Sean is a 25-year veteran of the health IT space, which includes having served in the United States Army specializing in Health Information Systems, at Mass General Hospital and with the Mass eHealth Institute leading the State HIE Program. 

Reach out to Salesforce on their website for more information about what they do and how to work with them.

In this episode host Sandy Vance talks with Kristen Valdes, Founder and CEO of b.well Connected Health, who has dedicated her career to empowering consumers with the tools and data necessary to take control of their healthcare journey. With a focus on leveraging technology to drive interoperability and improve patient outcomes, Kristen's expertise in healthcare data and consumer empowerment has positioned her as a leading industry voice. 

As a passionate advocate for healthcare innovation, she has played a pivotal role in addressing key challenges such as identity verification and patient data access. Kristen's deep understanding of the intersection between technology and healthcare has made her a prominent figure in advancing interoperability solutions, making her insights invaluable for healthcare providers seeking sustainable and effective strategies to enhance patient care through interoperability.

In this episode, you will be able to:

Interoperability in Healthcare
Interoperability in healthcare is an essential aspect of improving patient care. Rightly, Kristen Valdes highlights its significance. It facilitates seamless communication and exchange of data between various healthcare systems, creating a fluid, more efficient patient care delivery system. The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) initiative is a crucial element enhancing interoperability, replacing multiple logins with a national network of responsive Qualified Health Information Networks. This streamlining unlocks the potential of generative AI, making data access more manageable, and ultimately promoting better patient outcomes.

In this episode, host Sandy Vance talks with Patrick Schiess, President and Chief Information Security Officer of Darena Solutions, about how they are helping technology providers streamline the complexity of interoperability in healthcare. Electronic Health Records (EHR) integration poses complex challenges that can often slow the pace of app development in the healthcare sector. Technical variances in how EHRs implement FHIR can create obstacles in standardizing data and processes. However, using MeldRx can lead to efficient app deployment and deployment. Darena Solutions provides developers with a single point of contact for simplified connectivity and data normalization.

In this episode, you will hear about:

About our guest: 

Patrick Schiess is the President and Chief Information Security Officer of Darena Solutions. He is incredibly passionate about technology, learning new skills, and finding ways to improve the lives of those around him. He started coding at eleven and has been solving problems through code his entire adult life. He brings over a decade of experience as a software engineer and architect from various sectors and a fresh perspective on healthcare IT. He focuses on cloud identity, authentication, and security to facilitate smooth integration between healthcare applications.

In this episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Bevey Miner from Consensus Cloud Solutions about the problems in the paperwork side of the healthcare industry. For so long, the healthcare field has fallen behind in technology, which has forced hardship on the staff. Not only do the nurses, doctors, and administrators suffer, but–most of all–patients are the ones getting the short end of the stick. They discuss what Consensus Cloud Solutions offers to help alleviate these problems and share optimistic views about the timeline for advanced technical implementation over the next few years.

Go to the Vive website to get more information about the upcoming Vive event which takes place in LA on February 25 - 28, 2024.

In this episode, they talk about:

A Little About Bevey Miner:

Bevey Miner has over 20 years of experience in healthcare technology, with a background that includes startups and large publicly traded companies. She possesses a deep understanding of the healthcare ecosystem including payer relationships,

 Connect with Bevey on LinkedIn