Shahzad Fakhar, HCA Healthcare, Vice President Field Operations – Information Technology Group, discusses innovation and how healthcare IT leaders can help their organizations adopt a mindset of constant innovation, break down silos and leverage partnerships. Preparing for the future, what are some big areas of opportunity for innovation? What should organizations be paying attention to? In this conversation with Phil Sobol, Vice President of Business Development at CereCore, Shahzad talks about innovations HCA Healthcare is working toward, reflects on what the pandemic taught us about innovation and other lessons gleaned during his 30+ year career working in healthcare IT from rural to metropolitan healthcare settings.

Key topics:

- Navigating internal silos and external pressures that can stifle innovation

- Uncovering opportunities for innovation from patient care documentation to modern EHRs and process automation

- Collaborating effectively across service lines and with partners

- Reflecting on what the COVID-19 pandemic taught us about innovation

- Closing advice around anticipating the future demands of your customers, clinicians, and patients

The physician and IT professional can be radically different personalities and disciplines. What can a healthcare organization do to encourage better collaboration between the two? Dr. Charles Bell, a physician advisor for CereCore, believes that understanding the needs of physicians is the starting point to ease technology frustration and encourage adoption. The other is fostering teamwork. In this conversation with host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development, Dr. Bell shares his experiences and practical advice gleaned from the various hats he has worn over the years as pharmacist, physician, chief medical information officer and physician informaticist working with all the major EHR platforms.

Key topics:

- Understanding physician frustration and barriers to technology adoption

- Listening for the underlying message – what is your physician really saying?

- Establishing a framework for multi-disciplinary collaboration and feedback

- Embracing change and fostering teamwork

Looking for more ways to improve your EHR for providers? Explore the comprehensive IT services CereCore provides.

Lynn Falcone, CEO of Cuero Regional Hospital, discusses the unique challenges of running a rural hospital in Texas. In this conversation with host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development, Lynn explains why various levels of involvement with the community and advocacy organizations like the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH) is essential to the operations and services they provide. She explains how communication from daily patient safety huddles to board of directors meetings encourage continuous improvement and led to the decision to move to the modernized EHR platform MEDITECH Expanse. Lynn shares her expectations for the upcoming EHR implementation project, especially around data and patient care.

Key topics:

- Rural healthcare operations and hospital services in Texas

- Building a strong team

- Upgrading our EHR system

- Patient safety and data

- Starting the EHR journey

The need to optimize is part of the EMR implementation process explains Cory Lane, director of operations at OakLeaf Surgical Hospital. She describes how their processes and collaborative team approach are helping them optimize MEDITECH Expanse on the heels of their go-live. In this conversation with host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development, Cory shares why project management, partnership, and cross-departmental engagement are critical for a successful go-live and optimization. Hear practical examples of how they are staying true to their vision for getting more out of their EMR from improved data analytics, workflows and user experience.

Matt Connor is the chief information officer (CIO) for Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust, and they were the first NHS organisation in the UK to go-live on MEDITECH Expanse. Matt talks about their EPR implementation journey with podcast host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development at CereCore and co-host Dan Eyre, vice president of business development for CereCore International. Matt shares what it was like working with CereCore International, tapping into U.K. and U.S. resources, and how the partnership worked, from initial conversations through post go-live. He also dives into lessons learned, early benefits of the modern EPR, and the need for ongoing optimization. Hear Matt’s pearls of wisdom for digital health leaders embarking on a similar EPR transformation.

Anne Hargrave-Thomas, CEO of OakLeaf Surgical Hospital and vice president of operations at Surgery Partners, is a former nurse in healthcare leadership who views technology as a must-have for operations. Anne talks about what’s top of mind for a hospital CEO during an EHR implementation. In this conversation with host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development at CereCore, she walks through OakLeaf’s transition to MEDITECH Expanse and the village it takes for success. Hear her advice on getting the right people involved, communicating well, developing strong partnerships, being present as an executive leader and much more.

Is your healthcare organization planning to transition to MEDITECH Expanse? Does your next large IT project require technical expertise you don’t have? Let’s talk. Our history in healthcare operations and end-to-end healthcare IT services could be a good fit for your organization.

Kevin McDonald, chief information officer (CIO) for HCA Healthcare’s South Atlantic division, explains how preparation and partnership have been ingredients for operational excellence and strategic activities, especially when it comes to the adoption of Epic mobile capabilities. In this conversation with Phil Sobol, podcast host and vice president of business development at CereCore, Kevin talks about the time when Rover, Epic’s mobile app, helped nurses and providers continue their usual activities during an outage. Plus, Kevin packs in words of wisdom throughout the conversation about taking on new career opportunities and developing high performing teams.

Al Smith, SVP and CIO of Lifepoint Health, shares experiences navigating change driven by growth. He steps through the decision-making process to find a partner who can help with scale and ways to build relationships across healthcare disciplines and geographic locations. Al’s passion for healthcare IT comes through in this conversation with Phil Sobol, vice president of business development at CereCore, as he talks about the importance of putting people first and ways that IT is a team sport.

Richard "Rick" Keller, senior vice president and chief information officer at Ardent Health Services, discusses how they have measured return on investment (ROI) for pivotal healthcare IT decisions like implementing Epic and outsourcing their IT help desk management to CereCore. In this conversation with host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development at CereCore, Rick shares examples of how Epic has helped with physician recruitment and workflow efficiencies, MyChart with patient engagement and their vision to meet patients when and where they need care. Rick explains why outsourcing their IT help desk made sense and cites “ah-ha” moments rooted in metrics and analysis that have led to better customer service. He wraps up with advice on keeping pace, building a cross-industry network of CIO colleagues, and communicating “out” to stay aligned and have strong leadership team relationships.

Step into the shoes of L. Austin Fredrickson, MD, a board certified, general internist at Salem Regional Medical Center, as he explains the daily challenges of providing healthcare in his rural hometown of Salem, OH, how he uses healthcare technology and telemedicine, and what more he wishes IT could do. In this conversation with host Phil Sobol, vice president of business development at CereCore, Dr. Fredrickson talks about their health system's recent move to MEDITECH Expanse, how to engage physicians in the process and ideas for bridging the gap between physicians, the C-suite and technology teams. He answers questions like: What does a successful MEDITECH Expanse implementation look like for a physician? What is the lifespan of the physician advisory committee (PAC)? What advice would you give healthcare IT leaders as they plan for a technology implementation and its effect on physicians?