Dr. Bob's HIT thoughts-Looking forward to 2012

I have not posted anything new over the last three months. There are several reasons. First, my clinical activities as an orthopedic surgeon have taken more of my time and energy. Also, I have not been involved in HIT projects recently so there has been less motivation to write. I taught a master's level class, taking up a number of case studies in HIT, in September so I dedicated August to preparation and September to teaching.


I am looking forward to the new year. The IHE North American Connectathon is being held in Chicago in mid-January again this year. I will reprise my role as a voluntary monitor, testing the interoperability of IHE profiles adopted by numerous vendors. This will be my fourth year consecutive year volunteering. Each year I have come away wondering why implementation of these profiles has not been more rapid in vendor systems and user sites. I have usually been involved in testing the various Patient Care Coordination profiles that utilize a variety of CDA templates. I tested a new profile last year-RFD- request form for data capture. This is a well-thought out and versatile method to manage forms and pre-populate fields on forms to diminish the data entry demands on clinicians. There are many use cases including patient safety reporting, research, and public health. Although the weather in Chicago in January can be dicey, the Connectathon is always a good way to start off the year.
Just a month later, HIMSS 2012 will kick-off in Las Vegas. It will be nice to have the conference in the west for a change. There is still a long drive by personal vehicle from Yuma involved but I will gladly forego the challenges of travel via the commercial carriers. I did not have the same conundrum choosing a pre-conference educational offering as I did last year (see planning for HIMSS 11.) That is not to say that there aren't quite a number of tempting alternatives. If I had a twin, one of us would go to "HIE: The year of implementation, collaboration, and beyond." I think for most of us the "and beyond" will be the operant situation. Then again, for me, the Secondary use of Data Symposium, and the Privacy and Security Workshops are intriguing. Message to HIMSS-here is a way to make some dough and serve the community-professionally record and capture video of these sessions and offer them for sale after the conference.

Now that I think about it, planning for HIMSS 2012 warrants its own post. I'll add it to the list of topics that I am thinking of writing about in the coming weeks. The impetus to write seems to be gaining strength. I still have a few thoughts so standby.