In This Issue:
 Senator Mark Warner Health IT Conference Invite
2009 VA HIMSS Advocacy Day
SAVE THE DATE: 2009 VA HIMSS ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE
2009 National HIMSS Event
ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW BOARD POSITIONS
VA HIMSS Sponsorship Opportunities
VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: INNERWIRELESS
Call for VA HIMSS Board Members
YOU ARE INVITED! MAY 18, 2009 - MEET Senator Mark Warner
Senator Warner to host a Health IT Conference
2009 is the year for healthcare reform. Members of Congress and their staff want to understand the impacts of healthcare reform and its affect on their constituents. Who better to educate your Members of Congress and their staff than you? Senator Mark Warner is hosting a conference with stakeholders in health information technology to discuss how to maximize opportunities available through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Invited guests include: National Coordinator for Health IT, David Blumenthal, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, Director of the CMS Office of e-Health Standards and Services, Tony Trenkle and YOU!
Be a Part of the Conversation!
Make Plans to Attend!
Date: May 18, 2009
Time: 9:30am to noon
Location: Richmond, TBD
Cost: FREE
To RSVP, please email rsvp@warner.senate.gov
INVITATION TO SENATOR MARK WARNER'S HEALTH IT CONFERENCE
SAVE THE DATE: VA HIMSS ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 13- 16, 2009
Please plan to attend the HIMSS VA Chapter 2009 Fall Conference in Williamsburg, VA.
It will take place October 13 - 16, 2009. This year's event will once again be held at the beautiful Kingsmill Resort.
Our fall conference is an exceptional, intimate venue for you to network and make quality connections with healthcare IT and clinical executives from all regions of Virginia. Additional events such as the Annual Golf Classic and Reception will be included in the schedule.
The VA Chapter of HIMSS will also offer a Review Course and an opportunity to take the CPHIMS Exam as a prelude to our upcoming Fall Conference Agenda. Please stay tuned for more details on the conference.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW BOARD POSITIONS
Please join VA HIMSS in congratulating and welcoming the following people for 2009-2010 Board Officers/Positions:
PRESIDENT-ELECT: TERRI RIPLEY, BS, MIT, CPHIMS
Terri has served on the VA HIMSS board this past year as the Chapter Advocacy Liaison Roundtable (CALR). Her active participation has earned her the highest status as a CALR at the Presidential Level.
Terri Ripley has over 20 years experience developing, implementing and integrating healthcare systems. She is the Director of Systems and Programming for Centra, a regional, non-profit comprehensive health care system in central VA. Terri is constantly enhancing her knowledge of information technology and exploring new ways to share data within the medical community. Terri received her Masters in Information Technology from Virginia Tech, has completed her Six Sigma Green Belt certification and is recognized by HIMSS as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems. Several of the many critical projects implemented under her direction include the integration of over 24 McKesson applications in a single go-live, the electronic sharing of data in our medical community such as: demographic data into physician billing systems, and the transmission of results and reports to physician EMRs. Terri is currently working to create a data retrieval system that will enhance Lynchburg-area physicians' electronic medical records systems to facilitate compliance with evidence-based practices recommended by the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) "Continuous Cardiac Care" program.
TREASURER: CHRISTOPHER REILLY, MHA, CPHIMS
Chris has served on the board for the past 2 years as Sponsorship Co-Chair. He has accepted the position of managing the VA HIMSS accounts as the 2009-2010 Treasurer.
Chris is currently a Senior Associate with Cognizant Technology Solutions, Inc. in their healthcare vertical. Cognizant Technology Solutions, Inc. is a global IT company providing outsourcing support and consulting services to such customers as the United Health Group. His responsibilities include software development life cycle implementation, business process improvement, and business analysis. Prior to joining Cognizant, Chris managed his own small consulting firm with offices in Massachusetts and Northern Virginia. His background includes a term at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Bon Secours Richmond Health System, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Chris received his Master of Health Administration from the Virginia Commonwealth University in 1999.
SPONSORSHIP COMMITEE CHAIRMAN: SHANE DANAHER
Shane has taken on a special assignment for the VA HIMSS Board. He has accepted the position of Sponsorship Chairman and will immediately start working in this role.
Shane Danaher is the Client Services, Vice President for DIVURGENT. In this role, he is responsible for developing strategic service offerings, driving client satisfaction, and developing sound marketing strategies. Shane brings over five years of experience to the healthcare technology field and has a proven history of establishing successful relationships with providers and healthcare organizations. These relationships have enabled over 35 clients to meet their goals and advance their healthcare offerings through successful implementation of IT projects and programs. Shane has an Economics degree from Haverford College and is currently pursuing an MBA.
VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: INNERWIRELESS
Mobility is driving the wireless shift in healthcare. Clinicians are in constant need of voice and data communications on-the-go. Hospitals networks are trying to keep up with ever-advancing technologies and applications. For mission- and life-critical facilities, wireless is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity.
In a recent report* on point-of-care computing, 64% of nurses surveyed felt that their hospital’s wireless infrastructure was not reliable enough to support point-of-care IT solutions. A similar study** suggests that by the year 2011, U.S. physicians will utilize smartphones for everything from collaboration, to charge capture, to data retrieval during rounds.
The question then becomes: “Can your wireless support the growing mobility needs in your hospital?”
InnerWireless enables today’s mobile clinicians with the ubiquitous in-building delivery of Wireless Wide Area Network and WLAN (Wi-Fi) for voice, data, multimedia, location and other wireless services -- guaranteed. Designed expressly for mission- and life-critical wireless applications, the HorizonTM Converged Wireless Solution guarantees wireless coverage and signal strengths – everywhere, everytime. Independent studies by Spyglass Consulting Group*** and Novarum**** confirm real-world benefits of the Horizon Converged Wireless Solution, including increased clinician mobility and 2X wireless network performance.
Two Virginia-area hospitals recently chose to deploy the InnerWireless solution, and benefit from highly-mobile clinicians and transformational delivery of care:
“Healthcare information technology has reached a point where wireless is no longer a commodity but a need for hospitals …The deployment of Horizon was a strategic investment that heightens the quality of care we provide with quicker, easier access to patient information, increased patient safety, enhanced communication and more efficient processes.”
Kendall White, Senior Director, Technology Services, Carilion Clinic
“Because the acuity of our patients is so high, it’s imperative that our wireless infrastructure work at all times so clinicians can receive alerts, notifications and information about their patients in real-time via the numerous wireless devices that we will have in place… We wanted a guaranteed blanket of wireless coverage everywhere in our facility, so we turned to InnerWireless because they have a long track record of creating completely wireless healthcare environments.”
Rich Pollack, CIO, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
MORE INFORMATION ON INNERWIRELESS
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Thank you to all who attended, we had over 50 participants and a special thanks to our Co-Sponsor – CHIME.
The day was an informative event with presentations from the Honorable Aneesh P. Chopra, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, the Honorable Shannon R. Valentine the Member, 23rd District Virginia House of Delegates and Michael Matthews the Senior Advisor to the Governor's Office of Health Information Technology Governor’s. Seventy-five legislators were visited by attendees. Please remember to contact your representatives while they are in their home offices.
The National HIMSS Conference in Chicago (April 4 – 8) boasted an attendance of 27,000, with over 900 vendors exhibiting. The atmosphere seemed a bit more toned down this year, no doubt due to the condition of the economy. During our rounds of the exhibit halls, we met a number of vendors based in Virginia - several exhibiting for the first time.
The overall quality of the programs seemed to be as strong as ever. There were a total of 300 educational sessions, including 11 just on the federal stimulus program and its impact on healthcare IT. Keynote speakers included: Allen Greenspan (former Fed Chair), Dennis Quaid (Actor – who spoke on his newborn twin’s near tragic medication error), George Halvorson (CEO of Kaiser Health Plans and Kaiser Hospitals), and Jerry Linenger (US Astronaut).
| (l-r)VA HIMSS Pres. Mike Sanders, VA HIMSS Board Member Blair Hedgepeth, VA HIMSS Sponsorship Chair Shane Danaher
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The Virginia Chapter hosted a networking event at Spiaggia’s restaurant the evening of April 6th, with approximately 60 members and residents from Virginia in attendance. It was a very enjoyable evening, with great food and the opportunity to network with one another in a relaxed environment. Individuals were able to meet peers from their own region and share stories of their challenges and successes. Many of the attendees were new to the Virginia Chapter.
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| | (l-r)VA HIMSS Pres. Elect Terri Ripley, VA HIMSS Pres. Mike Sanders, and VA HIMSS Board Members Blair Hedgepeth and Philip Felt
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HIMSS 2010 will be held in Atlanta March 1-4 at the Georgia World Congress Center. The Virginia Chapter plans to host a networking session one evening. So mark your calendar now and plan to attend.
We are extremely excited about the quality of this year’s event and this beautiful resort venue. We want to offer you an opportunity to maximize your exposure at this conference and to demonstrate your leadership role in the healthcare IT industry in Virginia.
Support by sponsors like you have ensured the success of our past meetings and will enable us to offer valuable and affordable educational programming for VA HIMSS attendees. To bring you the best value for your sponsorship dollars, we have restructured our sponsorship program and added new opportunities to meet face-to-face with members. Sponsorship space is limited. The VA HIMSS board has been able to improve the sponsorship program this year based on all of the feedback and suggestions received. Please indicate your interest to participate and request a sponsorship brochure.
Contact our Sponsorship Chair: Shane Danaher, you can email Shane at: shane.danaher@vahimss.org if you are interested in sponsoring the VA HIMSS Annual Fall Conference.
On behalf of the Virginia HIMSS Chapter, we invite you to participate in the 2009-2010 Chapter Director Nomination process. We are currently recruiting and evaluating candidates for the board. We need your help in identifying and encouraging strong leaders to seek board service. For the current fiscal year, we are looking for candidates to serve in various roles on the board or as committee members. Working on a committee is a great way to learn about the Chapter, the responsibilities of the board, to serve your State Chapter. We hope you will take this opportunity to join us.
In order to serve as a Chapter Board member, you must be a member of HIMSS National and of the Virginia Chapter. If you are interested, please send a short note announcing your interest, along with a current resume / CV to the Chapter President Mike Sanders at mikes@healthtek.com and the Chapter President-Elect, Terri Ripley at Terri.Ripley@centrahealth.com
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