Advancing Technology and Healthcare Delivery to 2020

Updated on April 19, 2016

Over the last 50 years, technology use has dramatically changed the world of healthcare – from the consumer, payer and provider perspectives. Consumers are now more well-informed than ever, using the Internet to research their conditions, possible treatments and providers who specialize in treating their ailments. Providers are adopting electronic health records and collaborating digitally with others to streamline and collectively manage patient care. Payers are creating innovative payment models to help improve the quality of care and lower overall costs of care.

To help explain more the relation between telemedicine and technology, here is a video by Richard A. Kimball, Jr.:


In a day-long program on Wednesday, May 1, the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) will present “Healthcare 2020: The Technology Vision” – a forum that will showcase the future of healthcare delivery and emerging technology that will enable new methods of care, payment, consumer engagement and population health management.

The event, held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh Downtown, will include a sequel appearance by of a previous Roundtable Panel titled “The Role of the ACO in Healthcare Reform,” a Healthcare Technology panel discussion with Western Pennsylvania technology leaders, as well as several distinguished national and regional healthcare industry speakers:

  • Panelist Brett E. Trusko, Ph.D., MBA is an assistant professor of medicine in the Center for Translational and Bioinformatics. He is an internationally recognized leader in healthcare quality and informatics at Mt. Sinai. He spent most of his career as a healthcare strategist, futurist, technologist and consultant before joining academia at The Mayo Clinic. Dr. Trusko is best known for his collaboration with the late Russell Coile, with whom he produced dozens of articles, including the popular Healthcare 2020 series. He wrote the 2007 book, Improving Healthcare Quality and Cost with Six Sigma, which has sold thousands of copies worldwide. In 2006, Dr. Trusko became a founding member and board director of the United States Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel and has served two terms. He is a member of the ISOTC 215 and a Fellow in both the Healthcare Financial Management Association and HIMSS.
  • Panelist Kate Berry is the chief executive officer of National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC), a public-private partnership that works with its partners [including the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)] to engage stakeholders in a collaborative way to realize common goals that lead to transformative change.
  • Panelist Alexandra (Alix) Goss was named the State Health Information Technology Coordinator for Pennsylvania in January 2013, for which she oversees the implementation of health information exchange (HIE) for the PA eHealth Partnership Authority. She has worked on the state’s HIE strategy since 2008, with a focus on technical architecture and privacy and security framework. For more than 20 years, Ms. Goss has held leadership roles in developing national healthcare standards, implementing federal regulations, systems integration and operations management in the private and public sectors of health care. She is currently serving a four-year term as a member of the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS). Ms. Goss and stakeholders are responsible for moving the Authority forward with a market-driven approach to connecting health information exchanges via a thin layer of community shared services (CSS).
  • Panelist Dr. Andrew Rose Watson is a practicing surgeon in the division of colorectal surgery and specializes in minimally invasive colorectal and inflammatory bowel disease surgery. He is a vice president of the International and Commercial Service Division, helps lead industrial relations for UPMC and plays a key role integrating health care information technology into clinical practice. Dr. Watson, who has played a lead role in establishing telemedicine for UPMC at an enterprise level, joined UPMC’s IT management in 2010. He also serves as the executive director for Business Development and Technology for Telemedicine, and is the medical director of UPMC’s Center for Connected Medicine.

The WPHIMSS Round Table Panel includes:

  • Michael McNees (moderator), CEO/President, Syndicus, Inc.
  • Tom Johnson, MBA, CPA, chief information officer, DuBois Regional Medical Center
  • Michael A. Cassidy, JD, CHC, shareholder and director of Tucker Arensberg, P.C. and chair of the Health Law Practice Group
  • Keith T. Kanel, M.D., MHCM, FACP, chief medical officer, Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative
  • Michael D. Parkinson, MD, MPH, FACPM, senior medical director, Health and Productivity, UPMC Health Plan and WorkPartners
  • Daniel Wilt, vice president of operations, Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients

Finally, the event will include a healthcare technology roundtable to discuss each panelist’s vision of healthcare in the year 2020. These panelists will include:

  • Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group (MIG)
  • Walt Whitten, chief information officer, Quality Life Services
  • Rick Cancelliere, founder and CEO, TreatSpace

Registration is now open at www.wphimss.org. For more information, contact Robert Sheesley, president of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of HIMSS, by email at [email protected] or by calling (412) 454-8901; or Lee Kim, president-elect of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of HIMSS, by email at [email protected] or by calling (412) 594-3915. HIMSS is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing healthcare professionals with educational conferences, networking opportunities and a forum for the exchange of ideas related to the use of health information systems and health information management.

+ posts

Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.

1 thought on “Advancing Technology and Healthcare Delivery to 2020”

Comments are closed.