Dell Services’ Healthcare Optimization Workshop (HOW ’09) Recap

 
The MEDITECH Solutions Group within Dell Services held our seventh annual Healthcare Optimization Workshop (HOW ’09) at the Hilton in Dedham, Massachusetts on June 17, the day before MEDITECH’s CIO Technology Workshop.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with our Healthcare Optimization Workshop, we designed this all-day event as a forum to discuss significant strategic issues facing healthcare leaders, providing educational workshops and opportunities for networking. Our goal over the past seven years in hosting HOW is to encourage dialog about these important topics and to let you know we’re here to help you deal with them.

We were delighted this year to welcome many healthcare leaders from about 60 different healthcare organizations, 23 states, three Canadian provinces, and England. We were also happy to have many friends from MEDITECH take time out of their busy schedules to join us. Additionally, our alliance companies BridgeHead, EMC, FormFast, Forward Advantage, HP, IBM, Motorola, Stratus, Summit Healthcare, VMware, and Winthrop Resources participated in the event, spending quality time with our guests throughout the day.　

Opening remarks from our Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Perot Systems Healthcare Solutions, Inc., Peter Stone established the day’s theme for this year’s event "managing for today while building for tomorrow". Peter discussed how in today’s economic times, it is critical that you make the right decisions for your organization. Decisions that help you manage through today’s challenging times while still establishing a solid foundation for the days and years ahead.

In support of the theme for this year’s event, discussions and presentations throughout the day focused on how to "manage for today while building for tomorrow". We addressed subjects such as new technologies that can pay for themselves, the real costs of implementing 6.0, and key steps to secure physician ownership in the change management process and adoption of electronic health records (EHR). Additionally, we discussed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and how to prepare your organization to ensure compliance.

Executive Peter Stone welcomed the group and then introduced Harry Greenspun, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dell Services healthcare group, kicked off the day with insightful commentary sharing with the audience his perspective as a physician on the transformation of healthcare through IT and how you might leverage IT to drive down costs. Dr. Greenspun has a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities healthcare organization’s face today and set the stage for the remainder of the day.

Following the opening session led by Harry Greenspun, our guests had the opportunity to customize their agendas by choosing from a variety of workshops on the following topics:

• Track 1.1: Physician Governance and Leadership – The Support Structure Required for your Electronic Health Record (EHR)
• Track 2.1: Managing Your Margin: Evaluating Information Technology Investments on a TCO basis
• Track 1.2: Finding and Following the Most Cost-Effective Path to Achieving a "Meaningful" EHR
• Track 2.2: The Real Costs of Implementing 6.0

Between sessions, attendees found ample opportunity for networking with colleagues and our partners. Also, many lucky attendees won gifts generously donated by our business alliance companies BridgeHead, EMC, FormFast, Forward Advantage, HP, IBM, Stratus, and Summit Healthcare.

We were also fortunate to have Dan Bartlett deliver a keynote address during the lunch break. Former councilor to President George W. Bush and current President and CEO of Public Strategies, Inc. and political analyst for CBS News, Mr. Bartlett is a strategic advisor to business leaders representing key sectors of the American and global economy. With extensive hands-on experience in politics and the government, Dan was an entertaining speaker and shared with the audience his perspective on the inner workings of Washington and some interesting stories from his eight year career at the White House. It was enjoyed by all!

Back by popular demand, in a reprise of one of our most popular HOW closing sessions ever, we ended the day in a light yet fact-filled way. Dell Services’ own "stars" Brian Horley, Jim Fitzgerald, Sara Schaeffner, Joe Grinstead, Mark Valutkevich, Holly Simione, and a supporting cast of company subject matter experts joined in to provide insight around ARRA, Clinical Transformation, Desktop Virtualization, and a variety of other hot topics. Guests got to end the day by unwinding and reflecting on the day’s insights with this humor-filled finale.

Following a full day of presentations and workshops, HOW ’09 concluded with a cocktail reception outside on the lawn where everyone was able to enjoy time with friends, both new and old.