National Recovery Month  sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is observed every September to educate Americans that substance use treatment and mental health services can enable those with mental and substance use disorders to live healthy, rewarding lives.

The rapid pace of change in healthcare today doesn’t just necessitate better technologies to keep pace; it also requires better communication. Whether it involves conversations between patients and physicians, handoffs between clinicians of different specialties, interoperable data exchange, or even the ability of care organizations to connect with their IT vendors - clear communication is often what makes the difference between a good outcome, and a poorer one.

In our latest thought leader podcast, I spoke with Jim Fitzgerald, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at CloudWave about the role of cloud computing in healthcare.

The following article appeared in the May 23, 2019 issue of the HIMSS Clinical Informatics Insights newsletter. A portion of it has been posted here with permission.

Last year, a colleague of mine wrote an apology to clinicians on behalf of all EHR vendors for the pain we’ve put them through. It resonated with many readers, who have soured on the overly hopeful messages of clinical and business transformation coming from the industry. It’s important for all of us to honestly acknowledge where we are, how we got here, and what we need to do to restore the confidence of EHR users — particularly clinicians, whose lives have been irrevocably changed, for better and for worse, by the computerization of healthcare.

No healthcare organization should ever have to choose between innovation and value. As our industry continues to transform, it will be important to both adopt new technologies that can meet the needs of demanding consumers, and still prioritize ROI and long-term sustainability while doing so.

Moving to a new EHR platform can seem like a daunting task, with the clinical and technological changes that it requires.

In these videos, MEDITECH customer executives discuss how their hospitals successfully navigated the journey to Expanse, and the difference it’s made in how they practice medicine.

MEDITECH’s President and CEO Howard Messing recently sat down with John Lynn, founder of Healthcare IT Today, for an extended two-part interview about the company, as we celebrate our 50th year in business.

I flew out of Logan Airport in Boston at 5:30 a.m. last Monday, and was eager to head to sunny Orlando as a first time HIMSS attendee. The next three days were a whirlwind of innovation, shared ideas, and excitement about the future of health IT.

Let me tell you why I’m really excited to be attending my first HIMSS.

First and foremost is the evolution of healthcare IT. The strides we’ve made in the past few years have been phenomenal. Leading technology providers and app developers are now embracing healthcare IT and connecting new innovative technologies to leading EHR platforms, making HIMSS a great opportunity to see what the future holds.

Reaching 50 years is an outstanding achievement, and all of us at MEDITECH couldn’t be prouder. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve put together a video to give you a sense of who we are — a diverse group of innovators who share a personal investment in caring for others.