What a year it’s been! On the MEDITECH blog, we’ve been lucky enough to connect with industry thought leaders and healthcare innovators on important topics such as new government regulations, interoperability, and the future of nursing. We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading and learning with us, and we’re excited to see what’s to come in 2019!

At a time when financial pressures could lead to more hospital closures, it’s no surprise that the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference drew a full audience, to explore how our industry is responding to the growing demands of the patient as consumer.

Over the past year, we’ve seen the term ‘gameplay’ popping up in more and more places. People seem to be quite taken with the notion that the logistics and patterns surrounding games and their rules can be applied to business, politics, and everyday obstacles. As I would discover at the 2018 MGMA Annual Conference, gameplay can tell us a lot about how to succeed in healthcare today.

For Thibodaux’s home health center to perform at the top of its ability, we needed to make performance improvement a part of our culture. We’re constantly analyzing our own efforts and trying to find areas in which we can work more efficiently.

Interoperability has always been a cornerstone of MEDITECH’s vision for healthcare IT. And through our partnership with CommonWell Health Alliance®, we’re pleased to be taking another large step for connectivity, by successfully deploying CommonWell interoperability services at Alliance Community Hospital (ACH) in Alliance, Ohio.

Nursing is an ever-changing field where new research is applied and the evolution of technology is constant. The last five years have felt like a great leap in technology, and nursing informatics is pushing nurses to stay five steps ahead. Nursing skill sets demand consistent updates on research, techniques, and concepts.

In this age of #MeToo, more organizations are now grappling with power structures that often have not welcomed many women and minorities at the head of the decision-making table. A 2017 study by Rock Health estimated that women make up only about 23 percent of the executive leadership at Fortune 500 healthcare companies, even though they comprise nearly half of the U.S. healthcare labor force.

Our thought leader podcast series continues with a very special guest: the 2017 CHIME-HIMSS John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year Randy McCleese. Randy currently serves as the CIO at Methodist Hospital, a 192-bed acute care hospital, 25-bed critical access hospital, and 19-practice physician network based in Henderson, Kentucky.

 Tom Stafford, Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Halifax Health, has been selected as one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2017.

“The Premier 100 awards program highlights the exceptional work of an elite group of IT executives who are leading their organizations through times of unprecedented change. They are using technology to drive high-stakes business projects and create dynamic growth in their organizations,” said Scot Finnie, editor-in-chief of Computerworld.

The Computerworld AGENDA17 conference, including recognition of the Premier 100 Technology Leaders, is scheduled for March 20 to 22, 2017, at Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort and Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

Stafford spoke about his nomination by phone from his office at Halifax Health.