I've been flipping through HDM editions from the early 1990s, and man, what a difference 15 years makes. Back then, a large amount of our magazine's content was focused on tracking the development of electronic data interchange connections to process claims.
As an industry we've moved way beyond those humble beginnings, but it's interesting to see the issues that have been recycled over and over: the absence of data standards, the absence of "standard" standards, the lack of clinician enthusiasm for I.T., the lack of I.T funding, etc.
But here's another interesting thread that runs through Health Data Management's body of work over the past 15 years: there's always been a cadre of CIOs and other I.T. leaders that keep pushing health care I.T. ahead, year after year, no matter where they're working and what financial, technological and political hurdles they have to overcome. And those leaders are never satisfied-even while discussing their accomplishments, they talk about the mistakes they've made, their plans to rectify those mistakes and how they're going to take their organizations' technology capabilities to the next level.
So the secret to success as I see it is to acknowledge that your I.T. leadership role requires you to ride a Ferris wheel that never stops spinning. Innovation is a continuous process that requires frequent, brutally honest appraisals of what you've done, what you're going to do, and whether every move you make takes your organization closer to fulfilling its ultimate mission.
As the recently minted Publisher of Health Data Management, my first order of business has been to steal a page from our readers' playbook and constantly reevaluate and improve the services we provide.
In our 15th year, we are publishing in-depth, three-part series on a number of hot-button I.T. and leadership issues. We are upgrading our recently redesigned Web site to make it easier to register for e-newsletters and other information resources we provide. We are expanding our library of online content, including newsletters, podcasts, Web Seminars, White Papers and other resources that tie together the health I.T. community.
We are moving forward on a daily basis. After reporting on the remarkable accomplishments of our readers, and how those achievements save lives, it's the least we can do.
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