CIO Seeks EHR Answers at HIMSS11

For John McHale, CIO at Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, Pa., the focus of his trip to HIMSS11 is electronic health records implementation.


 

For John McHale, CIO at Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, Pa., the focus of his trip to HIMSS11 is electronic health records implementation.

“I am most interested in learning more about how institutions across the country are implementing EHR systems,” he says. “This is an incredibly important issue for hospitals nationally, not only as a result of recent health care reform legislation, but also from an efficiency and cost-savings standpoint. I’m also looking forward to speaking with my peers about their experiences with supporting technologies, such as workflow automation, in transitioning to an EHR environment.”

That’s why McHale’s session schedule includes “Dr. No: The Response to HITECH” and “Beyond Adoption: A 10-Step Plan to Achieve Meaningful Use” on Feb. 21, and “Welcome to the EHR Starting Line…You Can Get There From Here” on Feb. 22. “I’m also looking forward to the Radio Frequency Identification and Real-Time Location System Showcase,” he adds.

McHale finds value in the conference because of the opportunity to see all the health information technology tools in one place. “Additionally, the conference offers the environment to network with peers who are working through similar scenarios and can offer unique solutions to industry problems.”

But HIMSS can be overwhelming, McHale acknowledges. “While it’s great to see so many technologies demonstrated in one place, the space is very crowded.”

--Joseph Goedert