2018 Agenda

Welcoming Remarks

Distinguished Guest Governor Nathan Deal

Keynote Session

Speaker:  Brian Hill, M.D., Founder and Chief Medical Officer, HIPnation

Breakout Sessions

 Track One:  CHIME 

Executive-level track session is designed exclusively for senior healthcare IT leaders who are current or eligible members of The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and CHIME’s affiliate associations, AEHIS, AEHIT and AEHIA. Eligibility to attend these sessions will be verified upon registration, for more information about these associations and whether or not you qualify for membership, please visit chimecentral.org or contact [email protected].

Transformative Technology in Today’s Provider Environment

HIT leaders must stay current with the trends and challenges of transformative technologies, including the new frontiers of digitalization: Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, robotics, the Internet of Things and the connections between them that will transform care.  Russ Branzell, CEO of CHIME, will discuss today’s rapidly changing provider environment and the challenging role of HIT leaders to understand and adopt disruptive technology to maximize the value and benefits required to achieve organizational success.

Speaker:  Russ Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO, President & CEO, CHIME

Track Two:  Financial Management

Rev Cycle and the Intersection of Systems Implementations

Healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM) being the life blood of every provider, is the financial process used by healthcare providers to administer all functions associated with patient service revenue throughout the entirety of a patient’s care journey, from scheduling and account creation to billing and final payment.  Understanding the broader impact of the entire revenue cycle is vital for aspiring Revenue Cycle managers and other department heads.  The revenue cycle workflow is a very dynamic and changing type of content management throughout the stay of a patient which is also impacted by constantly changing regulations.  This session will share the diverse perspective of the revenue cycle from speakers across out local health systems.  The panel will cover how system implementations, when taking all aspects of the revenue cycle into its design, can better support the well-being of a facility, gain a diverse perspective of the revenue cycle, learn best practices, and understand key performance indicators.

Moderator:  Amy Pisciotta, Senior Client Partner, Korn Ferry

Panelists:  Amy Hodge, Director Revenue Cycle Management, Kaiser Permanente; Cynamin Kinard, Revenue Cycle Integration Director, Piedmont Athens Hospital;  Mindy Oberg,MBA, MHA, Director of IT Clinical Applications; Grady Memorial; Daryl Ward, Consultant, HIMformatics

Track Three:  Healthcare Information Technology

Patient Engagement, Consumerism & Digital Health

Hear the latest patient engagement and healthcare consumerism trends in our community as well as nationally. We will also discuss how Direct Primary Care (DPC), urgent care and minute clinics are changing local care strategies. We’ll also highlight innovations, strategies and best practices that are enabling consumerism as well as how the billing processes are evolving in a consumer-centric ecosystem.

Moderator:  Wayne Oliver, Senior Vice President of Trust Operations, Health Cooperative Strategies.

Panelists:  Matt Gove, Chief Consumer Officer, Piedmont Healthcare; Will Hall, CEO, HIPnation; Brian Keen, Founder, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Health Cooperative Strategies

Track Four: Clinical Informatics

Predictive Analytics: Where is its Place in Healthcare

Predictive analytics has been a holy grail in healthcare. However, thus far it has not produced the support for clinical and operational tools that were once envisioned. The panel will discuss the current experience with predictive analytics, reasonable expectations, and where the industry is headed. An update on current projects and long term trends will also be covered.

Moderator:  Dr. Jackson Slappy, Emory University Surgery Faculty; Associate Chief of Surgery, Chief of General Surgery, and the Chair of the Informatics Group at VAMC Atlanta

Panelists: Julien Hogan, MD, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Emory University School of Medicine; Paula Edwards, PhD, Himformatics Consultant; John Milner, PhD(c), RN, CPHIMS, Assistant Professor, Georgia State University

Breakout Sessions

Track One: CHIME

Executive-level track session is designed exclusively for senior healthcare IT leaders who are current or eligible members of The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and CHIME’s affiliate associations, AEHIS, AEHIT and AEHIA. Eligibility to attend these sessions will be verified upon registration, for more information about these associations and whether or not you qualify for membership, please visit chimecentral.org or contact [email protected].

What Healthcare Professionals Need to Know about Healthcare Information Security

HIT leaders are consistently tasked with simultaneously keeping up with the state of cybersecurity in healthcare, developing and implementing plans for their organizations and educating their organizations and Board members about the impact of cybersecurity on IT plans and practices.  This session will cover the current healthcare cybersecurity landscape including the next generation of secure healthcare, the unprecedented risk and current cyberthreats, the top 5 risks in healthcare, current cyber risk initiatives, the cost of security and the work yet to be done.

Speaker:  Theresa Meadows, CHCIO, Senior Vice President & CIO, Cook Children’s Health Care System

Track Two: Financial Management

Best Practices for Denial Management and Financial Clearance

Scheduling, patient access, servicing departments, clinicians, HIM, ROI, CM, Billing, collections & FU, all play an integrated role in denial management and financial clearance. An estimated $3 trillion in medical claims submitted by hospitals in the United States last year, an estimated 9% of charges, representing $262 billion, were initially denied. For the typical health system, as much as 3.3% of net patient revenue. The panel will discuss best practices and what their clients or hospitals are doing, and technology being utilized to maintain lower denial rates and increasing revenue while maintaining patient satisfaction.

Moderator:  John Lloyd, Chief Operating Officer, RMB Inc, Rubin & Raine;

Panelists:  Angie Connatser, Director of Client Relations, RMB Inc, Rubin & Raine;  Matt Crawley, Regional Director, Business Development, Apex Revenue Technologies; Ann Chandler, FHFMA, CHAM, Scheduling and Pre-Authorization Manager, Gwinnett Medical Center; Jamie Lloyd, terim PFS Director, Gwinnett Hospital System

Track Three: Healthcare Information Technology

Cybersecurity – Prevention and Preparation

The Ponemon 2016 Cost of Data Breach report found that the average cost per stolen record in the healthcare industry was $355, which is over twice the average global cost of a stolen record. In this track, we will focus best practices and strategies to prevent and reduce the risk of a breach. Hear from experts on how to best prepare and be ready to respond when breach occurs as we outline basic plans and best practices for a sound cybersecurity program.

Moderator:  Stanton S. Gatewood, Chief Information Security Officer, State of Georgia

Panelists:  Tim Seguy, Consultant, HIMformatics; Bradley Dick, CIO, Resurgens Orthopaedics; Monique Hart, CISO and Executive Director of Information Security, Piedmont Healthcare

Track Four: Clinical Informatics

IOT – Improving Care and Workflows

The Internet of Things – IoT- is now an everyday thing that we all depend on in our lives. In healthcare this is certainly true as we see the innovative ways this connectedness is leveraged to support new model of care. Healthcare enabled by IoT! A select few examples where IoT is in use includes: remote ICU monitoring services, activities of daily living monitoring, chronic care management, preventive care…and the list goes on! Come learn from our expert panel how IoT improves workflows and what to keep in mind as you development and implement your IoT strategy.

Moderator:  Alan Hansen, Senior Solution Consultant, Public Sector Healthcare

Panelists: Amin Holmes, Co-Founder, SynsorMed; Geoff Brown, CIO, Piedmont Health; Dr. Jeffeory H. White, MD, FAAP, Whites Pediatrics

Hal Wolf, FHIMSS, President and CEO, HIMSS

Keynote Session

“First, Do No Harm” – Ethical Considerations for Healthcare Information Professionals

Each year, new developments in healthcare technology are unveiled. Providers and health systems boast on their websites that they have the latest equipment and technologies, and patients flock to hospitals and clinics that promise the latest advances in technology. “New” is often equated with “better” in American society, particularly when it comes to healthcare, and especially when it comes to healthcare technology. These advances in technology are often very beneficial because they can save patient lives, save time, or even save money. However, we all must take care to use the technologies ethically to avoid harming patients instead of helping them.

Dr. Jason Lesandrini, Assistant Vice President, Ethics, Advance Care Planning and Spiritual Health at WellStar Health System, will share insights and guidance about healthcare technology and ethics. This engaging talk will cover topic such as recent IT related events that have ethical implications, distinctions between clinical, organizational and research ethics, personal values vs. organizational values, and the ethical decision-making framework. Practical use cases and scenarios will be discussed and guidance shared.

Speaker: Jason Lesandrini, PhD(c), Assistant Vice President of Ethics, Advance Care Planning and Spiritual Health at WellStar Health System

Breakout Sessions

Track One: CHIME

Executive-level track session is designed exclusively for senior healthcare IT leaders who are current or eligible members of The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and CHIME’s affiliate associations, AEHIS, AEHIT and AEHIA. Eligibility to attend these sessions will be verified upon registration, for more information about these associations and whether or not you qualify for membership, please visit chimecentral.org or contact [email protected].

Healthcare Analytics: How Can We Identify Variations that Can Support Change?

Being able to easily find variations and understand why they are occurring is key to any process improvement program. Convincing providers that the variations are real, and should lead to changes in practices, can be a challenge for Analytics programs and operational partners alike. This presentation will highlight ways in which Analytics tools are being used to work with care teams to provide a compelling case for change, and lead to shared, measurable accomplishments. This includes helping physicians help themselves with efficiency problems contributing to professional burnout.

Speaker:  James Jose, MD, CMIO, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Track Two:  Financial Management

The Shift to Value-based Reimbursement

Financial stress is a continuing reality for healthcare providers. Beyond adequate payments for patient care, they need financial flexibility to position themselves for the future, including being able to adopt new, emerging technologies. With budgetary pressures on Medicare and Medicaid, pay for performance, and other attempts to control costs, executives must constantly monitor the financing landscape. Our expert panel will assess the current state of healthcare financing and offer insights into what the future may hold.

Moderator: Glenn Pearson, FACHE, Founder, Pearson Health Tech Insights

Panelists:  Raymond Snead, Jr, D.Sc., FHFMA, FACHE, Interim CEO, Grant Memorial Hospital; Barry S. Herrin, FAHIMA, FHIMSS, FACHE, ESQ., Founder, Herrin Health Law, P.C.; Mary G. Gregg, MD, FACS, MHA, Enterprise Medical Director, CareSource

Track Three:  Healthcare Information Technology

A Providers Perspective – Technology & Workflow required for Value-based Care

Hear directly from care providers as they highlight best practices for integrating technology with value-based care workflows as well as innovation enabling value-base care design. We’ll also review essential strategies and technologies that drive a successful value-based care model including change management, collaboration, integration, usability, data, vision and long-term strategic planning.

Moderator: Dr. Todd Vermeer, CMIO, Gwinnett Medical Center

Panelists: Jim Sams, MD, CEO, Privia Medical Group; Chirag Patel, MD, Multidisciplinary Physician Leader, WellStar Health System; Meredith Josephs, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Vice President, Clinical Informatics, Privia Health

Track Four: Clinical Informatics 

Connected Care / Interoperability

Clinicians have access to more data than ever before.  As the amount of available data continues to multiply, so does the need for interoperability.  In healthcare, not having access to the big picture isn’t simply a matter of missed sales opportunities as it is in the business world; it’s a matter of life and death.  This session will share how to leverage interoperability to connect disparate systems, devices and ultimately clinicians in pursuit of improved patient outcomes and clinician efficiency.

Moderator:  Liz Hansen, CMUP, CHSP, CHSA, PCMH CCE, Senior Advisor, GA-HITEC

Keynote: Glenn Hilburn, MBA, RN, CHCIO, Vice President, Clinical Systems, Grady Health System

Breakout Sessions

Track One: CHIME

Executive-level track session is designed exclusively for senior healthcare IT leaders who are current or eligible members of The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and CHIME’s affiliate associations, AEHIS, AEHIT and AEHIA. Eligibility to attend these sessions will be verified upon registration, for more information about these associations and whether or not you qualify for membership, please visit chimecentral.org or contact [email protected].

Contemporary Best Practices Applied to the Healthcare Information Technology Industry

To build the Information technology enterprise of the future, HIT leaders are required to be students of best practices formed within the healthcare industry and increasingly recognize innovations that occur in other leading service sectors. Identifying and rapidly assimilating best practices results in improvements in information technology operations, cost structure, and overall project performance. The HIT leader needs to create a culture of ongoing improvement that embraces leading practices and benchmarks internal processes with peer organizations.

Moderator: Tim Stettheimer, PhD, FCHIME, CHCIO, Vice President, Education, CHIME

Panelists: Russ Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO, President & CEO, CHIME; Theresa Meadows, CHCIO, Senior Vice President & CIO, Cook Children’s Health Care System; James Jose, MD, CMIO, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Track Two:  Financial Management

State of Healthcare Finance in our Country

Health care finance in the United States discusses how Americans obtain and pay for their healthcare, and why U.S. healthcare costs are the highest in the world based on various measures, without better results. The American system is a mix of public and private insurance. This panel will discuss the reasons for higher costs of insurance in the United States, than other countries including higher administrative costs, spending more for the same services, receiving more medical care (units) per capita than other countries, cost variation across hospital regions without different results, higher levels of per-capita income, and less active government intervention to reduce costs.

Speakers:  Sandra K. Johnson, MBA, MSM, FHFMA, FACHE, CHFP, Vice President of Revenue Cycle, Grady Health System; Baha Zeidan, Founder and CEO of Azalea Health; Gerard White, CEO, Clearwave

Track Three:  Healthcare Information Technology

Innovation & Best Practices Enabling the Future of Healthcare

In this track we’ll highlight clinical innovations that are improving care quality, cultivating patient safety, increasing care access and empowering care teams as well as patients. We’ll also discuss the latest trends in successful virtual care strategies and how voice-enabled care strategies and how virtual assistants are being used today effectively in care delivery as well as patient engagement and education.

Moderator:  Geoff Brown, CIO, Piedmont Health 

Panelists: Brian Jack, MD, Professor, Boston University School of Medicine; Keith Thompson, MD, Co-founder/ CEO, VirtualCare; Atul M. Kanvinde, CHCIO, Director, Clinical Application Systems, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Track Four:  Clinical Informatics

IT’s Role in Preventing Nosocomial Infections

Nosocomial Infections or Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s), as we know, cause an increase in the economic burden, it also leads to increase in the morbidity and mortality of our patients. HIT has a role to play in the prevention program, who knew?! This panel will share how HIT can make a difference in preventing nosocomial infections.

Moderator:  Dee Cantrell, RN, BSN, MS, FHIMSS, CIO, CIO and Interim COO, US Retina

Panelists: Cynthia D. Ward, MS, MBA, Laboratory Chief, Speciation Laboratory, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Christian Davis, VP of Product Development & Technology, Seal Shield Infection Prevention; Michelle McMickin, MSN, BSN, RN, GA-CEM, Infection Prevention Manager for WellStar West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange Georgia

CIO Panel

Moderator:  Rob Aaron, FHIMSS, GA HIMSS President, Senior Director, Q-Nomi

Panelists: Dee Cantrell, RN, BSN, MS, FHIMSS, CIO, CIO and Interim COO, US Retina; Jeff Buda, Vice President/Chief Information Officer, Floyd Medical Center  Geoff Brown, CIO, Piedmont Health; Chris Beasley, CPHIMS, PMP, CHCIO-Eligible, CIO, Houston Healthcare