Reflections from the HIMSS/AMDIS Physicians' IT Symposium at #HIMSS13

I am in New Orleans attending the 2013 HIMSS conference. Follow updates on Twitter by following the #HIMSS13 hashtag.

Today, I was in the HIMSS/AMDIS Physicians' IT Symposium: Reviewing the Past, Assessing the Present and Planning for the Future. Let me highlight a few key points and reflections I jotted down as I sat through several presentations about Meaningful Use (MU) and the future of clinical informatics:

Health IT is about improving clinical workflow efficiency and patient care. The HITECH Act was signed in 2009. How far have we come? New laws and regulations are forcing physicians and hospitals to change. They may not want to change, but they have no choice. The carrot and the stick approach is driving people to buy systems and force changes in workflow. Are these changes all beneficial for patients? Not necessarily. Some are clearly going to help patients as physicians rely on evidence-based information when they make clinical decisions. We should see a reduction in medical errors. Medication tracking and reconciliation will be easier. But, are we actually improving patient care? Or, are we putting too much emphasis on achieving Meaningful Use?

We've seen many physicians and hospitals achieve Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 1. Now, we are hearing growing discussions around Stage 2. It's probably a good thing that Stage 2 was delayed to 2014.

What is a physician technologist?

What is a physician technologist? You won't find this job description too often. There is no formal medical specialty that gives anyone the title or designation of "physician technologist." So, in some ways the phrase "physician technologist" can imply that you're a physician executive who specializes in the application of technology and/or informatics. However, if we're talking about informatics, there are specific job titles that already exist. Some of them include:

• Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO)
• Medical Director of Information Systems
• Medical Director of Clinical Informatics

There are professional societies like the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) that support the field of clinical or medical informatics. Soon, we'll see the emergence of a new medical specialty called "clinical informatics." In November 2008, the AMIA Board of Directors approved the Core Content and Training Program Requirements for clinical informatics. The American Board of Preventive Medicine will be the home medical specialty board for the clinical informatics subspecialty and we should soon see the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) formally recognizing the subspecialty of clinical informatics.

18th Annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium

The Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) is kicking off its "18th Annual Physician-Computer Connection (PCC) Symposium" today. Here are the details:

Ojai Valley Inn
Ojai , California
July 14 - 17, 2009

Target Audience: Physicians, CMOs, CMIOs, CIOs, Healthcare Executives, Nurses, Clinicians, Vendors and Consultants.

Congrats to the Winners Receiving the AMDIS Awards!

According to Modern Healthcare, eight winners have been chosen for the 2009 Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) Awards, recognizing accomplishments advancing the application of information systems and computer technology to the practice of medicine. The winners include five individual physicians, two organizations and one team.

They are:

• Dr. Michael Dominguez, medical informatics officer, University Health System, San Antonio
• Fallon Clinic, Worcester, Mass.
• Dr. Cynthia Herzog of MemorialCare Medical Centers, Orange County, Calif.
• Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif.
• Dr. Steve Margolis, chief medical informatics officer, Orlando (Fla.) Health
• Dr. Jon Morris, medical informatics officer, WellStar Health System, Marietta, Ga.
• Dr. Matt Sprunger, medical director of clinical informatics, Dupont Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Interoperability team, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

AMDIS - Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems

Since its founding in 1997, the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems is the premier professional organization for physicians interested in and responsible for healthcare information technology. If you have any interest in this industry, I encourage you to join this association and get connected. Attend the AMDIS/HIMSS Physician Program. Network with CMIOs, CMOs, CTOs, and CIOs.

Looking for a career change? Take a look at some of the current positions that are available that are listed here:

http://www.amdis.org/opportunity.htm