Information technology and health care professionals will explore ways that information technology can facilitate better health care through collaboration at the ninth annual WMU IT Forum from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, November 12, in the Fetzer Center on the main campus. This event is also the kickoff for the grand opening of the Center for Health Information Technology Advancement (CHITA) at WMU.
The event, which requires advance registration, will center on the theme “Advancing Health Care with IT: Exploring the Landscape for 2011” and will open with a continental breakfast.
Dr. Bernard Han, director of CHITA and professor in the Department of Business Information Systems, and Dr. Sharie Falan, associate director of CHITA and assistant professor in the Bronson School of Nursing, are co-chairing the event, hosted by the Department of Business Information Systems in the University’s Haworth College of Business.
“Health care is an urgent issue. Under the current collaborative environment, health information technology (HIT) can be used to enhance and improve business operations and the safety, reliability and quality of health care service delivery,” says Han.
Falan adds, “This event brings together leaders from diverse aspects of the health care delivery arena to cultivate opportunities for WMU faculty and students to conduct joint research and hands-on projects. Together, they are working to solve health care issues with the community at large.”
Three keynote speakers will address the forum. They are:
• Michelle Troseth, executive vice president and chief practice officer, Elsevier’s Clinical Practice Model Resource Center
• Doug Dietzman, executive director, Michigan Health Connect, a nonprofit health information exchange organization, based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Donna Roach, vice president, information technology and chief information officer, Bronson Healthcare Group
At 8:30 a.m., Troseth will kick off the morning session and will address “Achieving Healthcare Transformation by Advancing Practice and Technology.” Troseth became an Elsevier executive leader in 2001, when she joined its Clinical Practice Model Resource Center business unit. Among her experiences are the co-creation and use of an integrated clinical practice framework that strengthens practice at the point-of-care and improves the quality of work environments for leaders and practitioners across the United States and Canada. She also led an interdisciplinary point-of-care design process that developed the first computerized, evidence-based, advanced clinical documentation system.
Recognized as an authority in her field, Troseth has co-authored several works, including articles on Clinical Documentation and Intentionally Designed Automation. She is a highly-sought keynote speaker on the topic of professional practice and healthcare technology and has addressed crowds at regional, national and international conferences. She is an original member of the IHE Patient Care Coordination Domain and a founding leader of the National Technology Informatics Guiding Educational Reform Initiative, recently serving as its summit’s program chair.
At 9:20 a.m., Dietzman will discuss “Health Information Exchange – The Need and Challenges.” He has over 20 years of experience which includes information technology initiatives in hospitals/health systems, health plans and physician offices. Dietzman was previously responsible for Community Physician Services for Spectrum Health and the deployment of its results, laboratory ordering and radiology ordering clinical messaging platform to over 150 offices across western Michigan.
At 11:20 a.m., Roach will address “The Application of HIT into Clinical Practice – Issues and Opportunities.” Roach is responsible for the information technology at Bronson Healthcare System and its subsidiaries. This includes planning, implementing and supporting Bronson information, network and telecommunication systems. She has over 29 years of experience in the health care industry, with the last 25 years being focused on health care information technology. Prior to joining Bronson, she was the chief information officer/vice president of information services for Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Ill. Her experience has included positions at W.A. Foote Memorial Hospital, Adventist Health System, Resurrection Health Care, Central DuPage Hospital, Rush Medical Center and the Veterans Administration.
The forum will also feature student e-Firm projects presented by the Auto-Owners project team and two Bronson Hospital project teams, where the students will share solutions that address real-world business challenges identified by the firms.
According to Dr. Mike Tarn, professor and chair, Department of Business Information Systems, “This year’s conference will be especially meaningful, because the Great Lakes IT Education Leaders’ annual meeting will be embedded in the forum. We will welcome 25 IT education leaders, as well as their faculty, from 21 universities and colleges in the Great Lakes area.”
The afternoon program will begin with the announcement of CHITA, followed by a plenary session at 1:40 p.m. addressing “Emerging Technologies for Health Care.” At 2:40 p.m., two concurrent panel discussions will focus on "Emerging Issues in HIT" and “Internships and Job Outlook.”
For more information about the forum or to register online, visit www.wmich.edu/business/itforum. Registration will close on Nov. 8. For more details, please contact Bernard Han at wmu-chita@wmich.edu or (269) 387-5428.
