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In edition, u201cThe 10 Most Successful Leaders Pioneering the Healthcareu201d, CIO Look is featuring such healthcare leaders who have created distinct places for themselves in the sector with their exceptional leadership skills.<br>
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www.ciolook.com VOL 06 | ISSUE 01 | 2021 The Towards Excellence Seeing the Opportunities and Making them Count Diligently Most Successful Leaders Pioneering The Healthcare Elaine M Wallace Fostering Academic Excellence and Research Dean Nova Southeastern University(NSU)
EDITOR’S NOTE Becoming the Shield of Humanity During the Pandemic L the whole world in time span of one to two months. The speed of spreading this virus was so fast that even the world’s top countries with most sophisticated health care systems failed to identify its effect and deadly potential. As the healthcare systems were failing, the healthcare industry and all the health care workers were forced to face health consequences due to no efficient disease data, personal protective equipment and lack of training. However there is not all pain, as the pandemic is not all about challenges but learning as well especially for healthcare leaders. ast one year has been a struggle for whole world while facing Coronavirus disease. First identified in China’s Wuhan City in December 2019, the disease spread from Hubei Province to As healthcare environment has become more complex than ever, today’s healthcare executives and leaders should acquire the management skills to match and thrive in it. We expect the healthcare executives to demonstrate measurable outcomes and effectiveness and practice evidence-based management. Also, there is dire need of management programs that are emphasizing over attainment of competencies related to workplace effusiveness not only medical qualifications. Through this approach, when the next pandemic will hit the healthcare workers, the whole industry will be physically and mentally prepared to fight even if there are no immediate vaccine solutions. Besides, we cannot deny that the healthcare sector has seen an exponential uptick in the recent years. It has become possible due to novel approaches brought by many exemplary leaders in the healthcare sector. By pushing the envelope, they have taken healthcare arena to the new heights.
In its upcoming edition, “The 10 Most Successful Leaders Pioneering the Healthcare”, CIO Look is featuring such healthcare leaders who have created distinct places for themselves in the sector with their exceptional leadership skills, innovative approach, and futuristic ideas. The cover features Elaine Wallace who is the Dean at Nova Southeastern University. Elaine began her journey at NSU as the Liaison to the development of international medicine and the chair of the Department of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. Within 6 years, she returned to her previously held position (in Kansas City) as the Executive Associate Dean, under Anthony Silvagni, DO. Five years ago, she became Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and have shepherded a time of expansion and growth within her college. The college has nearly tripled in size since Elaine’s deanship and is a leader in research and holistic medical care on campus. Delve into more such inspiring stories of successful leaders pioneering the healthcare and their significant contributions to the industry. Lastly, never stop learning with our CXO standpoints written by the industry experts and the creative articles by our in-house editorial team which will help to improve your skillset. Let’s Begin! Sourabh More
COVER STORY 08 Elaine M WALLACE Fostering Academic Excellence and Research
ARTICLE 16 28 Towards Excellence Seeing the Opportuni?es and Making Them Count Diligently Leader’s Viewpoint Going Forth and Rising 20 Anthony Chang Revolu?onizing the Healthcare Arena 24 Dr. Tania Mar?n-Mercado Leveraging Data for Advancing Scien?fic Research and Improving Healthcare Outcomes 32 Michael Showalter Leading with a Passion for Serving Customers C O N T E N T S
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Featuring Person Company Name Brief Mi10 is a healthcare artificial intelligence consulting firm dedicated to helping healthcare stakeholders efficiently implement actionable AI solutions. Anthony Chang Founder Mi10 mi10.ai Nova Southeastern University (NSU) has more than 22,000 students, is the largest, private, selective, research university in Florida, and is also the largest private institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education's criteria as an Hispanic-serving Institution. Nova Southeastern University nova.edu Elaine wallace Dean Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurance organization in southeastern Pennsylvania. Jonathan Stump Vice president Independence Blue Cross ibx.com iRhythm is a digital healthcare company redefining the way cardiac arrhythmias are clinically diagnosed by combining its wearable biosensing technology with cloud-based data analytics and machine- learning capabilities. iRhythm Technologies irhythmtech.com Kevin M. King CEO Health e(fx) experts include a highly experienced team of business and technical professionals with unique knowledge and experience in healthcare legislation, government policy direction, and regulatory changes. Michael Showalter CEO Health e(fx) healthefx.us NanoDx Inc. is a privately held medical device company developing novel and rapid point-of-care technologies for the objective diagnosis and management of concussion and other traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sharad Joshi CEO BioDirection biodirection.com Catholic health care is a ministry of the Catholic Church and the largest group of nonprofit health care providers . Comprised of more than 600 hospitals and 1,600 long-term care and other health facilities in all 50 states. Catholic Health Association chausa.org Sr. Mary Haddad President Phronetik is a rapidly-growing leader advancing precision medicine by leveraging biotechnology, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis, treatment and monitoring to impact scientific research with actionable insights. Tania Phronetik phronetik.com Martin-Mercado CEO CloudMedx is transforming healthcare delivery using Artificial Intelligence with an altruistic focus to create "Aligned Intelligence," an integrated system that joins Payers, Providers, and Patients to serve their needs. Tashfeen Suleman CEO IFS cloudmedxhealth.com Feedback Medical is a specialist technology company providing innovative software and systems to benefit those working in the field of medical imaging. Tom Oakley CEO Feedback fbkmed.com
Elaine M Wallace Dean Nova Southeastern University (NSU)
Cover Story Elaine M Wallace Fostering Academic Excellence and Research ‘ ‘ NSU is one of only 37 institutions holding the dual classification of "Community Engaged" and "High Research" by the Carnegie Foundation. ‘ ‘
the Department of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. Within 6 years, she returned to her previously held position (in Kansas City) as the Executive Associate Dean, under Anthony Silvagni, DO. Five years ago, she became Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and have shepherded a time of expansion and growth within her college. Since Elaine’s initial deanship, the college has started and is responsible for 4 Bachelors programs (Public Health, Nutrition, Biomedical Informatics, Health and Wellness Coaching), 5 Masters Programs (Public Health, Nutrition, Medical Education, Disaster and Emergency Management, Biomedical Informatics), a Registered Dietician program, a post baccalaureate program, and it has expanded the DO program by 150 students on a second campus. It also has assimilated the program in Couple and Family Therapy, with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development, a master’s Degree in Family Therapy and two Doctorate programs in Couple and Family Therapy. The college has nearly tripled in size since Elaine’s deanship and is a leader in research and holistic medical care on campus Driven by Core Values Located on a beautiful 314-acre campus in Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University has more than 22,000 students, is the largest, private, selective, research university in Florida, and is also the largest private institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education's criteria as a Hispanic- serving Institution. It also has 8 regional campuses, throughout Florida and Puerto Rico. NSU’s core values are: Academic Excellence, Student Centered, Integrity, Innovation, Opportunity, Scholarship/Research, Diversity, and Community. H pioneering the healthcare system. They are coming up with new and innovative ways to automate and ease the delivery of best-in-class healthcare solutions to the maximum number of people. Ensuring the holistic care of patients is more important than ever as sound body is the product of a sound mind. Education is one of the most important ways through which best future healthcare professionals are created. ealthcare system across the globe is continuing to improve, innovate and change under the leadership of successful leaders that are Being a private, not-for-profit, institution, the mission of Nova Southeastern University is to offer a diverse array of innovative academic programs that complement on-campus educational opportunities and resources with accessible distance learning programs to foster academic excellence, intellectual inquiry, leadership, research, and commitment to community through engagement of students andfaculty members in a dynamic, life-long learning environment. To create the best healthcare professionals that are highly skilled for delivering the best healthcare solutions is an important task of all educational institutions by offering diverse array of academic programs and educational opportunities. The healthcare leaders who foster academic excellence and research related to Healthcare are more valuable. Elaine M Wallace is one such healthcare leader who is Dean at Nova Southeastern University(NSU). The pandemic, as with all crises, offered opportunities and challenges. The greatest challenge has been the denial of the validity and respect in medical knowledge that grew as a result of NSU’s national leadership. Never in Elaine’s 12 leaders been so doubted. Never in Leader in Research and Holistic Medical Care Elaine began her journey at NSU as the Liaison to the development of international medicine and the chair of
‘ ‘ her life – including the polio crisis – have vaccines been so doubted. It is a tremendous threat to science when politics enters into a process that should – by definition – be free of partisanship. At Nova Southeastern University, its approach to education has always been innovative and unique. Despite this tremendous schism in country, the pandemic demonstrated new and accelerated methods for the development of vaccines. This is a technology that may be applied now to the development of cancer drugs and other breakthroughs in medicine. ‘ ‘ Additionally, governmental money for the development of treatments for chronic COVID-19 will propel the medical field into new futures, and as NSU evaluates responses to this pandemic in the setting of public health, its systems of care may be revitalized and its responses on a global level also stand to be improved and developed. Taking Care of the Whole Patient Osteopathic Medicine has always been about taking care of the whole patient, mind – body – and spirit. This concept of holism has seen advances, on all levels in USA, in recent years. The development of bachelors programs within the college are all dual admit programs, meaning that when a student enters into an undergraduate bachelor’s program run by its college, if s/he excels and maintains a GPA of 3.5 and scores at a high range in the MCAT examination, s/he has a seat reserved for him/her in the Osteopathic Medical school. This program demonstrates how higher Reaching Undeserved Communities One of the other unexpected benefits of the COVID 19 pandemic has been the challenge that it has afforded NSU to telecommunicate. This has accelerated the growth of telehealth – allowing greater reach into underserved communities and has allowed educators to teach students from afar – seamlessly now on zoom. Zoom has allowed greater proficiency in meetings and has provided a new platform for innovation.
‘ ‘ education stands to improve medicine. Traditionally, students in medicine are from backgrounds of chemistry and biology. However – with these new programs, Osteopathic Medical school is admitting new matriculants who will focus on nutrition, and informatics, and public health. Their views and backgrounds will change, as will their focus for the health, product development, and medicine of the future. NSU’s private, undergraduate college offers a personal, nurturing atmosphere, but it is also an exciting university with a wide variety of graduate and professional degrees. Robust Research and Treatment Center NSU-KPCOM is a leader in research on campus and is the #1 grant funded research college on the campus. KPCOM has robust research in Gulf War Syndrome, Neuroimmunology, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, HIV psychology in youth, and Health Disparities. Recently, it has received a 4.5-million-dollar grant from the CDC for patient education of COVID 19, and it has just submitted over $30 million in requests to the federal government to become a pandemic Research and Treatment Center for long term COVID 19 as well as other pandemics. ‘ ‘
‘ ‘ many that are directed towards service within the community. By being at NSU one can drive one’s future forward with a degree that unites one’s passions and one’s goals. Research at KPCOM is robust. It has just submitted a 29-million-dollar grant for the development of a Treatment and Research Center for long-term COVID 19 care and for other future pandemics. If Elaine could change one thing about research, it would receive this grant and be able to further serve its community and country with cutting edge scientific research. ‘ ‘ Treating Patients World-wide KPCOM was just named #20 by US News and World Report – for medical schools (Osteopathic and Allopathic) that turn out the most students in primary care and serve the underserved. It is the philosophy of Osteopathic Medicine – to treat the whole patient and the whole patient system – that gives a great foundation for treatment of patients world-wide. The grant mentioned above for Treatment and Research of pandemics, includes individuals from 4 other colleges. Two of NSU’s bachelors programs, are joint programs with other colleges as well. In fact, many of its research projects include researchers from other universities. This reflects NSU’s belief in collaborative approach. Elaine mentions that when any individual seeks to render care to a patient who is underserved, he or she needs to study why the patient is underserved – and fix that problem as well as the patient, or s/he would have only a well patient and a sick system. KPCOM’s unique attention to Osteopathic Medicine, Public Health, Medical Informatics, Couple and Family Therapy, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Coaching, and its solid foundation in research, make KPCOM a college well equipped to tackle the challenges of equity health care here in the United States, and worldwide. Serving the Community in Maximum Possible Ways NSU is recognized as a collegiate leader by the PEW foundation in service to the community. Of all the colleges at NSU, KPCOM is the #1 college in community service. A part of the ethos of KPCOM is to develop servant leaders. Its mission is to serve the medically underserved. In this vein, the college requires 40 hours of community service from students in year one and 40 hours of service in year two. These service projects include medical health fairs, tutoring, participation at camps for children with disabilities, work with the homeless and many other projects. The college is also a national leader in international outreach programs, as Osteopaths see the entire world as its community. Its students participate yearly to medical missions in Jamaica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and India. It did a medical student training program to Cuba just prior to the pandemic, and it served Puerto Rico, twice, post hurricanes. Its students also do three months of rural or urban underserved medicine as part of the third-year curriculum, serving communities of great need in Florida. Health fairs, for all students in year one and two and all faculty, occur twice during the academic year and serve patients in the community health canters. KPCOM also has well over 70 student clubs, Thinking Outside the Box Elaine’s always advises budding healthcare and Higher Education leaders aspiring to venture into the medical industry to follow one’s passion. “It is only when you love your work, and it is no longer a job, that you have the ease and comfort to think outside of the box and to take risks,” she asserts.
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Seeing the OPPORTUNITIES and Making them COUNT DILIGENTLY 16 | June 2021 |
Towards Excellence T witnessing the time of pandemic from last few months. We should learn few things from such unprecedented time, as it offers so many lessons practically for everyone. The most important lesson it has offered us is that we should not take anything for granted in life. We should appreciate the beauty of life and every moment in our precious life. We should be grateful for every breath we breathe. Every moment is opportunity to make a difference if we have the right perception and right state of mind. The most precious opportunities in life comes most rarely and we should be diligent to grab them most diligently. he unprecedented time calls for unprecedented actions. The pandemic is one such unprecedented time, as the world is still The mark of a great business leaders is that they exhibit their remarkable qualities even in the most challenging situations. The greatness of a business leaders is established by the ability to thrive even in the most provoking situations. Leaders should utilize their talent as well as temperament to achieve great results in life. By using their talents and temperament, they can take the high value decisions which can be exceptionally profitable for their business. To succeed in the world of business, leaders need to develop their talent as well as temperament. Temperament is the ability to deal with different situations with proper emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence plays big role in determining the success of business leaders. If one is having balanced emotional intelligence and rational intelligence, one will be able to make a big contribution in the business. The more effective the utilization of resources one has, the more one will be able to make a big impact on the clients and in the industry one is leading. It is most essential especially for business leaders to recognize such opportunities and make them count by making most of such opportunities. Business leaders should have the diligence to cleverly converting obstacles into opportunities. This is a art and it can be learned. One needs to have right perception to transform obstacles into opportunities. Business leaders should be smart enough to see unprecedented times as unprecedented opportunities, as they say necessity is the mother of invention. If one is prepared to seek the solution, then one will find the answer. To lead from the front, leaders need to constantly keep learning and adapt best practices in their organization to deliver upgraded solutions to their clients. Constant learning and adapting best practices is the way forward of sustainable developments. To sustain one’s competency in the business world, business leaders and organizations have to meet the changing requirements of the clients to sustain their credibility. Leaders should not take their success for granted. They should not be complacent by being in the comfort zone, as it is the greatest trap. One should never settle in that zone because comfort zone is the killer of the growth. One should be in the stretch zone and should always be prepared to go beyond. The world has the habit of making room for the people whose words and actions show that they know where they are going. Leaders should have congruence with their words, thoughts and actions. This will help them in developing the congruence in themselves. If they have this congruence in themselves, they can create this congruence in the people working in their businesses. This way they will be able to lead with authenticity. What great people do common people follow. Therefore, leaders should set the right standards for others to follow. Moreover, business leaders need to keep on evolving in their solutions to be relevant in the market. Being relevant to the people is the most fundamental secret of success in business world. One should be relevant by the smart implementation of latest technologies in the organizations to improve the quality of solutions to the clients. The greatest way to earn the trust of clients is through delivering results, as it builds the credibility of leaders or organizations. This way their services can be attractive to the prospective clients. By demonstrating credibility, organizations can expand their business in many folds. Credibility is built by the combination of exhibiting high competence and strong character. To lead any organizations effectively, it is very important to have high competence and high character in the leader. High character helps in keeping people together and high competence helps in creating the capabilities in the people to deliver better results. The world is so full of possibilities to make a difference in the world by being exceptional in offering something to the world. Opportunities are the chances to make a profound impact. The leaders have to be clever, competent, capable and diligent to make the most of available opportunities to make a significant difference by offering something of relevance to the world. 17 | June 2021 |
Dr. Anthony Chang Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer (CIIO) Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) 20 | June 2021 |
Revolutionizing the Healthcare Arena A be traced to a number of different converging factors—including increased processing power, the widespread availability of datasets, and access to cloud computing among them—but look closer and one uniting factor ties them together: human champions that are pushing the industry forward. Artificial intelligence is the driving force behind some of the most powerful innovations in healthcare today, and there is no greater champion for artificial intelligence in healthcare than Dr. Anthony Chang. fter decades of incremental progress, the healthcare technology sector has seen a recent exponential uptick in innovation. This shift can As he writes in his book, Intelligence-Based Medicine: Artificial Intelligence and Human Cognition in Clinical Medicine and Healthcare (Elsevier), “It is estimated that about 80% of health-care data are unstructured.” In Dr. Chang's view, this data represents a vast store of valuable insights, research and information that are essentially lost to the broader medical community. Not only does this prevent clinicians like Dr. Chang from using this information to help guide their practice, but, more importantly, it deprives patients of valuable insights that might create better treatments. Exemplifying Proficiency Dr. Chang spent the first part of his career building an impressive resume as a pediatric cardiologist. His education included stops at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and Children's Hospital National Medical Center. He served as the medical director of several pediatric cardiac intensive care programs before accepting his current role as medical director of the Heart Institute at Children's Hospital of Orange County. A Quest for Knowledge As his accomplishments in the realm of pediatric cardiology grew, Dr. Chang chose to follow several areas of interest and pursued additional degrees. He completed a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Health Care Policy before seeking his Masters of Science (MS) in Biomedical Data Science with a subarea focus in artificial intelligence from Stanford School of Medicine. It was during this last educational pursuit that he found a passion that would fuel the next phase of his career. 21 | June 2021 |
With his newly-acquired expertise in data science, Dr. Chang realized that there was only one way to harness that data and information: by leveraging artificial intelligence. Armed with his varied experience in the worlds of medicine, business, leadership, and data science, Dr. Chang set to work bringing change to the healthcare industry that would allow artificial intelligence to flourish. to expand the organization's certification offerings to include board certification similar to the clinical informatics board certification. As one of the most important evangelists of AI in medicine, Dr. Chang has also founded a series of conferences on the topic known as AIMed. This multimedia educational and networking platform is especially designed for supporting the entire ecosystem of AI in healthcare and medicine for clinicians and administrators, as well as data scientists and AI entrepreneurs and companies. With AIMed, he hosts close to 20 international meetings a year. Leveraging Data Science and AI in Healthcare Space Dr. Chang recognized that he faced a number of obstacles to bring the worlds of AI and healthcare together. The healthcare industry can be notoriously slow to accept new technologies. Unlike Dr. Chang, most hospital leadership lacks the data-science background to understand cutting-edge technology like AI. And AI companies have difficulty navigating the labyrinthine world of healthcare. In order to bridge these two worlds in the pursuit of a better healthcare system, Dr. Chang founded MI10, a healthcare AI consulting firm. Looking to the Future If experts in the realm of healthcare technology are correct, artificial intelligence will reshape the industry as we know it. Estimates place the value of the industry at over $50 billion by 2027. As technologies ranging from deep learning to blockchain to natural language processing take root and spread throughout the industry, we may soon find ourselves looking back on the pre-AI healthcare system and imagining that this advancement was inevitable. But history has shown again and again that great periods of innovations are ushered in by great visionaries. Dr. Chang is one such visionary, leveraging his vast array of accomplishments, connections, and experiences to bring about a new age of healthcare. In his work with MI10, Dr. Chang and his team of experts have been serving clients in a variety of realms including hospitals, AI companies, medical schools, and venture capitalists. His unique position at the nexus of these disparate worlds helps his clients to make targeted, informed decisions that can help them enter into a healthcare/AI partnership with the utmost confidence. In addition to MI10's mission, Dr. Chang saw a pressing need to educate clinicians in the realm of AI. To this end, he founded the American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ABAIM). This non-profit organization provides certification and classes in the realm of AI in medicine. In the future, Dr. Chang plans 22 | June 2021 |
Dr. Tania Martin-Mercado CEO, Phronetik, Inc. 24 | June 2021 |
Dr. Tania Martin-Mercado and Improving Healthcare Outcomes Leveraging Data for Advancing Scientic Research T health of the people. Good health and well-being is one of the most important sustainable development goals. Without good health, people cannot function at their full productivity and this is certainly not good from economic point of view as well. Taking this into consideration, many leaders in healthcare have come forward to bring a significant change in the industry by leveraging technology and innovation. Among those leaders, one such passionate leader is Dr. Tania Martin- Mercado. he importance of sound health cannot be mentioned enough. Especially the ongoing pandemic has highlighted the need of good diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and advance scientific research. A few of our core competencies include genomic testing, sequencing services, and technology services. As a business leader, what is your thought on the changes in the Medical Industry and in R&D after the pandemic? The pandemic has provided significant opportunity for innovation and transformation in clinical research and patient care. Healthcare providers are seeking new, improved ways to interact with their patients and demanding digital enhancements from their EHR vendors to meet this need. The healthcare delivery cycle has changed and is leaning toward more interoperability and less siloed information. This requires a cultural change within healthcare, more than a technical one. Currently, Dr. Tania is serving as the CEO of the Phronetik, Inc. Phronetik delivers high-quality sample processing, extraction, data analysis and interpretation quickly and securely in order to advance scientific discovery and help guide every-day medical decisions throughout a patient's life. Research and Development, life science, and pharmaceutical organizations have an increased demand for genomic information as the industry advances personalized therapeutics and precision medicine. These initiatives require strategic planning and focused investment. The pandemic has only accelerated these plans. In an interview with CIOLook, Dr. Tania shares her journey and about her contribution to improve healthcare through Phronetik. Below are the Highlights of the Interview: What is your opinion on the advancements of Higher Education to improve the offerings with newer medicinal technological developments, especially when it comes to building a population of healthy individuals? Give us a brief overview of your position at your company, and your journey since inception. Phronetik is a rapidly growing leader advancing precision medicine by leveraging biotechnology, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence to improve 25 | June 2021 |
to advance scientific research. The challenge in life science exists in the large amount of data generated from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, and genomics, and how to leverage this data for improved healthcare, therapeutic, and business outcomes. As an established healthcare leader, what would be your advice to the budding healthcare leaders aspiring to venture into the medical industry? My advice is to find an area you are passionate about, and dive right in. Learn all you can. Hopefully, the interest in the field stems from a desire to advance healthcare and research. As such, an understanding of public health, access to care, and disease prevention should be at the forefront of the journey. scientific research.“ Phronetik offers competencies in biotechnology, bioinformatics, data science, artificial intelligence and information systems to advance precision medicine and positively impact In what ways do you or your company contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring in creating a "Community of High Research? We would like to see a concentrated effort to diversify clinical trials, in partnership with public health professionals, health care providers, and clinical researchers. This effort requires understanding of the historic record of medical experimentation on the most vulnerable and underrepresented communities without consent. There is a well-earned history of distrust among marginalized communities on the topics of clinical research. One way we tackle this issue is by outwardly advocating within marginalized communities, educating the population, and fostering open and transparent communication. Representation is of utmost importance in working toward trust between marginalized communities and researchers. Advancements in higher education should include a focus on digitalization, data, and analytics, and how these apply to patient care in a practical manner. Focusing on healthy behaviors to prevent disease rather than reactive measures to treat disease should be a core component of learning. Knowledge of social determinants of health, equitable care, and a vision and path to treating the whole patient is imperative for the next generation of health and medical professionals. How do you envision on sustaining your company’s competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of Healthcare? We do not feel healthcare is cutthroat. There is room for everyone and enough work for all to contribute. Phronetik will continue to promote diversity in clinical trials, improved access to care, and strong data governance. Which is the best way to meet today’s and tomorrow's challenges with your company’s exceptional product and services for urgent needs coming our way? Phronetik enables organizations to better capture, interpret, and present data from several sources – genomic, biological, structured, unstructured – in order 26 | June 2021 |
Going Forth Going Forth and Rising and Rising and Rising Going Forth L et's start here - "things" will not go back to normal. Normal has left the building, literally and with it has come the arrival of new work trends like ‘location independence’ and ‘hybrid work. We are seeing a whole new normal in how people work and how the technology space enables that forward progress. For those who think 2020 was a difficult year to manage work and the technology needed to support that work – the next decade has a surprise for you – it’s going to get even more challenging. motion. With location independence and hybrid work comes new challenges at every level in every part of the organization. Technologists will be asked to find the solutions, design the work environments, and drive the innovation for an entirely new generation of work. This will mean an uptick in spending on AI enabled platforms that can detect where work is being done and utilizing technology that allows for an enterprise headquarters for example that is open to hoteling to sense the needs of the worker coming in that day. Additionally, since the virus is here to stay these very same building will also need to be able to perform health checks using systems like Turing Video to identify temperature, condition, and identification to protect those working in a facility. But the spend on remote technology won’t go away; with close to 50% of workers believing they will work remotely in some capacity we will still need to stay invested in remote hardware, connectivity, software, and services that support that remote work. In fact, In 2020 we saw an entire knowledge workforce change to remote work; everyone was on a level playing field – all remote all the time. That made tools and technology challenging at first but then we all settled in using our home networks, UCaaS platforms, and new hardware for the win. Moving forward we won’t have it quite so easy; we will have to balance these new work trends and the technology needed with increases in cost to serve and major focus on the real cost to protect all that data in 28 | June 2021 |
Leader’s Viewpoint 29 | June 2021 |
human augmentation to overcome remote employee obstacles will become common place. Network improvements brought by 5G will also change work from home; there will be much less low bandwidth issues when firms like T-Mobile are offering home internet on 5G that can outperform much of the nations slow and low bandwidth issues for work from home. And of course, we will need to see continued investment in security to defend all that corporate data moving around the network will be common; solutions like Privafy will be widely implemented to help protect data in motion. In fact, this is a leadership lesson - and these new ways of thinking about work will be both a strength that can lead us through these very trying times, and a challenge to encourage us to adapt and adopt new technologies that aid in the transition. Technology leaders will need to lean into the trend, define how their firm will manage an evolving workforce, and work swiftly to deliver the needed technology. The alternative? A nimbler and tech savvy competitor will find a way to provide what is needed to enable this new work reality and the top talent in your industry will follow the technology leaving your firm quite frankly in the dust. This is the new world that we live in. This is our challenge. This is our opportunity. Go forth and make it happen and you will thrive, fail to harness this trend, and face the consequences. As leaders that is our choice – may the work trends be forever in your favor! 30 | June 2021 |
Michael Showalter, CEO, Health e(fx) A ccess to quality, affordable healthcare is the most essential need of citizens in any country. It was the zeal to address this need that fueled Michael Showalter's passion to become part of the solution to provide access to quality, affordable healthcare to everyone in the United States. Michael's passion is also driven by three personal life experiences: As he was growing up, Michael's dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Consequently, his employer denied his father’s promotion because they didn't recognize that a person can have MS and live a full, productive life. Then, early in his own career, Michael turned down a job opportunity – the new 32 | June 2021 |
Michael Showalter Leading with a Passion for Serving Customers employer wouldn't offer health coverage because his wife was being treated for cancer. purpose of Health e(fx) is to serve its customers by transforming healthcare one solution, one dataset and one life at a time. Later on, Michael became member of a multi-national healthcare think tank. At almost every meeting, representatives from other countries would ask those who were from the U.S. why the wealthiest nation on Earth couldn't provide healthcare for all of its citizens (which every other member country of the think tank had figured out). It made Michael realize that America's healthcare position at the time just wasn't defensible. Solving the issue of access to quality, affordable care for everyone drives Michael even more today in light of the global health crisis we know as COVID-19. Thriving on Complexity Health e(fx) expertise can solve employers' complex health reform obligations. For example, the new Biden Administration will likely seek to enforce stricter employer compliance of Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting regulations to ensure that private sector companies are doing their part for health reform. On the private sector side, each employer has unique, and oftentimes complicated, needs in meeting those compliance regulations. Health e(fx) thrives on that complexity. It's at this intersection between government expectation and private sector need for support to fulfill obligations where Health e(fx) impacts health reform. Successful Track Record As CEO, Michael leads Health e(fx) with a passion for serving customers. An accomplished industry veteran, Michael is recognized for his senior leadership experience and successful track record for growth in both healthcare startups and large organizations. Internally, Michael promotes a customer-centric culture of respect, responsibility, focus and working together. His diverse and challenging experiences have given Michael a broad, holistic view of customer needs within the healthcare industry. As a change agent, he has a proven track record of creating growth for companies in the highly competitive and dynamic healthcare space. Active Data Management Health reform and compliance is Health e(fx)’s specialty. It's how it has become the largest ACA "Be brave, be authentic, be yourself. Drive the change that's needed, which means putting change first and yourself last." Transforming Healthcare Solutions Reforming a system as complicated as healthcare can actually add to the system's complexity. Although employers provide healthcare coverage for their employees, Michael understands that the average employer doesn't want to be an expert on the intricacies of healthcare or how to transform it. That's where Health e(fx) plays an important role. The 33 | June 2021 |
software solution provider, serving strategic partners, some of the nation's largest employers and over 22 million individuals. Through active data management, Health e(fx) helps employers catch potential compliance risks early, deliver timely federal and state reporting, and uncover unique workforce insights. "Be brave, be authentic, be yourself. Drive the change that's needed, which means putting change first and yourself last." Michael also advises future leaders to "be grateful that you have the opportunity to lead. It's an honor. For a short time in your life, you'll get the opportunity to lead an organization. Lead with humility and remember that leadership is a role, not an identity.” Improving the Lives of Others Appreciating Cooperative Spirit The support Health e(fx) provides to employers and their representatives, as well as to strategic partners, is rooted in its passion for serving its client's best interests. In addition to Health e(fx)'s core business, Michael believes that, as a successful organization, Health e(fx) has a duty to be a good citizen in the community in which its employees live and work. All of its employees support philanthropic organizations. In 2020 alone, it helped 23 organizations that provide meals and homeless shelters, support for students in school, as well as resources for education on building multicultural relationships. Michael applauds every healthcare worker whom he has ever encountered. He owes his life to a surgeon. His dad's life was saved by many doctors. His mom and wife were both saved from cancer by many healthcare workers. The actual determinants of physical, mental and emotional health are driven by paying attention to what our bodies and minds try to tell us. Michael says that, "We each need to find a way to listen to ourselves and live- in harmony with what we hear. We need to learn to live in flow instead of turning to clinicians and expecting them to hand over a means for each of us to cope with our lifestyle choices. To achieve flow requires that each of us becomes quiet and listens to ourselves. That we treat others as we'd treat ourselves. And that we respect what each person needs and then honor that." Michael is proud of the role Health e(fx) plays to help reform healthcare and make its communities better places to live, work and play. Yet, the need for strong leaders is great, and many more must come forward. Afterall, left on its own, any system, organization, department or even individual will lean toward homeostasis. Everyone wants to navigate toward comfort and stay with what's familiar. One of the most important qualities needed in future leaders is the ability to question the status quo and transform it. And that will create disruption, which is frequently unwelcome. Therefore, to future leaders, Michael says, Michael further adds that, "While each of us needs to take responsibility for our own health journey, we can't do it alone. Employers must support the people who work for them by providing quality, affordable healthcare coverage, sponsoring total wellbeing education and activities, and playing an active role in health reform initiatives. Only then we will have a truly healthy society." 34 | June 2021 |