Commencement at Columbia University

I recently spoke at Columbia University to the graduates of their healthcare IT certificate program.    I used these slides.

I started with an overview of my top 10 buzzwords for 2013 describing a strategy for each of them:

Secure and Compliant - BIDMC has a multi-million dollar security enhancement program with 14 work streams

Hosted in the Cloud - BIDMC operates 3 private clouds to deliver web-based clinical applications to thousands of users

Service Oriented Architecture - BIDMC builds its own clinical systems using service oriented architectures and enterprise service bus approaches

Business Intelligence - 200 million observations on 2 million patients are searchable via innovative self service data mining tools

Social Networking - BIDMC uses social networking ideas in its clinical applications and uses commercial social networking sites extensively for marketing

Green - BIDMC's data centers support a 25%  annual increase in computing power and storage without increasing our power usage

Federated and Distributed - BIDMC's merger and acquisition strategy depends up on data sharing among peers rather than centralizing clinical applications into one common system

Patient Centered - BIDMC's patient and family engagement strategy includes Patientsite, OpenNotes, and new mobile friendly tools

Mobile BYOD - BIDMC applications run on iPhones, Android devices and iPads (with appropriate encryption)

Foundational for Healthcare Reform - BIDMC has embraced global captitated risk, with over 65% of patients in risk contracts in 2013.

I also described the leadership characteristics needed to implement all these concepts in large complex organizations:

Guidance - A consistent vision that everyone can understand and support.

Priority Setting - A sense of urgency that sets clear mandates for what to do and importantly want not to do.

Sponsorship - "Air Cover" when a project runs into difficulty.   Communication with the Board, Senior Leadership, and the general organization as needed.

Resources - A commitment to provide staff, operating budget, and capital to ensure project success.

Dispute resolution - Mediation when stakeholders cannot agree how or when to do a project.

Decision making - Active listening and participation when tough decisions need to be made.

Compassion - Empathy for the people involved in change management challenges.

Support - Trust for the managers overseeing work and respect for the plans they produce that balance stress creation and relief.

Responsiveness - Availability via email, phone,  or in person when issues need to be escalated.

Equanimity - Emotional evenness that is highly predictable no matter what happens day to day

The students were a great, energetic and inquisitive group.   I want to thank Columbia for the opportunity to speak with them.