Greenway sponsors Vision 2020 HIT symposium

Greenway Medical Technologies’ areas of expertise were on full display November 10 at the Woodruff Arts Center in downtown Atlanta during a special symposium on healthcare technology.

Health data exchange, EHR capabilities, meaningful use, sustainability and regional extension centers were just some of the topics that dominated panel discussions during “Vision 2020.” Hosted by the Technology Association of Georgia, panelists from academic, governmental and private industry healthcare pursuits led an audience of approximately 300 through the critical challenges the year 2020 foreshadows.
As a gold sponsor of the event, Greenway’s presence was also on display in program materials and through a sponsor’s reception the night of November 9. Greenway business partner Intel Health was also a sponsor of the event.

Moderated by CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and Wayne Oliver, vice president of the Center for Health Transformation, itself a strategic legislative partner of Greenway Medical, panelists ranged from the Georgia Department of Community Health and the Grady Health System to the Health Services Research Institute at Georgia State University, to Cisco Systems, Verizon Wireless and the National Health Museum, recently located to Atlanta from its origins in Washington, D.C.

One theme during the day was linking as divergent a state as Georgia, with its mix of rural and urban health systems and infrastructure matched by socioeconomic challenges. David Hartnett, vice president of technology industry expansion for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, advocated a shared service model toward implementation costs for small or rural practices outside of major infrastructure, while panelists agreed there are resources available to expand it.

Recently in Georgia, for example, only 20 of 150 available broadband grants have been funded, meaning untapped means of HIT expansion are available, but to indefinitely sustain a national network “levels of one to three percent of all healthcare spending devoted to IT is not enough,” said Hal Scott, vice president of Information Systems and CIO of MCG Health System, “especially in the face of uncertain declines in reimbursement. There are going to be enormous demands put on the systems through the collection of data. Right now we’re very euphoric about available resources, but what happens when we get what we ask for?”

By 2020, panelists agreed, what will happen is the realization of a shared vision of a healthcare system that knows few boundaries.