Join Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA, for a discussion on an innovative healthcare IT equity maturity framework model she created for healthcare IT leaders. The model can help IT leaders develop a multi-year strategy and continuous improvement processes to address organizational structural bias in healthcare IT, impact healthcare inequities, and develop an inclusive equity minded culture.

As healthcare organizations prioritize digital transformation, they purchase technology to support these initiatives. Most of these organizations have followed traditional capital and operational funding and accounting practices to do so, which are now limiting how/when they can purchase technology and services.

As we all know - on an annual basis, information technology teams submit capital requests with supporting justification, the requests are prioritized, recommendations are submitted to the board, and the teams are informed of the finalized budgetary allotments. Operational budgets are based on a combination of historical costs, new service or support contracts, and depreciation or other operating tails from capital purchases. Finalized budgets are announced at the start of each fiscal year.

Historically, projects and supporting product offerings are based on the final and approved budget and funding. The decision to use Operation Expenses (OPEX) vs Capital Expenses (CAPEX) was predetermined. That is until product offering changed. Software subscriptions, software-as-a-service (anything-as-a-service), and consumption-based services are dramatically impacting the way that information technology is purchased. Many healthcare organizations are challenged with this financial shift, which impacts the ability to adopt modern product offerings. This session will tackle everything you need to know about these newer services and what corresponding accounting rules support the purchase of them.

Our Value Based Care joint discussion will focus on the cultural and strategic shifts that must be championed by executive leadership to succeed with alternative payment models. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of our speakers and learn how they are succeeding in a value-based care world. The session will be moderated by Healthcare Innovation's Managing Editor, Rajiv Leventhal.

EMR usability, as well as the efficiencies of a well-built EMR, are hugely important for physicians. Join our panelists to discuss how they build a culture of partnership between physician and clinician users, and IT personnel, to drive a quality EMR experience, increase EMR engagement, and helping users focus on opportunities for EMR success in their organizations. Discussion topics include:

• Developing a non-bureaucratic governance structure that allows for changes to be made quickly to the EMR when needed
• How they developed initial training programs, recognizing that the quality and duration of initial training are the top predictors of an individual’s EMR success
• Building a culture of sharing, continuing education to support mastery of the EMR and helping clinicians become superusers by training them not only to successfully get data into the EMR but also to efficiently get data out of the EMR
• Building a quality EMR – cutting through the hype and choosing a vendor that work for their organization, based on best practices and feedback from the users