The ninth annual FOLEYTech Summit included panel discussions to address the issues and challenges facing technology companies today in Health Care, Big Data, and Next-Generation Manufacturing. The conference featured perspectives from the investor and company sides of the equation. At the Demand Side of Health Care IT session, Foley & Lardner Partner Alan Einhorn moderated a discussion with Daniel Moriarty, Chief Information Officer, Atrius Health; Ed Park, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, athenahealth, Inc.; Chan Russell, System Architect, Commonwealth Informatics, Inc.; and Kevin Tabb, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The discussion focused on the sea of changes that are occurring in the healthcare delivery system, and the panelists' perceptions of real life needs, barriers, and opportunities for health care IT companies.
Panelists were in agreement that the landscape is moving towards systems of care that are looking to provide high quality care at the most appropriate place. Health IT will be a central component of health care organizations' ability to shift business models towards systems of care. Leaders in the industry are focused on the ability for IT to integrate into current technology and be interoperable with other systems' technology, so that quality care may be coordinated within and among systems. In Massachusetts, the state government is requiring a level of interconnectivity, but right now systems do not have the technology to always speak to each other. With care heading towards population health and providers taking on risk for patients, connectivity is going to be key to being successful. Panelists debated the value of having single platform versus open source platforms, but the final message was consistent: a time of change is here and providers are eager to see new products that meet new needs.
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