It’s been a while since we last updated our blog – suffice to say, the weeks since HIMSS have been busy ones for us at Stella Technology. Besides having a new senior colleague who joined our Engineering team, we expanded our business with new customers and new engagements with our existing customers, who continue to entrust us with some of their most critical strategic and operational initiatives. Let us just say “thank you” to you, Dear Customer, knowing that words alone cannot convey our deep gratitude for the business you give us day in and day out.
The month of May was busy on the Marketing end, as we attended 2 California-based industry events. The first one was the CA HIE Summit, organized by the CA Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII). It was attended by the “Who’s Who” of the CA HIE industry, and a must attend event for anyone involved in HIT in general. A couple of key highlights from the event included the formation of the CA Association of Health Information Exchanges (CAHIE), as well as an update on the various grants and initiatives run by the CA Health eQuality (CHeQ), Cal eConnect’s successor. A great summary of the event, the presentations given and video recordings are all available on the Summit’s website.
The second event was the California HIMSS Chapters Advocacy Day, also in Sacramento. Also known as the HIMSS State Health IT Day, the event’s goal is to connect subject matter experts in health IT with their state elected Assembly Members and Senators to foster relationship building and education on key issues facing our industry. After a morning of presentations from various leaders such as Pam Lane (Deputy Secretary and CalOHII Director), Speranza Avram (CEO, CalHIPSO) and Dave Minch (President and COO, HealthShare Bay Area), HIMSS had meetings organized with state legislators to advocate for 3 key issues: support for federally-funded efforts to increase HIE in CA, harmonization of privacy and security laws with the federal efforts, and support for CA’s participation in federal HIT matching programs to benefit CA’s economy while being sensitive to the recent positive progresses made on the state’s finances front.
Below is a group picture from the event, courtesy of a new industry friend Bobby Gladd, who writes a blog on various HIT topics. Bobby also has a photo reporting of the Advocacy Day on his website. And while you’re at it, bookmark it for updates on his real-time streaming web radio and HIT podcasts called KHIT, coming in July. We all look forward to it, Bobby!
Salim Kizaraly
CCO and Principal Consultant, Stella Technology, Inc.