President's Message

Errol Labat, LAHIMSS Chapter President

Welcome to the 2018 Spring Newsletter as the 2018 works toward wrapping up the Louisiana Chapter of HIMSS (LA HIMSS) 2018 fiscal year! 2018 could be called the amazing Year of Recognition! On behalf of our LA HIMSS board, I would like to wish all of our chapter members, sponsors, and friends a great summer and an opportunity to take some time off and enjoy a break from the "busyness" of work to relax and spend time doing what you enjoy most!

LA HIMSS was well represented at HIMSS 2018 as we all shared the national recognition for our Chapter and board leadership that was announced in our prior newsletter. That has been followed up by our 2019 board and officer nominations and election. We are pleased to have some new faces in key board roles as well as some familiar faces in new roles for 2019. The board officers for 2019 will be: President, Liz Hartley; Treasurer, Alan Thriffiley; Secretary, Jan Fuller; President Elect, Mark Schroeder; At Large Members, Chad Cothern and Allen Abshire (Sponsorship), and me as Past President. The remaining 2019 board members include: Claudia Miller, Michelle Martin (Professional Development), Nadine Robin, Hank Fanberg (Advocacy), Paul Douglas (Programs), and Bryan Taylor (Communications). We all look forward to continuing to serve the LA Health Information Technology (HIT) community with our programs.

Having been involved in the LA Chapter for nearly 18 years I have had the opportunity to meet and in some cases work with many remarkable people that share an interest in promoting and driving up the use of Information Technology in LA’s Healthcare organizations. Thank you to all the many volunteers that have served and continue to serve in some capacity for the LA Chapter during that span of time. To sustain our chapter and be successful in that endeavor we need additional engagement, new participants, and new ideas from our members. As we prepare to close out our 2018 fiscal year in June I would like to challenge our membership for just 10 of our 380+ members to reach out to one of our current 2018 or upcoming 2019 board members and volunteer approximately two hours of your time a month to get involved with one of our working committees. Maybe it is you that is ready to accept the challenge and join the LA Chapter’s drive to make a difference for the healthcare industry and our state! If enough individuals are willing to contribute a little time, no one should have to contribute a lot of time!

On behalf of the chapter board, thank you for considering and taking action by responding to the challenge! Hope you and your family have a nice Memorial Day weekend and remember to take a minute to thank those who have served or are serving in our military and remember the families of those who have given their lives serving our country!

HIMSS18 Recap

The Louisiana Chapter of HIMSS had an excellent HIMSS18. The chapter was awarded Small Chapter of the Year. On top of that two LaHIMSS board members also won individual awards. Chad Cothern, RN, Past President, won Chapter Leader of the Year and Hank Fanburg, Advocacy Chair, won Chapter Advocate of the Year. Many members of the chapter were able to attend HIMSS18 and celebrate these accomplishments.

HIMSS18 provided the opportunity to network with other chapters. Louisiana HIMSS participated in the communities carnival and chapter leader meetings which provided the opportunity to learn and grow as a chapter. The knowledge brought back from HIMSS18 will help guide the 2019 Louisiana HIMSS board to continue the tradition of excellence that gains LaHIMSS national recognition.

Lousiana Chapter of HIMSS Scholarship Winner

Louisiana Chapter of HIMSS provides assistance to students in the fields of health information technology through the LaHIMSS Chapter Scholarship. The 2018 Scholarship recipient is Suranut Newton. Suranut Newton is currently a student at Louisiana Tech University in the Department of Health Informatics and Information Management. She previously received her associate's degree in medical office administration from Louisiana Delta Community College in Ruston where she graduated as class valedictorian. Suranut worked briefly as a Cerner Go-Live Consultant at Glenwood Regional Medical Center in Monroe, LA, assisting with their conversion to a new electronic medical record system. She is currently employed at Super 1 Foods in Ruston while she pursues her educational goals. Suranut is the mother of two children and plans to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in the summer of 2019. She enjoys working with people and hopes to work in the future improving the quality of care of others.

LaHIMSS and PMI Crawfish Boil

The Louisiana Chapter of HIMSS joined forces with the Baton Rouge and Greater New Orleans chapters of the Project Management Institute for a social crawfish boil on May 15th 2018. The event was held at Walk-Ons in Baton Rouge. Over 50 people attended the event and participated in networking, thought leadership and of course, eating almost 200 pounds of crawfish. The partnership with PMI was fruitful and LaHIMSS is looking forward to more collaborative events in the 2018/2019 year. 

2018 Louisiana Chapter of HIMSS Awards Dinner

On June 28th 2018, Louisiana HIMSS is hosting the 3rd annual LaHIMSS awards ceremony at White Oak Plantation from 6 to 9pm. Awards will be presented in the following categories:

• LaHIMSS Champion of the Year - awarded to a company or organization that has been a champion and supporter of the Louisiana HIMSS chapter
• LaHIMSS Public Servant of the Year – awarded to the government employee or elected official who has made significant contributions to furthering health IT in Louisiana 
• LaHIMSS Clinician of the Year - awarded to a clinician who is a member of the Louisiana chapter of HIMSS and has contributed to the advancement of health IT and the work of the chapter.
• LaHIMSS Member of the Year – Awarded to a member of the Louisiana HIMSS chapter who has contributed to the advancement of health IT and the work of the chapter.

The 3rd annual awards ceremony will provide an opportunity to meet the wonderful winners and network with chapter members. Dinner will be provided by John Folse’s staff at the fabulous White Oak Plantation.  Reserve your seat or VIP table now.