Message from the President

Welcome to HIMSS WA 2022! I just came back from a busy week at the HIMSS Global Conference, and I can’t tell you how excited I am moving forward. Despite the pandemic, HIMSS WA has continued to make things stronger and better for the Healthcare IT community in Washington. Let me share a few highlights!

Our local Chapter’s long-term goal is to encourage greater participation from our provider organizations. A few years ago, our local Chapter was primarily a local association of vendors, with providers participating at the Global conference, but not locally. Our board and leadership from past presidents have committed to changing provider participation and focus.

Our board is investing in growing participation at events, but also increasing value and participation on our local board and committees. The reason is twofold. First and foremost, HIMSS exists to improve healthcare outcomes. We can’t do this without provider organizations. Secondly, vendors who bring creative and impactful solutions to healthcare cannot make an impact without engaging in conversations and working with our providers.

This past election, we were able to install IT leaders – CIOs, CNIOs and Directors – to our board from Confluence, Overlake, UW Medicine, Proliance Surgeons, Optum and Seattle Children’s. We are rebooting our CXO Advisory group, led by IT leaders for IT leaders. Our Membership Chair is expanding our influence through conversations across the state. We are also seeing deeper participation through our events as well. This is a great time to become involved with HIMSS WA!

At an event level, we have seen excellent participation in our Women in IT series. Our Informatics Committee is also putting together many exciting events that will hit our calendar shortly. Our Program and Communications Chairs are doing an awesome job keeping virtual events on the schedule throughout the pandemic. As pandemic restrictions have been lifting, we also look forward to in-person events and hybrid formats.

I am proud to report that throughout the pandemic, we have continued to provide scholarships for students in Healthcare IT each year. Our Scholarship and Student Engagement Committee Chair Jen Garcia has done a great job shepherding this work. Last year, we began a new relationship with the Micro Pathways program that provides an entry for marginalized groups that may never have considered attending college or being involved in Healthcare IT. Through this program, students are prepared for their first job in Healthcare IT. They also have a path to get their AA and further degrees while earning a family living wage.  This year we have expanded our contribution to provide a full scholarship for one student for their first year. HIMSS WA is making a difference in families. This couldn’t happen without your support through memberships and sponsorships.

Join this positive force in Washington. Provider, vendor, or student, we have a place for you to participate. I look forward to meeting each of you soon!

Dwayne Neufeld

President, HIMSS Washington Chapter

Student Engagement

HIMSS Washington 2022 Scholarship Application Period Opens April 1st

On March 1st the Washington Chapter of the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) announced its 2022 Scholarship Program to help educate the next generation of healthcare professionals.

HIMSS WA is collaborating with local organizations and Seattle colleges to help students meet the financial commitments of a healthcare science, technology, business, and public policy education and to encourage industry mentoring and networking.

Scholarship applications are open from April 1st, 2022- April 30th, 2022. The last day for applications is April 30th, 2022. For more information on our Scholarship Program and the Scholarship Application, visit our website.

Award recipients will be notified in mid-May, followed by a celebration event in early June in honor of the scholarship recipients.

Scholarship Recipient, Karen L. Jenkins, RN

Currently, I am enrolled in Bellevue College’s Healthcare Informatics BAS program and will graduate with honors in June 2022. Winning the HIMSS WA Chapter Undergraduate Scholarship Award in 2021 gave me the confidence and the opportunity to ‘accelerate’ in healthcare informatics. I am the founder and Co-Chair of Bellevue College’s student run organization, the  Society of Healthcare Informaticists: Network and Educate or S.H.I.N.E., designed to aid in networking and educating fellow healthcare informatics (HCI) students, and allowing us the opportunity to collaborate with HIMSS WA Chapter and other HCI organizations in our community. In addition, I am a HIMSS student member, an AMIA member, an AHIMA member, a Transforming-Lives nominee, an honor society member, and a member of the Perfect Score club.

Member Spotlight

Scott Waters, Chief Information and Technology Officer at Overlake Hospital

Hello fellow HIMSS members and Health IT Professionals! Did you know that everyone serving on the HIMSS WA Board of Directors are volunteers? Every event hosted by this chapter was organized, coordinated, and presented to you by your peers and other members like you. They have varying backgrounds, experiences, and responsibilities in their professional lives. They may be hospitalists, clinicians, salespeople, engineers, executives, or students. Although each has a different background, profession, and perspective, there are two things they all have in common: they work in health information technology, and they show up ready to give back to this community. Thank you to all our volunteers.

Today, we are highlighting one of our valued volunteers, Scott Waters, Chief Information and Technology Officer at Overlake Hospital. Scott has been a HIMSS member since 2015 and began volunteering for the Washington Chapter in or around 2019. He started by participating in the CXO advisory board and now serves as a member-at-large. His perspective, advice and guidance has been instrumental in the development of our chapter programs and events. We are honored and delighted to have him as a member and value his insight and perspective as a volunteer.

So, who is Scott Waters the person? What does he do when he is not volunteering or doing what executives do? We wanted to know too, so we asked him. This is what we found: music is a huge part of Scott's life. Although he does not play any instruments today, he has always wanted to learn how to play his favorite songs on a ukulele. Since we would love to hear his most recent musical endeavors, maybe there will be ukulele lessons in his future? He is an outdoorsman and hiking and running the trails are two of his favorite activities. And when he gets 30 minutes of free time, yes it happens, he heads right out the door for a short run. If that does not work, he feeds his curiosity by listening to podcasts. We think the Pacific Northwest was made for him!

Now you know a little about Scott the person, let’s hear a little from Scott the executive. He predicts that in 2022, “the term Digital Transformation will continue to be “the” buzz word that is most overused, least well defined, and most difficult to do well. That being said, healthcare needs to transform digitally to meet the needs of the patients, providers and staff.” And, when asked what innovative project he was most proud of, he shared with us that he was “most proud of the way they were able to respond quickly to the needs of the organization to move care and work to virtual solutions as the pandemic began to unfold. Two years later, we continue to keep agility as a proven competency that we utilize daily in our evaluation and deployment of technology solutions.” This was most certainly, a difficult feat and something to be very proud of.  

We’ve learned a little about Scott Waters the person and the executive, but now we are curious why he chose to become a HIMSS member and volunteer. Our curiosity got the best of us which is why we asked him why he chose to get involved with the HIMSS WA Chapter. Scott answered with “I am passionate about applying technology in a way that improves healthcare. The HIMSS mission is one that supports that passion and being involved in my local chapter is the best way for me to work on things that will impact my community.” We are thankful for Scott’s passion! What about the personal and professional impact volunteering provides? Each volunteer has their own perspective on this, but many would agree with Scott who shared: “We have so many intelligent, motivated, and cool people who are members of HIMSS WA. I learn something every time we meet and at every HIMSS event I attend. It is so important to build a network of people who bring different experiences, expertise and perspectives but that are focused in the same direction as you.” If the HIMSS WA Chapter were a person, it would be blushing right now!  

Scott, you are valued as a person, a professional, a member, and a volunteer. Your passion, perspective, and dedication to making healthcare better is inspiring and your insightful contribution has been instrumental in how we support HIMSS WA members. We are honored to have you as a part of our community and thank you for sharing your passion and leadership with us. You are appreciated.

Call for Volunteers

Get Involved and Join a HIMSS WA Committee

Did you know that the HIMSS Washington Chapter has a variety of committees that help shape our programming and education sessions? These volunteer committees are a great way to network with other professionals and help shape our events. The typical committee member volunteers about 2-4 hours a month either remotely or in person. Current committees include Clinical Informatics, Women in IT, Student Engagement, Cybersecurity, Programs, Sponsorship, Communications. Ready to volunteer? Sign up now!

Take it from Scott Waters:

It [volunteering with HIMSS WA] is definitely worth your investment of time.  The value you will receive far exceeds the time commitment.  The more time you invest the more you will get out of it.

HIMSS WA provides a critical service to our Health IT community.  Educational opportunities, professional networking, community involvement are just a few of the areas.

Event Recap

Rewatch or catch up on our events on our YouTube channel.

Growing the Ranks of Female Executives in Healthcare 
February 24, 2022

Patrice Wolfe, CEO, AGS Health, shares her insights on women, their journey in leadership and how we can drive greater executive diversity.  WATCH

Crisis as a Catalyst for Change
November 17, 2021

Sri Bharadwaj of Franciscan Alliance on how the pandemic has evolved both the provider community and patients to innovate care for the future. WATCH

The Patient & Customer Engagement Experience
August 31, 2021

How organizations have used technology to support their patients throughout their health journeys. WATCH

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Advocacy Corner

HIMSS Co-Leads Letter to Congress Urging Permanent Comprehensive Telehealth Reform

More than 360 organizations have signed a letter co-led by HIMSS urging Congressional leadership to chart a path forward for comprehensive, permanent telehealth reform.

The healthcare and industry organizations are seeking certainty — on behalf of patients and U.S. healthcare providers — that necessary telehealth flexibilities tied to the duration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) won’t suddenly disappear when the PHE declaration ultimately expires.

Read Full Article

Call for Sponsors

If you are a technology vendor, manufacturer or consultant and have a product or service that enhances, supports or transforms the way providers and payers deliver better care to patients or staff, then don’t miss this opportunity to share your story! Our Healthcare technology members have told us that they are interested in learning innovative ways to improve the healthcare delivery experience using technologies such as:

APPLY NOW

MORE INFORMATION

Upcoming Events

Post-Graduation: How do I find a job?  … And other students' questions about what comes next!

April 13, 2022, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Online

Join us for a panel discussion of recent informatics graduates sharing their experiences post program, all about their job finding process and lessons learned!

The HIMSS WA Student Engagement Committee and Bellevue College’s SHINE student organization are cohosting this special event, featuring recent informatics program graduates as they discuss: 

1. What steps they took to find a job
2. Their current job role
3. Where to look and...
4. Other lessons they learned along the way!

Panelists:

Phung Matthews, PharmD, MS, FAA, FCG Clinical Analyst 3M	Kristina D. Salas, MS Practitioner Liaison Specialist UW Medicine	Nellie Ratsamee Data Coordinator II Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

REGISTER

Women in IT Series

Fireside Chat: Leadership Musings with Tabitha

March 30, 2022, 4:00 - 5:30 pm

Tabitha Lieberman, CHCIO, SVP Information Services, Clinical and Revenue Cycle Applications at Providence St. Joseph Health, shares a candid and personal story about overcoming obstacles, breaking down barriers and building a purposeful career.

MORE INFO

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Career Path to Leadership 

April 21, 2022, 3:00 - 4:30 pm

Varying perspectives, thoughts, and insights on the steps, tools, and mind-set for a career as an HIT Leader.

Panelists:

Rose Field, MD  VP of Informatics and CMIO Eisenhower Medical Center	Whende M. Carroll, MSN, RN-BC, FHIMSS Founder Nurse Evolution
Joyce Sensmeier MS, RN-BC, FHIMSS, FAAN Senior Advisor, Informatics HIMSS	Tabitha Lieberman SVP Information Services, Clinical and Revenue Cycle Applications Providence St Joseph Health

MORE INFO

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