We use third-party cookies in order to personalize your experience.
Read our Privacy Policy.
Innovation to me means continually improving. Health IT innovation can either be a big leap ahead or be small iterations that set the stage for a jump forward. A novel idea can improve how the world has done something throughout history – the ice machine, electronic health records – but innovation rarely springs out of nowhere. Innovation relies on and builds onthe concepts and components available. Healthcare IT constantly seeks ways to improve our world through better and more efficient care.
I would love to see more interoperability that benefits patient care. The cottage-industry basis of health delivery has delivered many benefits from the competition that spurs innovation, but has also created a lot of unique systems, vocabularies, and data sets that make it challenging to exchange data easily. We are innovating to standardize, normalize, and make data accessible to the healthcare continuum parties that need it. We need to keep driving that forward.
I have always loved health sciences and medicine but wanted to impact healthcare beyond the walls of a clinic. When I started my career I worked in life sciences, at the lab bench, studying infectious disease and then supported instrumentation, reagents, and consumables toward better medicine. Similarly, healthcareIT is close to the patient but can introduce change at scale. As a passion atecontributor to technology products, I can expand my patient impact because softwareis an incredible lever for change. It helps reduce errors, accelerateprocesses, and improve patient care on a massive scale.
The biggest challenge in healthcare is how to best use resources in a challenging economic environment. Technology is available to improve care,but cost pressures are high as the healthcare system supports chronically ill, economically challenged communities and increased supply costs. These economic pressures make it challenging for leaders to implement all their desired improvements. Vendors, like ELLKAY, must help enable them to accelerate their technology and business roadmaps.
Be your authentic self. As women continue to break barriers in healthcare and IT, we can bring various perspectives, personalities, thought processes, and leadership styles that come naturally to us. You don’t need to change who you are or conform to a certain typecast to succeed. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone. ELLKAY employment is comprised of 51% women, yet women are still the minority in most IT settings. You may find yourself being the only woman in a boardroomand question the sound of your own voice – but speak up for your perspectives anyway. You may doubt yourself as an expert but say yes to giving that presentation. You may worry that you aren’t up to the task but take on that new assignment. While pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, remember to self-advocate and ask for help from trusted advisors when you need it.
.png){kind=logo}
