Dan O'Mahoney

What to Look for in Your Next EMR Selecting a new EMR? Here are must-have capabilities for a smoother transition and long-term success: · End-to-end clinical workflows · Interoperability · Advanced reporting and analytics · Scalable, cloud-ready architecture · User-friendly design · Reliable vendor support Don’t just replace your system, upgrade your future. #EMR #HealthcareIT #CPSItransition #RCM #HealthTech

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CMS’ latest clarification on telehealth rules is an important reminder of how quickly the regulatory environment can shift, and how ready our systems need to be when it does. For healthcare leaders, the update reinforces a few priorities: • Maintain clear governance structures for virtual care workflows • Ensure documentation and billing processes stay aligned with federal guidance • Support clinicians with tools and training that keep the care experience consistent across in-person and virtual settings Telehealth continues to be a critical access point for many patients. Strong policy alignment helps organizations deliver that care safely and reliably. #HealthcareIT #Telehealth #Medicare

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Healthcare’s Digital Future with AI: Today's Reality As CIO at Sanford Health, I recently had the opportunity to participate in AVIA’s Digital Innovation Leaders Event on the impact of AI in healthcare. The topics spanned far beyond the buzzwords, diving into how we operationalize digital strategies, personalize patient experiences, and define true value in ways that are realized, sustainable and scalable. Key takeaways: Agentic AI — the fusion of automation (RPA), intelligence (ML), and reasoning (GenAI) — is reshaping the way we think about talent shortages and advancement in patient care. We must evaluate its potential, and where it does and does not belong in healthcare. Not everything needs Agentic AI, but many things can benefit from it that we may not initially think, especially in rural healthcare. Digital is no longer optional. It is here (both in rural and metro areas), and you are part of it whether you want to or not. Experiences like specialty virtual care, patient self-scheduling, remote monitoring and digitally-augmented nursing, are becoming baseline expectations for patients and caregivers. To realize true digital value, you need deep linkage and involvement from the caregivers and operators actually doing the front-line work every day. Raw technology, without human context, guidance, and expertise, can and will create unintended outcomes. We must lead with clarity and an all-inclusive mindset. Digital is not just the job for a few with “digital” in their job title. Every service line needs a digital plan and champion. When every expense dollar counts and talent shortages abound, we may not be able to add all the FTE we would like — but we can now consider investment in digital FTEs to enable top of license productivity from our core team and expert staff. The time is now. Clay Holderman, MBA made an eye-opening comment that we are closer to the Silver Tsunami than we are from the start of COVID. Let that sink in for a minute. As 2030 approaches and Medicare’s demographic shift accelerates, we must act today to position our workflows, systems, infrastructure, and strategies for the next generation of healthcare. Scalability and efficiency will take on a whole new meaning as the number of high-needs patients increase, and care givers decrease. If we don't prepare and implement change now, we will quickly be on our heels. In rural America, the aging population is increasing at a faster rate, and the care giver shortages are more pronounced. Automation and AI will be a necessity for sustaining world class healthcare in every zip code. Bottom-line, AI and automation are not just technical tools — they are a catalyst and necessity for clinical and business advancement, and soon (if not already) will be ubiquitous. As healthcare leaders in the age of AI, we need to make sure we are asking the right questions, willing to step outside our box, setting the right guardrails, and driving forward with purpose and focus.

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🚧 What’s Holding Back Operational Clarity in Healthcare IT? In my experience, some of the biggest barriers to achieving operational clarity in healthcare IT come down to three core challenges: 🔹 Misaligned priorities 🔹 Fragmented systems 🔹 Communication gaps Healthcare organizations bring together diverse stakeholders clinicians, administrators, IT teams,vendors and payers each with different goals and ways of working. Without shared understanding and alignment, even the best IT projects can miss the mark on what really supports frontline care. System fragmentation is another major hurdle. When EHRs, CRMs,Central data KPIs repository, scheduling platforms, and even patient-facing technologies like portals, apps, and kiosks don’t talk to each other (or worse, present conflicting data), it becomes nearly impossible to achieve a single source of truth. That lack of cohesion makes it difficult to streamline workflows, measure outcomes, or deliver a seamless patient experience. Add to that the communication gap between clinical and technical teams, and you often end up with missed requirements, delayed implementations, and poor adoption. Solving this isn’t just about deploying better tools it’s about building trust, embedding collaboration, and aligning technology with real care delivery needs. 📌 Key barriers we often face: • Data silos and system fragmentation (including patient-facing tech) • Legacy infrastructure • Lack of standardized workflows • Resistance to change • Insufficient training and change management • Regulatory and data privacy constraints • Poor coordination between vendors affecting integration timelines Achieving clarity in healthcare IT isn’t a technology problem alone — it’s a people, process, and culture challenge. 💬 What barriers have you encountered in your organization, and how are you addressing them? #HealthcareIT #DigitalHealth #OperationalExcellence #HealthTech #Leadership #HospitalIT #PatientExperience #Interoperability #ChangeManagement #DataDrivenCare

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The future of pharmacy benefits isn’t just about managing costs. It’s about creating smarter strategies that deliver better customer experience.   At Optum Rx, we’re using AI to help clients move beyond reactive decisions and toward proactive, data-driven planning. By turning insights into action, we’re enabling organizations to design plans that align with their goals and adapt to changing trends.   Listen to my full interview to learn more about how AI is shaping the next era of pharmacy benefits: https://optum.co/w0wuqy

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Connecting Care: The Future of Electronic Health Care Records (EHCRs) Electronic Health Care Records are becoming increasingly vital in modern healthcare, with implementations at various stages across many regions. The focus is now shifting towards connecting these records to provide a more comprehensive view of patient information. This endeavor, however, brings forth numerous challenges and questions, including understanding the current landscape, the maturity of existing systems, clinical needs, and the roles of standards and various initiatives. The maturity of shared care records varies significantly across regions, with some having sophisticated systems and others still in early stages. A key indicator of maturity is the extent of connectivity and the availability of crucial datasets like End of Life, Maternity, GP, Social Care and Acute. Establishing interoperability within regions presents the biggest challenge but also offers the greatest benefits, as most interactions occur within a region. The "last mile" of connecting datasets is a slow and complex process but is essential for future progress. It's important to recognize that many of the NHS England national systems will need to be replaced within the next 5 years. Therefore, the current vision looks ahead to 2035, anticipating a complete transformation of the systems used to deliver a single EHCR. This will be an evolutionary process rather than an abrupt overhaul. Standards are crucial for creating an open, vendor-agnostic sharing infrastructure. While basic technical standards like FHIR, OpenEHR and IHE are well-established, ensuring compatibility between datasets is equally important. National bodies play a key role in managing a portfolio of proven standards, including FHIR, IHE, OpenEHR, JSON, JWT/SSL/REST, and PRSB. A National Backbone is essential to connect care records, facilitate data retrieval, and enable standards conversion. This backbone doesn't necessarily need to be a large, centralised system; a devolved approach based on standards and APIs is feasible. An evolutionary approach, starting simple and growing based on use-cases, is advisable to minimise the complexity and cost of national projects. This will also enabling patient choice in sharing and professional and patient access via the NHS app. Key priorities for the future of EHCR include: "Levelling Up" EHCRs: Improving data quality and supporting less advanced regions to ensure universal connectivity. Data Standards: Developing detailed, use-case driven data standards to ensure usability of shared data. Advanced Shared Care Record Proof of Concepts: Trialling advanced sharing functionalities International Patient Summary. National Backbone: Incremental development of a minimalistic National Backbone to support core data sharing functions. In conclusion, the journey to a fully integrated system will be evolutionary, requiring sustained effort and collaboration across various stakeholders.

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Oracle Health just dropped a from-scratch, AI-driven, voice-first EHR for ambulatory care — not an upgrade, not a patch — a full rebuild on Oracle Cloud. This move raises two big questions: - Can Oracle keep its current customers from jumping ship? - Will targeting ambulatory care & smaller hospitals (vs. large AMCs) prove a smarter entry point — especially when bundling EMR + ERP?

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We need a more streamlined way to answer the question, "If a provider performed a healthcare service for a patient, would the health plan authorize payment?" Too many paper pushers are involved in a high-stakes game of Mother-May-I, and patients suffer waiting around for permission to receive care.   When asked publicly, everyone says that automating health plan's prior authorization decisions would be amazing for provider organizations, health plans, and patients. Why then is adoption so low?   Here are four reasons I could come up with: ⏳ The implementation deadline still seems a ways off - The CMS Interop and Prior Authorization Rule requires that health plans have a prior auth API in place by Jan 1, 2027, and providers eligible for the MIPS government program must be able to request prior auth electronically by the same date. Other priorities may seem more pressing. Some payers may be hoping this rule gets pushed off a couple years, but it's going to happen eventually, and getting the technology in place and testing it will take time. 20%-30% of people are chronic procrastinators, even when putting off a project will have negative consequences.   🤔 Confusion around the EHRs' proprietary products - Some EHRs are working on proprietary products with prior auth functionality and selling them to health plans. The problem is that these products will only meet a provider's prior auth needs if all that provider's health plans purchase the platform. If any of a provider's health plans choose not to buy it, then that provider will also need to a payer-agnostic solution. Sadly, many providers mistakenly believe the EHRs will solve prior auth for them.   🙅 No viable products in the market today - I don't know of any prior auth products that can be easily embedded in certified EHRs and that are already connected to multiple health plans. Some provider organizations are waiting to pull the trigger on prior auth functionality until a product with multiple connections to payers is in place. I hear Cognizant has a payer-agnostic app in the works, which is exciting because they are already connected to over 80% of the health plans.   🤖 Few health plans have the technology in place today - To streamline the process, the providers' prior auth apps must be able to connect to their health plans, but the plans do not have their systems in place yet. Why not? Well, some health plan executives are wary that automating prior authorization could lead to more approved healthcare services for their members, which could hurt their bottom lines. Digitizing health plan policies to authorize payment for healthcare services also takes time. Because modernizing prior auth is complicated and comes with some risk, some payers are putting it off until the compliance deadline gets closer. So, what do you think? Are there other good reasons for us to keep prior auth in the 1900s? #PriorAuthorization #FHIR #HL7

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One thing I missed when contributing to Becker's article (written by Naomi Diaz) on generative AI's impact on CIOs is that we need to monitor the organization's spending on generative AI tools. At TidalHealth, when we add up our Copilot licenses for Microsoft business applications, DAX for our providers, and Epic generative AI fees for chart summary, we will cross the $1 million mark this year. Nursing ambient documentation will soon jump on the list. We won't be live on Workday for another 17 months, but that will add some more to the total spend when we factor in their tools.

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𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵...𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 In #healthcare, “technology enablement” gets thrown around a lot. We talk about new EHRs, cloud migrations, AI-driven analytics, and interoperability, but too often, the underlying challenge isn’t technology at all. It’s 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. In a fast-growing, provider services organization, especially one backed by private equity, the noise is endless. Every region, practice, and business unit has “must-have” projects. Every vendor has a “transformational” solution. And every executive sees tech as the key to efficiency, growth, and compliance. But without a disciplined framework for deciding 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵, the very tools meant to enable the organization end up diluting its focus and wreak havoc on teams. True enablement doesn’t mean giving every department every tech solution they want. It means enabling the 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 to operate more effectively, securely, and intelligently. That requires saying “no” often and decisively. If a solution doesn’t tie directly to better outcomes, reduced friction, or improved decision-making, it’s probably not enablement. Great technology leaders know that every “yes” carries an opportunity cost. The hard part isn’t choosing between good and bad ideas, it’s choosing between 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. That’s where prioritization becomes both an art and a science. Prioritization is how leadership transforms ambition into execution. It forces clarity, builds alignment, and earns credibility with both the C-suite and front-line operators. Without governance, prioritization doesn’t stick. Governance gives structure to decision-making and ensures technology investments remain visible, measurable, and accountable. It defines who decides, how they decide, and what “success” looks like. Good governance is not bureaucracy. It’s the oxygen that allows innovation to breathe safely and sustainably. The best tech leaders don’t define success by the number of systems deployed or projects completed. They define it by 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, i.e., better care, smarter operations, stronger outcomes. Enablement isn’t about acceleration. It’s about direction. Technology enablement in healthcare isn’t about chasing innovation, it’s about harnessing it with precision and intent. When 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 work hand-in-hand, technology stops being a cost center and becomes a force multiplier. It aligns teams, strengthens execution, and ensures that every dollar of investment contributes to better care and smarter growth. Because in healthcare, it’s not the organizations with 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 technology that win, it’s the ones that know 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵. #technology #innovation

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Some of the most effective change I’ve led happened without a program name, a logo, or a project plan. It started with a conversation, a pain point, and a quick win. Start small. Prove value. Build momentum.

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Jennifer P. and Victoria Pereira, PMP presented at the #MUSEInspire conference today on how we are applying change management practices and methodologies to drive the successful adoption for our Computerized Provider (CPOM) Order Management project at both Southlake Health and Stevenson Memorial Hospital. We have used the term CPOM and not CPOE as we also recognize the need to tackle other upstream and downstream workflow implications and not shy away from them.

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Excited to see Northwestern Medicine’s IS Department well represented at this year’s GIC HIMSS Innovation Conference. Brian Griffin, our Chief Information Security Executive at NM, will be delivering the keynote session, focusing on cybersecurity. Brian will share insights on how CISOs and their security teams must balance clinical and operational business needs while accelerating innovation and adopting emerging technologies. These are crucial conversations we need to be having across the industry. If you are attending, I encourage you to join Brian's session, ask questions, and engage in the discussion.

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Observability is becoming one of the most important capabilities in hospital IT today. It becomes important because healthcare tech is getting smarter and harder to secure as AI, IoT, and cloud systems expand. And it helps hospitals get a clear, real-time view of what’s happening across every system, not just the alerts on the surface, but the behaviour underneath. With that level of visibility, hospitals don’t just respond to problems. They stay ahead of them. Once hospitals gain that deeper, real-time visibility, three things improve almost instantly: Cyber security: Early signs of unusual logins or suspicious activity become visible faster, helping teams stop threats before they spread. Compliance: Audit trails, access logs, and performance records stay organised and ready, reducing the pressure during regulatory checks. Resilience: IT teams can find root causes quickly, prevent downtime, and keep critical hospital systems running smoothly. But observability isn’t just a tool. It helps hospitals build trust, make better decisions, and protect patient safety with more confidence. As hospitals continue to evolve, the leaders will be the ones who make observability a core part of their digital strategy, not as an add-on, but as a foundation for secure, reliable, patient-centered care. #observability #healthcareIT #cybersecurity #digitalhealth #smarthospitals #itresilience

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