When I recently sat down with instructors: Dr. Steve Datena and Jim Moon CMO and CEO respectively of LifeCom, to discuss the finer points of their curriculum for Technology Innovation and Reality I was once again reminded of why I thought they were the perfect pair to teach this course. It isn't simply because Dr. Datena is a trauma surgeon and Jim has lead very successful technology organizations. But, I appreciate their philosophy about technology and it's relationship to the business and practice of healthcare.
When Jim said, "This isn't about the bits and bytes it's about using technology to improve our healthcare." He talks about the promise, potential and reality of technology.

In last night's management and leadership course taught by Dr. Jim Tuchschmidt, he asked the class, "What as a doctor is my product? What do I do for my patients?" The answer; information. We spent a moment or two discussing the same thing that Dr. Datena had said to me two days earlier: The trouble with this in healthcare now is, that patients can get the information but how do they determine what information is good information. A couple of months ago, I was in my own doctor's office discussing an ailment of mine, and she said, "Now before you go out and read all the stuff on the internet about this, here are the specific facts about your situation."

Jim & Steve have approached the content from two angles (clinical and business) with one goal. They really understand that mid-level managers all across the healthcare industry drive policy and procedures about technology for their organization. The challenge to this is that the mid-level manager has had very little opportunity to learn about technology. This is a course about:

There is still time to register for Technology Innovations & Reality. The schedule is:
Tuesday, April 3 6 - 9 pm.
Tuesday, April 10 6 - 9 pm
Saturday, April 14 noon - 6pm
Tuesday, April 17 6 - 9 pm
Tuesday, April 24 6 - 9 pm click here to register.

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Entire Certificate Discount: If you have any interest in earning the entire certificate, it is worth considering registering for all 6 courses at the same time to save $300 by Registering here. You will automatically be registered for the next 6 classes as they are offered next. The schedule is planned out well in advance to assist you in managing your work schedule.

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So, how is the "Deciphering the Management & Leadership Matrix" class going?

We discussed two case studies based on managing organizational change. One of the case studies was about the VA from 1994 - 1999 under Dr. Ken Kizer's leadership. The conversation was really interesting especially since we are reading about the VA so much in the media today. Jim had such a clear way to review the case and allow us to reflect on our own business practices. How do we define our competitive strategy given internal and external influences and then turn it into actionable, measurable goals and objectives?
Sometimes the measure of student interest is whether they run out the door when it is over or stay around and chat. There was definitely some lingering after last night's class!

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Technology Innovations and Reality
Jim Moon, MSEE, Chief Executive Officer and Steve Datena, MD., President and Chief Medical Officer, Lifecom. Begins 4/3/07.
Registration open.

Healthcare Economic Trends and Impact, Allan Weiland, MD. Former President and Chair, NW Permanente, PC and former Regional Medical Director, Kaiser Permanente NW. Begins 5/1/07. Registration open.

Cause-and-Effect Connections between Quality and Efficiency, Brenda Bruns, MD, MSMgt., Chief Medical Officer, Health Net Health Plan of Oregon. Begins 10/2/07.

Maintaining the Financial Health of a Healthcare Organization, Bill Kramer, CEO, Kramer Consulting. Begins 11/13/07.

Culturally Competent Patient Centered Care James Mason, PhD., Director, Office of Multicultural Health Oregon Department of Human Services. TBA Winter 2008

Deciphering the Management & Leadership Matrix Jim Tuchschmidt, MD, MM, Director, Portland VA Medical Center. TBA Winter 2008