Ahead of the HIMSS12 Health IT Conference and Exhibition in February, we would like to introduce two new members of the TIBCO healthcare team. We’re thrilled to announce the addition of Ted DellaVecchia and Gary Ferguson, who as TIBCO’s top healthcare strategists, not only have the vision, but also the know-how to help usher in transformative changes that will profoundly improve the way healthcare organizations interact with information and patients in the 21st century.
Ted DellaVecchia specializes in effectively linking business operations with advanced and innovative information technology solutions. Prior to TIBCO, Ted was managing partner at the consultancy Strategic Alignment Partners and served as CIO of three multi-billion BlueCross BlueShield health insurance companies where he restructured IT divisions and executed transformational enterprise strategies.
Gary Ferguson holds a doctorate in pharmacology and has deep expertise in starting, leading, and turning around healthcare IT organizations. Most recently he was managing director of Health Communications Exchange, where he consulted and served as a board member for healthcare technology enabled services companies.
We asked Gary and Ted to share their ideas and vision for the healthcare IT space; below is an excerpt of that conversation.
Q: Gary, how do you see the role of IT in improving the healthcare industry as we move further into the decade?
Gary Ferguson: Healthcare organizations are embracing the need for rapid transformation and information transparency among all stakeholders as the industry changes from fee for service to value based reimbursement. Advanced clinical systems, electronic medical records, remote monitoring devices, cell phones, mobile devices, etc., have contributed to an explosion of healthcare information, creating data rich, yet information poor institutions. Now, more than ever payers, hospitals, and providers must be armed with accessible, appropriate data to improve performance based on quality and cost indicators. Information systems will need to provide real-time data—in context—in order to facilitate coordination at the point of care, with the ultimate goal of achieving disease prevention, health promotion, and shared decision making. Those organizations that adopt real-time data solutions will reduce costs and improve the quality of care, and not just for today, but also in preparation for new and emerging healthcare delivery models.
Q: Ted, you have led major healthcare IT organizations through transformative change. What are some of the most important lessons you learned along the way?
Ted DellaVecchia: IT organizations in healthcare enterprises need to get on a much more predictable path to delivering business value. It’s about supporting the corporate strategy and putting together a roadmap—what you want to deliver on a high-frequency basis, and breaking down large, long-term deliverables into smaller projects that deliver value continuously. This way, the business will have much more faith in that the IT organization will continue to deliver. If you deliver value in business terms early and often and on a predictable basis, organizations can adopt the solutions you’re deploying. This strategy has worked everywhere I’ve worked, whether it’s WellPoint or CareFirst. And that’s how we’re going to approach the transformation of the industry. We’re going to make sure all the players in the ecosystem win and help create a symbiotic relationship between the value-chain partners so that the cost of care is lower and everyone saves money and everyone’s able to share data to improve clinical outcomes and the overall patient experience.
Q: A question for the both of you: With your background and experience, you could do anything you wanted… why were you attracted to TIBCO?
Gary Ferguson: TIBCO is one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial software companies in the world. TIBCO’s dedication to healthcare and the deployment of its industry-leading technology in combination with its passionate associates was one of the many reasons I found TIBCO to be such a compelling opportunity. Healthcare is transforming rapidly and TIBCO has the opportunity to be at the nexus of this change. Deploying 21st century technology to solve 20th century problems that have plagued the healthcare industry for decades will lead healthcare in this data-driven transformation. Mobilizing data in real time, by using in-memory computing rather than being constrained by data which is cubed and clustered in large data warehouses represents a real game changer in healthcare. It is exciting to be able to contribute in a meaningful way to the transformation of healthcare and I look forward to partnering with thought leaders and innovative healthcare organizations to affect this vision.
Ted DellaVecchia: In the past, I have leveraged TIBCO solutions and services to transform major enterprises. For example, at WellPoint, prior to the Anthem merger, the company was facing a burgeoning balance sheet that reflected duplicative assets from the various mergers and acquisitions, which was their business strategy at the time. We utilized TIBCO software to transform the organization’s asset base from a technology perspective and delivered tangible business results. These included not only major cost savings and return on IT investment but our implementations also fuelled the business strategy, allowing the company to operate at a more rapid pace. My thoughts on how successful I have been in the past to leverage TIBCO solutions to transform businesses puts us now on a path to transform the entire healthcare industry. I believe TIBCO’s products, people, services, and momentum is the right platform to go forward with. Together, we have a shared mission to be the catalyst to transform the industry. There is no better software company to work with today to address the challenges in healthcare.
To learn more about TIBCO’s solutions for healthcare, stop by our exhibit (Booth #3571 at the HIMSS12 Health IT Conference and Exhibition, February 20-24 in Las Vegas, or contact Mary Molaskey at MMolaske@TIBCO.com or 928-775-4225.
