If Health IT Were a Movie in 2012

11 pipers pipingHealth IT Through Movies

Day 11 of our 12 Days of Christmas Posts we look to Hollywood for inspiration as we pipe up about some of the biggest  health It and healthcare stories of the year. Click the title links to read up on each movie at IMDB.com.

The CampaignThe Campaign. The real 2012 Presidential debates were almost as contentious as those from this comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. No question Obama’s re-election was the biggest story of the year, cementing his vision for changing healthcare as Obamacare (ACA) takes effect.

The HobittACA: An Unexpected Journey. The road to the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act took a surprising turn when Chief Justice John Roberts vote led to a final tally of 5-4 in favor of upholding the 2010 2.6 trillion bill to overhaul our healthcare system. A bit of wizardry and magic here.

Pitch PerfectPitch Perfect. Like the title of this gem of a musical comedy, ONC’s Farzad Mostashari was near perfect on his delivery this year. Whether addressing audiences at various conferences or testifying about the results of meaningful use on Capitol Hill his message was sweet music to our ears.

Marvel's the AvengersOIG’s The Avengers. We’re not sure if the people who work for the Office of the Inspector General are super heroes or not. We do know they are on a mission to ensure tighter oversight of EHR incentive payments.  Plus, we had to find a way to work in the biggest grossing movie of the year.

Cloud AtlasCloud Healthcare. Like the drama starring Tom Hanks, Hallie Berry, much of healthcare in the cloud is murky. Cloud computing is still maturing and many wonder if it is ready for a highly regulated industry like healthcare. Lack of standards and issues of security cloud the issue of, well, the cloud. Time will tell.

The WatchACO Watch. Unlike the poor showing of this comedy starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, we’re all watching to see how accountable care organizations will fare headed in to 2013. Do yourself a favor, read Gregg Master’s blog of the same name and save yourself the rental fee on the move.

The five year enagementThe Five-Year Engagement. What does this romantic comedy with Emily Blount and Jason Segel have in common with health it?  Can you say HITECH Act? Yep, we’re now 3 years in to our own 5-year engagement with HITECH and all signs point to it leading to a happy marriage. Like the movie. Nice.

Safe House

Safe House. Ryan Reynolds couldn’t keep Denzel Washington safe, or contained for that matter,  in this crime thriller. The movie’s tagline? No one is safe. Data breaches are on the rise. The largest breach incident of 2012 proved to be one of the largest data breaches on record when the Utah Department of Health was hacked in April. Close to 780,000 records were impacted by the breach.

One for the MoneyOne for the Money. So the typical health IT job isn’t quite like being a bounty hunter a la Stephanie Plum but we like the analogy of a former lingerie department clerk getting the training she needs to excel in what can only be characterized as a niche industry.  Workers looking to enter the hot health IT employment market will need training too, albeit a lot less dangerous. Skip this movie and read the book instead.

12 Days of Christmas Posts

Day 1: No Reindeer Games Here – It’s a Health IT Sledfest
Day 2: A Year of Health Information Technology on Twitter
Day 3: Health IT Business News Wrap-Up – EHR Vendors
Day 4: Health Information Technology Year End List of Lists
Day 5: A Year of Healthcare Podcasts
Day 6: ONC Highlights – Year in Review
Day 7: Health IT Education Programs in the New Year
Day 8: Shining a Light on Biggest Health IT Topics in 2012
Day 9: Top Health IT Groups on LinkedIn
Day 10: Health It Business News Wrap-up – Health IT Stocks