The annual MGMA conference gives medical practices an opportunity to learn, collaborate and network with peers. Always Forward was the theme for this year’s conference held in Las Vegas last week. With that tagline in mind, we sat down and interviewed key executives from companies and organizations exhibiting at the conference. Our questions were framed around interoperability, ICD-10, population health management, mobile health and other topics the health IT community will continue to tackle as we head into 2015.
In talking with Greg White, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Allscripts TouchWorks business unit, Greg shared his thoughts on how open platform systems are key to advancing interoperability. He points out that while the concept of interoperability has been around for decades, we’ll never have one common system or data base collecting all of the information for everyone to see. Interoperability relies on an open platform philosophy that avoids silos, allowing data to move freely both into and out of the EHR. In cases where the company has yet to develop solutions within the care cycle or in specialty areas, the company gives their development partners access to their platform and data to create these applications to function along side Allscripts products.
We also asked Greg how the average practice is incorporating mobile health. Sharing an anecdote about a physician neighbor, Greg said he views mobile apps as a utilitarian companion, giving the physician flexibility as they use various applications throughout the work day or on off hours.
View the full interview
On Allscripts company blog, It Takes a Community, you can read Greg’s latest post, Top 5 Updates on Allscripts TouchWorks EHR.