The view from the floor
As in the past, there is no shortage of companies here exhibiting innovative AI/Machine Learning offerings and capabilities in the cloud. “Big Data” is still alive and well.
What’s just as interesting to my eyes, however, is the number of companies trying to do robust data generation or collection at the edge — the “last mile” of healthcare delivery, so to speak.
This is no doubt due in large part to COVID, but I also like to think it’s part of building a more equitable and humane healthcare delivery system.
From old standbys like telehealth and imaging to better and more robust remote patient monitoring and vital tracking, all these companies are striving to help health systems better reach and care for patients where they are and on the patients’ terms.
At Rhapsody, we love talking to and exploring opportunities to help bring these two groups of innovators together, achieving more together than they could separately.
One thing we learned: A framework for product development and innovation that’s right in Rhapsody’s sweet spot
Industry veteran Gautam “G” Shah talked about the approach to product development he’s honed over his many years in healthcare, which he now brings to his role as vice president of healthcare platform marketing at Change Healthcare. G believes product development consists of four phases:
- Data: what discrete elements or pieces are needed?
- Insights: what action or meaning do we wish to drive with the data?
- Experience: how do we make these insights useful?
- Interaction: how will my user interact with it?
He talked about a mistake that many product development organizations make. They consider each of these pieces separately, and approach them in parallel: figure out what data is needed, then what insights should be built on that data, then the experience of using it.
Instead, G recommends we think of these holistically. Begin first with the experience we aspire to create and the insight which underpins it, then work outward from there to identify the required data and the desired interaction.
A key insight that gets us really excited is that, in many cases, the desired interaction is not a user interface, but rather an API.
G closed by explaining that product iteration can happen much faster when using this framework, as each of these components can be iterated on as part of enhancing a product.
As innovators who look to help other innovative companies achieve more through interoperability, this fits right in with how we care and feed for our products. I look forward to applying this framework to my roadmaps and product vision going forward.
Happenings at the booth
Keeping with the topic of companies doing innovative data generation and collection on the edge of healthcare, we had an exciting meeting with a technology vendor who is experimenting with combining radiation therapy and imaging into a single device and marshaling the generated treatment data into the cloud for improving both the quality of care and the reliability of imaging.
These folks are looking for a robust and flexible interoperability solution that can live both embedded within their devices but also within their data asset in the cloud. While they are still refining their approach, they expressed optimism at the ability of Rhapsody health solutions to fit the mold of however their business may evolve.
To close on an uplifting note, multiple customers and prospects came by to express their delight and gratitude for our attendance and participation in the conference this year and being able to see and reconnect with us after a long and strange year.
Several of the other vendors with whom these folks made appointments were not at HIMSS, and being able to reconnect with us and catch up made them glad they chose to attend.
This was really great to experience, as it reinforced that our decision to come was the right one.
