This year, we're bringing #CHC18 to you with The Cerner Podcast.
In this special edition episode of The Cerner Podcast, we bring insights from the 2018 Cerner Health Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, where more than 12,000 attendees from across the country and the globe have come together to learn and network. Sit at the table with us as we have conversations with health care leaders, Cerner clients and industry influencers. We’ll be covering health IT trends and focusing on this year’s CHC theme of “Smarter Care.”
In Thursday's episode, we heard from Michelle Rathman, rural health strategist and influencer. Since founding Impact! Communications in 1989, Michelle’s work has made her an invaluable voice among rural health advocates. Michelle’s deep-seated experience and tireless efforts to improve the health care experience for rural populations have helped countless critical access and rural health systems, hospitals, clinics and practices to improve their communication strategies.
Rural has come a long way and at the same time rural has gone backwards," Rathman said. "You can turn on any mainstream news today and hear about another rural hospital closure, we have workforce shortages and nursing shortages. We have challenges around reimbursement; there's less money to care for a sicker, older and poorer population. We're also seeing challenges with technology and with respect to broadband and funding that can support the emerging technologies – which is why I love what Cerner is doing with CommunityWorks."
We also welcomed Emil Peters, president of Cerner Global. Emil shared how he's watched CHC evolve in his decade-spanning career with Cerner and talks about how the health care industry is changing – and how health care providers and IT organizations must change with it.
"Every conversation that I have with a client or prospect or partner we are talking about things that are not even EHR related; it might have somehtng to do with it, but it's adding new definitons to what we see," Peters said. "Customers and patients aren't comparing us to the health system next door. They're comparing us to Open Table and Uber and consumer interactions, because that's how we want to be dealt with. The EHR fades into the distance. We need to go in and say, 'Let's help you work on your outcomes.'"
Listen to the full podcast below, or click here to view all episodes of The Cerner Podcast!
Cerner Health Conference (CHC) is Cerner’s annual, industry-leading health care event, taking place this year from Oct. 7-11 at the Kansas City Convention Center. For more Cerner news and health IT insights, and to keep up to date with all the happenings at #CHC18, make sure you're following us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
