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Dear Colleague,
This being my final message to you as your President of WPHIMSS, I wish to recap the journey we’ve taken over the past 2½ years. Before I do, however, I wish to thank everyone for your support and the opportunity to have served as your leader. As you may recall, I assumed this role when the position was vacated in December 2005. Since then, with your help and the encouragement of your Board of Directors, we have taken a long journey to achieve excellence.
We began with a few dedicated people who envisioned a strong, vibrant chapter. Beginning with a small core group of committed individuals, the Chapter was transformed from one with limited resources and membership to a vital professional group that was recognized at HIMSS08 as a top-notch chapter imbued with best practices. Our transformation began with a major re-structuring which enabled us to realize a number of achievements. I want to share some of those with you.
WPHIMSS Highlights: 2006 - 2008
• Your Board implemented a committee structure and recruited members to serve on committees. This fundamental change has enabled more members to become involved and has provided more depth to our organization.
• WPHIMSS experienced a continuous membership growth, starting with about 150 at the end of calendar year 2005. As of May 2, 2008, our roster boasted 285 members (90% rate of growth) . . . a testament to the efforts of Ron Forys and the Membership Committee and personal efforts made by others.
• With a newly implemented formal budgeting process and our Treasurer’s (Arch Maharaja) astute investments in CDs, we have experienced positive cash flow and we are financially sound.
• In 2006, a scholarship program was implemented to award an outstanding student enrolled in a healthcare related academic program in the region. Upon the passing of HIMSS and WPHIMSS founder Edward J. Gerner, the scholarship was named in his memory. Recipients are:
• 2007 - Erik Frazier (University of Pittsburgh, School of Public Health)
• 2008 - Kristin Goldstrom (Chatham University)
• In the past two years, we solicited corporate sponsors and the funds so developed supported the Edward J. Gerner Scholarship program. A new Board position for Chapter Development was instituted this year and Dan Mattson has served in this capacity. Dan also orchestrated sponsorship for the recent Pennsylvania Advocacy Day event.
• In September 2007, the Board held a retreat to initiate strategic planning for the Chapter. President-Elect, Jen Pojedinec, was asked to take charge of developing the plan and to execute it in FY 2008-2009. The retreat discussions were facilitated by Stephanie Serra from HIMSS.
• The Board and committees have prepared an Operations Manual which contains, based on experience, best practices in conducting Chapter business. This documented was created to facilitate leadership transition this year and in future years.
• Our Board Secretary, Stephanie Hackett, has been instrumental in developing and maintaining the Board’s SharePoint site. The site has been populated with documents for sharing information to aid in conducting the Chapter’s business; it is also a resource for historical information for future Boards.
• In May 2007, WPHIMSS held its first annual Northeast U.S. Healthcare Trade Faire & Conference in Pittsburgh. A second annual event is planned for October 16, 2008 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center; please stay tuned.
• On May 12, 2008, WPHIMSS and the Delaware Valley Chapter of HIMSS hosted the inaugural HIT Advocacy Day in Harrisburg. Attendance was about 100 and we received very positive feedback from our State Senators and Representatives. Both chapters were cited by Senator Andy Dinniman during that day’s senatorial session and the recognition was recorded in the Senate proceedings.
• WPHIMSS developed a chapter territory policy for new chapters with and for HIMSS. This was prompted when the West Virginia Chapter was created and when it was realized that western counties of Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, had been claimed as territory by another chapter.
• WPHIMSS has formed partnerships with other healthcare associations, including:
• DVHIMSS
• PHIMA (Healthcare Information Management Association)
• PA-AHDI (Association for Healthcare Data Integrity)
• Maryland HIMSS
• Central Ohio HIMSS
• HIMSS
• ACHE/WP – annual winter joint program
• Westmoreland County Medical Society (June 2008 educational program for physicians and theirs staffs).
• Pennsylvania Medical Society – support of the Connect the Docs initiative to educate physicians about IT connectivity via broadband.
• PAeHI – charter member
• WPHIMSS has formed partnerships with publications to promote the Chapter and HIMSS and to inform the healthcare community about HIT.
• ADVANCE for Healthcare Information Executives
• Hospital News of Western Pennsylvania
• With an objective to increase student membership and to provide students with insights into career opportunities, WPHIMSS developed relationships with appropriate graduate and undergraduate academic programs in the region. They include University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, and Chatham University. We’ve also reached out to Robert Morris University, Waynesburg College, and Slippery Rock University.
• Through the efforts of our Communications Committee, viz. Diane Blazek and Sean O’Brien, the WPHIMSS website has been overhauled and provides listserv mailings and on-line educational program registration and voting capabilities.
• WPHIMSS compiled the history of the chapter which is in the HIMSS archives and can be found on the Chapter’s website. Furthermore, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead the effort to document the Society’s history which includes reference to WPHIMSS. It should be noted that one of the two Society founders and the first president of HIMSS was Ed Gerner who also helped found our Chapter. As you know, our scholarship program is named in his memory. The HIMSS history can also be found on our website.
• Finally, our efforts of the past 30 months culminated with WPHIMSS being awarded the 2007 Chapter Innovations Award Grand Prize for best practices. On behalf of WPHIMSS, I was honored to receive this recognition during HIMSS08.
These accomplishments have been made possible by the various members of the Board over the past years including and they are: Diane Blazek, Robert Burkley, Sharon Dorogy, Ron Forys, Stephanie Hackett, Arch Maharaja, Dan Mattson, Chris Meyer, Sean O’Rourke, Steve Pikula, Jen Pojedinec, and Jay Srini. Others to be acknowledged are Chuck Summerville for his leadership with the Program Committee, Sean O’Brien for his accomplishments as webmaster, and Cherie Zercher and Vivian Funkhouser for there contributions to the Program Committee. I also want to thank all the other committees and their members for all of their hard work and I apologize for names that I may have omitted.
I want to extend best wishes to our new President, Board, and committees for another successful year (2008-2009). It is my hope that, during the past years, we have laid the foundation for Chapter growth and recognition within the healthcare, academic, and HIMSS communities.
Thanks once again for affording me the opportunity to serve.
Barry T. Ross, LFHIMSS
President, WPHIMSS
WPHIMSS - 2007 Chapter Innovations
Grand Prize Award recipient
ABOUT HIMSS
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, and other locations across the United States and Europe, HIMSS represents more than 20,000 individual members and over 300 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to ensuring quality patient care. Visit www.himss.org for more information.
The History of HIMSS
Did you know...that our Western PA chapter was founded by the same individuals who gave HIMSS its start? Read about our chapter's history and the history of HIMSS! Click here to go to "Our History" page."
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