The inside track on behing a healthcare solutions architect

Thanks to the stimulus bill, health IT implementations are going forward at a rapid pace. There's no way that the industry can produce enough healthcare-specific experts to run all of these projects, so quite a few non-healthcare IT leaders are being asked to produce something new. What's a neophyte health IT exec to do?

According to the health IT expert known as the HL7 guy--who, in the grand tradition of slightly-paranoid techies, prefers to remain anonymous--managing HIT projects involves a few basic strategies.

One is being technology agnostic, he says. In an environment where you're likely to deal with a wide range of technologies (such as Magic, MUMPS, Java and RPG4), not to mention a wide range of databases, business intelligence engines and more, keeping an open mind is critical. "You can't be picky by going down the path you feel comfortable with," he writes.

Another critical knowledge-set is to know critical healthcare standards, including HL7--naturally--and DICOM. Both have been around for over 20 years and aren't likely to go away anytime soon, he argues.

Yet another key is to keep up with CCHIT standards, HL7 believes. Health IT managers won't be successful if the products they implement don't meet CMS's "meaningful use" criteria, or at least contribute to doing so. Given that CCHIT is the only game in town, and is likely to remain so, understanding its work is very important, he argues.

To review his principles:
- read this blog entry

Related Articles:
CMS takes first shot at defining 'meaningful use'
Meaningful use definitions: Why bother?
HIMSS defines 'meaningful use' of EMRs for Medicare incentives
Health IT stimulus includes Medicare EMR incentives