Christine VanZandbergen, the associate vice president of applications for corporate information services at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, has been at the health system since 2002.
In her current role, she is responsible for the strategic direction and providing leadership for the implementation and support of clinical and revenue cycle related applications. Ms. VanZandbergen oversees the development of EHR applications, assessment of IT needs and risk analysis.
An expert in data management, below Ms. VanZandbergen discusses the biggest challenge facing health IT as well as a character trait everyone on her team needs to be successful.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: If you could solve one health IT challenge/headache overnight, what would it be and why?
Christine VanZandbergen: For me, it would be what I like to refer to as the "data deluge." In healthcare, we have been tackling big data for a number of years. As a focus point, big data just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. While the problems five or six years ago were self-contained within an individual health system and its environment, that has exploded well beyond the walls of our institutions.
Internally, we now have multiple shared roles that inform data and data elements within our local ecosystem. Externally, sharing data continues to rapidly accelerate. We have other healthcare organizations that share their data with us when we have shared patients, pharmacies that send us data, state and local agencies that send data and patients send data. Bring health information exchanges into the mix and you get even more complicated
Over the years, EMRs have enabled the functionality of sharing data appropriately. However, where they continue to lag is the user interface, filtering capabilities and intuitive matching logic for a lot of the data elements.
The sharp point for the data deluge is for providers. It has become such a burden and heavy weight. Issues with data matching and filtering can contribute to burnout. Now it's time for leaders and institutions to think about how they can transform the management of data because it is so front ended.
Q: How does finance play a role in IT efforts at Penn Medicine?
CV: Penn Medicine is going through a very exciting time as we transition how our financial partners and clinical team members work together. We used to have our financial applications separate from our clinical applications. Now, we're are on an enterprise platform that has required us to really work together to ensure clinicians and the financial experts are speaking a common language. While they won't speak exactly the same language, the teams have common definitions for critical data elements.
Shared risk and changes in reimbursement have motivated our financial and clinical teams to communicate more. Everyone sits on governance boards together to create an open dialogue and gain consensus
Q: What is the key character trait for a successful IT team?
CV: One character trait that I really think is critical to success among IT teams is adaptability. This highlights the nature of healthcare today and the complexities around the IT components. The workforce today is shifting in terms of interest and skill sets. As a result, we are seeing employees undertake roles for a year or two and then want to pivot. Part of that is because they are in an environment that is fast and changing, so the pivot feels natural.
At Penn Medicine, we have supported these internal pivots. I also think the mindset is really important for our consumers. Healthcare looks a whole lot different than it did five or six years ago. And it's going to look different in two years, embracing that adaptability mindset key.