Neil Gomes, chief digital officer at Jefferson Health, never predicted he'd have a career in the healthcare industry. He did, however, always know he wanted to do something tech-related that involved helping people.
As chief digital officer at Jefferson Health, Mr. Gomes, who also serves as executive vice president of technology innovation and consumer experience at Thomas Jefferson University, spearheads digital transformation efforts at the Philadelphia-based organizations.
While Mr. Gomes didn't start out his career in the world of health IT, he told Becker's Hospital Review that he has always had a strong passion for technology. Initially, Mr. Gomes worked in academia and the digital learning industry, serving in various IT educational roles between the early-to mid-2000s at University of South Florida in Tampa. It wasn't until Mr. Gomes became involved with the university's health system that he was inspired to incorporate tech within the healthcare space similarly to his work in education.
"I realized I could apply technology to healthcare to help even more people, and sometimes in scenarios where they really needed help more so than education," he said. "Healthcare and education are both being transformed by digital technologies, which enables me to apply my passion with tech."
Here, Mr. Gomes shares his rapid-fire thoughts on the biggest innovations in tech and health IT, from healthcare's biggest disruptor to patient engagement initiatives.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Mac or PC?
Neil Gomes: Live in both worlds, but prefer Mac.
Q: iPhone or Android?
NG: Live in both worlds, but prefer iOS.
Q: What's the No. 1 tech device you couldn't live without at work?
NG: My iPhone.
Q: What's your go-to voice assistant: Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Apple Siri?
NG: Google Home.
Q: If you could add any tool to your EHR tomorrow, what would it be?
NG: Voice recognition.
Q: Which retail or tech giant will be the biggest disrupter to healthcare?
NG: I think it'll probably be Amazon.
Q: What patient engagement tech do you predict will be most used by patients in the next 3-5 years?
NG: It'll be both chat bots and voice.
Q: If you could only have three apps on your phone, which would you choose?
NG: Mail, phone and twitter.
Q: Who should own patient medical data – patients, hospitals or vendors?
NG: Patients first, then the health systems and then maybe vendors. But I think we need to empower patients to own their own data.
Q: What's one professional skill you're currently focused on?
NG: Learning about machine learning. Well, deeply learning about machine learning. I know a lot about it, but really getting deep into it.
To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Jackie Drees at jdrees@beckershealthcare.com.