BizSolutions

Senior Healthcare IT Executives in Six Major Markets Discuss Leading Strategies and Challenges for Heatlhcare IT in the Coming Years 

DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2010 – Eight technology and healthcare executives located in six U.S. cities met via AT&T Telepresence Solution Wednesday to discuss current and future strategies for addressing growing healthcare needs and rising costs. The AT&T Telepresence Solution, an immersive video technology enabled by Cisco TelePresence, allowed participants to interact face-to-face through ultra-high definition 1080p screens, creating the experience of being in the same room with other participants.

CIOs across the U.S. shared similar situations and strategies for enhancing their companies’ patient care and operational efficiencies through healthcare IT solutions. Some of the main themes from the roundtable included:

Using Resources Efficiently. Time, financial and human resources must be used efficiently and with prioritization to achieve aggressive implementation deadlines to receive grants and other funding. Some organizations are targeting internal departments or groups with a strong technology appetite to lead adoption efforts. 

Establishing a Solid Infrastructure. Health information exchanges (HIEs), the transfer of electronic medical records and patient portals depend on a solid, reliable network infrastructure. Without this network foundation, companies compromise physicians’ and customers’ experience.  

Sponsoring Technology Adoption. A knowledgeable and on-board healthcare workforce is necessary to reach improved healthcare goals. In addition to training, companies are seeking internal physician or practitioner sponsorship of new technology to expedite its integration into daily practice. 

Connecting Multiple HIEs. Several HIEs exist within a state or even single healthcare system. Senior IT executives must work collaboratively with partners and vendors to ensure quick customization and compatibility of disparate systems into larger health ecosystems. 

Developing Information Highways. Data warehousing and mining are current areas of exploration for some healthcare IT executives. Many are not looking to create new electronic repositories, but rather develop information highways that combine multiple information input into  a meaningful, useful output of relevant, accurate information. 

Measuring Success. In addition to traditional financial metrics, healthcare CIOs are examining quality controls, user adoption rates and improved patient care indicators to measure the success of healthcare IT initiatives. 

Roundtable participants included senior IT executives in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay area. Bernie Monegain, editor of Healthcare IT News, served as moderator, and Dr. Denise W. Hines, vice president of government solutions and education at HealthNovation, shared key insights into the current healthcare reform landscape.

At this week’s AT&T Technology Showcase, lab investigators from AT&T’s chief security office are displaying a virtual workplace and home of the future.

Imagine navigating an avatar through a 3-D map of your home and turning on lights and adjusting temperatures, and seeing an open door in need of closing. When you do it in the virtual house, it really happens in yours. In the picture above from the concept demonstration, the TV image playing in the virtual room is the real TV image that is playing.

Complex business systems could be monitored and controlled within such a virtual world, and again trigger real-world outcomes.  Far-flung coworkers could interface to collaborate on systems and materials, virtually and securely.  Indeed, the security lab is setting up a virtual workplace for researchers and engineers to collaborate across several physical office locations.

More concepts and projects being demonstrated at the technology showcase will be posted here soon.

At this week’s AT&T Technology Showcase in San Francisco, researchers from across AT&T are showing their projects and prototypes. One area is AT&T U-verse, a 100 percent Internet Protocol-based television service. Some of the “proof of concept” prototype features that are being shown include:

·         A personal traffic page, (shown above) created when the viewer enters the starting and ending points of a commute and saves it on AT&T U-verse. The application automatically chooses the appropriate traffic cams along the route and pulls up live views.

·         A TV-display component for FamilyMap, a tool that currently lets customers see the location of family members on a map from a PC or AT&T wireless phone.

·         A personal horoscope page (it could be any subject) with a component that allows the viewer to call an expert. The expert is seen and heard live on the individual viewer’s screen, and the viewer talks to the expert via telephone.

In three years, more than 1.8 million customers have signed up for AT&T U-verse. AT&T’s IP strategy combines TV, broadband, home phone and wireless in ways that continue to evolve.

More concepts and projects being demonstrated at the technology showcase will be posted here throughout the day.

AT&T ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR 2009 BIG MOBILE ON CAMPUS CHALLENGE

National Contest Unveils Next-Generation Mobile Applications for Higher Education

DALLAS, November 2, 2009 — AT&T* today announced the winners of its second annual Big Mobile On Campus Challenge, a national higher education contest for mobile application development. The contest illustrates the ability to take extremely innovative ideas and develop them into mobile applications.

Prizes will be awarded to the grand prize winners at the Higher Ed Board of Advisors meeting today, and the winners will demonstrate their winning application during the EduCause Annual Conference on November 3-5, 2009, in Denver, Colorado.

The grand-prize winner is a team of full-time students from Harvard University.  Alex Bick, Joy Ding, Drew Robb, Cameron Spickert and Winston Yan won for their “Rover” platform. They will split a $10,000 scholarship, and each team member will receive a mobile device of choice and a trip to the EduCause Annual Conference in Denver. “Rover” connects students with each other, their school and community.  The core of Rover is a guidebook, enhanced by location-awareness and social networking features to inform students of what is happening in their campus through local deals, events, news and transportation. “Rover” is unique in having a live feed of deals that connects local businesses with students, creating interactions that allow for greater integration of students into the local community and vice versa.

The runners-up are Michael Hanley, Jennifer Palilonis, Suzy Smith and Vinayak Tanksale, staff members from Ball State University, and Erica Simone, a full-time student from Northeastern University.

The Ball State team is recognized for their interactive news and advertising application that allows students to create and deliver news stories, videos, interactive graphics and advertisements on a breaking news or weekly basis. The team members will share $5,000 in cash and receive a mobile device of choice each.

Ms. Simone of Northeastern University is recognized for a comprehensive and personalized mobile application, “UpperClass”. This application connects students, faculty, alumni and parents to key systems while on the go as well as popular social networking systems, such as Facebook and Twitter, to provide an immersive experience. She will receive a $5,000 scholarship and a mobile device of choice.

“The quality of submissions to our Big Mobile on Campus Challenge this year was outstanding, and it is clear that real-time access to information is more important than ever before for higher education students and staff,” said Chris Hill, vice president, mobility product management, AT&T Business Solutions. “The goal of our Big Mobile on Campus Challenge is to encourage students and staff to participate in the mobile evolution, and be innovators, not just consumers, of mobile applications. The winners this year clearly demonstrated undeniable ingenuity with their next-generation mobile applications. Their ideas will enhance education, community vitality and information access. AT&T congratulates each of the winners of the contest.”

The Big Mobile On Campus Challenge for full-time college students and staff was established in 2008 to recognize innovative and creative mobile applications that enhance academic performance, build campus community and help to improve campus operations.

To learn more about the winning applications for the AT&T Big Mobile On Campus Challenge, visit www.att.com/higherEDcontest.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation’s fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide, and the nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of their three-screen integration strategy, AT&T operating companies are expanding their TV entertainment offerings. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE^® magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

© 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. For more information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at newsroom">http://www.att.com/newsroom.

An A&T Network Disaster Recovery operations team member dresses the cable run at the San Diego NDR exercise outside PETCO Park. The T3 and fiber optic cables connect the various technology trailers at the site. The drill, running through this week, tests recovery processes including initial call out, equipment transportation and setup, and technology turn-up and testing. AT&T has invested more than $500 million in its NDR program, designed to address business continuity and recovery after wildfires, hurricanes, ice storms and any other type of disaster. Click on “back to blog” for more photos and information from this week.

Members of the AT&T Network Disaster Recovery special operations team are shown during a hazmat training exercise at an AT&T data center in San Diego.  They are wearing SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) and Level A protective suits. Team members are trained to perform repairs and technical functions even in areas affected by hazardous materials. In 2005, the team was deployed in South Carolina to maintain the local AT&T network office after the rupture of a chlorine rail tanker.

The AT&T NDR exercise continues this week in San Diego to practice for events like wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters. Several hundred business and government leaders are also attending an AT&T Business Continuity Forum at the Omni San Diego Hotel.

An AT&T NDR Operations Team members tests circuit paths inside one of the recovery trailers at the AT&T Network Disaster Recovery drill in San Diego, CA. More than 25 trailers and vehicles are at the exercise. Many of the trailers are designed to roll into a location and literally replace AT&T facilities such as a central office should they be badly damaged in a disaster. In some cases, NDR equipment will be pre-staged and deployed in anticipation of an emergency situation, such as a hurricane. NDR pre-deployed for hurricanes Gustav and Ike last year. Click on “back to blog” for more photos.