HIMSS 2016 and Special Teams

Before a crowd of several thousand medical industry and technology professionals, 2016 Super Bowl champion quarterback, Peyton Manning spoke, “I have been on the receiving end of your efforts. I cannot even come close to doing what you do.” The collective “you” to which Mr. Manning referred to represents an entire industry of innovators and visionaries seeking to improve care delivery through the marriage of medicine and technology. As the healthcare industry progresses down the road of hi-tech innovation, I’d like to echo two key points shared by Peyton:

Point #1: Leadership is important, as is teamwork. Manning stated, “when the environment changes around you, no one, including a leader, can take anything for granted”. As technology in medical devices continues to drive the next evolution in care, it will be the responsibility of seasoned hardware and software manufacturers to seek out and foster relationships in this area medical device development. We are all stakeholders in this game, and continuation of forward progress is paramount.

Point #2: There’s no “I” in team. Working “in unison, toward the same goal, each playing (their) specific role at the highest level possible, the results often defy the odds,” said Peyton Manning. R&D organizations throughout an enterprise should be very careful of falling into the trap of operating in silos. Encourage and reward core experts across the enterprise to embrace knowledge sharing and “office-hours”- like consultations to enable the entire company to benefit from knowledge and experience. It is strongly advised to look for the same in a hardware and software partner. Seek out the knowledge and expertise that will provide the biggest springboard to market.

Much like in football, the enterprise must remain committed to development of tools and talent. Effective organizations must keep a watchful eye on trends in technology through collaboration with trusted and established hardware and software vendors. As seen at HIMSS 2016, the venue of care is continuing to advance beyond the confines of the hospital, and into the home. Such advancements will require increased focus on safety, security, and scalability – particularly in cloud technologies. Wind River’s embedded software for IoT, Wind River Helix Device Cloud, and Professional Services are already answering the demand to enable our medical customers to define their differentiating services in this arena.