Healthcare IT Game Changers to Watch: CGI’s Cheryl Campbell

Present: Vice President, National Health Industry, CGI

Past: Before coming to CGI, Campbell served as vice president in SAIC’s civilian health practice. Campbell’s first assignment in that role was supporting an interoperability project on behalf of the Department of Defense’s Military Health System; she helped guide the switch from a legacy system to a new operational system.

Personal: Campbell is a runner and a biker. She’s also the mother of three sons, the youngest studying biomedical engineering. Says Campbell: “Someone said, ‘What made him decide to study biomedical engineering?’ I said, ‘Maybe it was because he heard his mother talking about healthcare IT all these years.’”

TIPS

• Help your team see the big picture. “Those who are most proficient from a software development perspective are one to five years out of college,” says Campbell. “I’m always talking to them about the fact that their role developing systems will have an impact on their grandparents, eventually their parents, and, at some point, themselves,” she says.

• Speak the language of your clients. “We bring individuals to the table who speak the language of our clients, who have lived in the same environment. We bring clinicians to the table. We involve individuals with like capabilities. The end result is we speak with our clients from the healthcare domain perspective versus just an IT technology implementation perspective.”

• Place the emphasis on the “Health” in IT. “There’s a reason its referred to as ‘Health IT,’” says Campbell. “It really is about healthcare. It’s very important to embrace the health aspect of health IT and not just the technology side. Technology on its own isn’t the solution. Knowing the issues, challenges, and opportunities is critical to helping clients with their mission.”

FULL INTERVIEW

ExecutiveBiz: With roughly $19 billion set aside for electronic health records (EHRs) and other projects, how is CGI contributing to healthcare IT?

Cheryl Campbell: First, let me say, CGI is not a newcomer as a result of the stimulus funding; we’ve been in the healthcare market (federal, state, local, and commercial) for many years. That said, CGI is proud and pleased that the government is focusing stimulus investments in healthcare. This is a once in a lifetime event. It’s helping to propel healthcare into the 21st century. In our case, the stimulus funding has allowed our clients to broaden their perspective on advanced technology with  funds focused on key areas like health information exchange (HIE) and the adoption of EHRs.

ExecutiveBiz: What common challenges do you see ahead in healthcare IT?

Cheryl Campbell: One common challenge is the secure portability of data. CGI’s focus on secure interoperability and information sharing is designed to provide our clients and the American public the ability to make the information available to the right parties while protecting individual privacy. We’re active participants in the development of common standards for the industry, and we continuously monitor those regulations. We’re providing advice and council as it relates to the significance of health IT as a means of accelerating the provision of  advanced services at lower overall costs.

ExecutiveBiz: How is CGI helping to set common standards?

Cheryl Campbell: It’s a combination of things: we participate in the ongoing dialogue;  we  are helping to establish a governance model; and bringing onboard subject matter experts. We were fortunate to hire  a Chief Medical Officer for CGI, Dr. John Loonsk [former Director for Interoperability and Standards within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Department of Health and Human Services]. We also recently brought on board [CGI Federal Board Member] Dr. James Peake, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Surgeon General of  the U.S. Army. When we bring these types of experts to the table, we feel strongly that we can continue to advance health outcomes on behalf of our customers.

ExecutiveBiz: What technologies do you see changing the face of US healthcare this year and beyond?

Cheryl Campbell: Looking back, who would have thought that cell phones and portable apps would have made the tremendous strides that they have today? They’re here to stay. Mobile applications at the handheld and tablet levels will bring the power of information to various communities to improve health outcomes. In addition, Sen. Mark Warner’s efforts to expand broadband will have a big impact on rural America —and on healthcare, in particular — as we move forward. Individuals will have access, in a secure fashion, to collaboration and sharing of information.

ExecutiveBiz: You’ve been in the healthcare IT space 20-plus years. What keeps you personally passionate about it?

Cheryl Campbell: Very few people can get up in the morning and know that when they go to work they’re actually doing something that has an impact on their community as a whole. Knowing that I’m part of something that makes a difference keeps me excited. The other thing, for me, is that my father was a World War II veteran, and I saw him benefit from  the Veterans Administration’s (VA) integrated healthcare delivery community. . Anything I can do to continue to advance the work of the  VA and their healthcare delivery system for our veterans and anything I can do to help CMS deliver on their mission on a day-to-day basis, drives me to keep moving forward.

ExecutiveBiz: What can we expect next from CGI in healthcare IT?

Cheryl Campbell: We will continue to support CMS in their mission to make information accessible to their broad range of stakeholders. Beyond that, we’ll continue our focus on secure, interoperable, collaboration and information sharing across DOD Military Health, the VA, HHS, Social Security Administration, and external health organizations.  The keys to success are security, policy, and information sharing. This is where the big benefits will come for our constituents.

Posted by Lisa Singh on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010. Filed under Healthcare IT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.