Great Plains Interoperability Conference 2021

Technology Advancing Health Care in the Great Plains.

May 11-12, 2021

Mission Statement: The first annual Great Plains Interoperability Conference brought together regional providers, researchers, and technologists to improve healthcare by accelerating advanced healthcare data interoperability.  This first gathering of regional stakeholders leading the process and technology of regional health information exchange sought to explore opportunities, technologies, and obstacles involved in the rapidly expanding interconnectedness of health data. CyncHealth (formerly known as NEHII) leads the way as Nebraska’s health information exchange. CyncHealth, and their research arm, the Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative, build on the technology provided by InterSystems to deploy the regional infrastructure for healthcare data sharing. The event was co-sponsored by the Great Plains IDeA Clinical and Translational Research Network (GP IDeA-CTR), the University of Nebraska Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program, and Logica; the international consortium focused on developing standards to support interoperability.

Event Recap

Day 1 | Tuesday, May 11, 2021 

8:30 AM – Introduction to Conference and Topics

  • James McClay, MD, MS, Director, GP IDeA-CTR Biomedical Informatics Core

9:00 AM –  The Vision of Regional Health Information Interoperability:   CyncHealth and the Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative (SLIDES)

  • Jaime Bland, DNP, RN, President and Chief Executive Officer, CyncHealth
  • Joy Doll, OTD, OTR/L, Chief Academic Program Officer, Nebraska Healthcare   Collaborative

9:45 AM – Improving Social Health through Unite Nebraska (SLIDES)

  • Melanie Surber, MSN, RN, Chief Clinical Officer, CyncHealth
  • Naresh Sundar Rajan, PhD, Chief Technology Officer, CyncHealth

10:30 AM – InterSystems HealthShare Unified Care Record

  • Jack Varga, MD, Physician Executive, InterSystems

11:15 AM – Advancing Rural Health Research: The Great Plains Practice-Based Research Network (SLIDES)

  • Matt Rizzo, MD, Principal Investigator, Great Plains IDeA-CTR, Chair, Department of   Neurological Sciences, COM, UNMC

11:45 AM –  The Technology of Interoperability – What are the 21st   Century Cures Regulations Talking About? (SLIDES)

  • James McClay, MD, MS, Director, Biomedical Informatics Graduate Program, UNMC

Day 1 Recording (link):

Day 2 | Wednesday, May 12, 2021 

8:30 AM – FHIR Tutorial. A hands-on overview of the Fast Healthcare   Interoperability Resources (FHIR) specification and   implementation. Demonstration of successful integration.

  • Laura Heermann Langford PhD, RN, Chief Operating Officer, Logica Health
  • Russell Leftwich, MD, Senior Clinical Advisor, Interoperability, InterSystems
  • James McClay, MD, MS, Professor, Emergency Medicine, COM, UNMC

Day 2 Recording (link):