AMC Health's Kevin Fickenscher, M.D. to Give Keynote at iHT2 Health IT Summit in Atlanta

NEW YORK, April. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A multitude of forces is creating sweeping, disruptive changes in the way healthcare is and will be delivered, which means organizations need to re-think their strategies and the way they're using technology. That's the message that Kevin Fickenscher, M.D., CPE, FACPE, FAAFP, Chief Medical Officer and President of AMC Health's Healthcare Division, will deliver in his opening keynote address at the Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT²) Health IT Summit in Atlanta. Dr. Fickenscher will address the conference on Tuesday, April 15 at 11:25 am ET at the Historic Academy of Medicine at Georgia Tech.

Titled "The Radical Transformation and Disintermediation of Healthcare: Evolving Technologies in Care Delivery," Dr. Fickenscher's keynote will examine the forces creating disruptive changes in healthcare today, such as the breakdown of traditional boundaries, the move to continuous care delivery models that include telehealth programs, the shift from volume to value and the rising tide of technology. He will then explore the impact these seismic changes are having on the nation's healthcare system and how they will ultimately transform how, where and by whom care is delivered, as well as the evolving role of patients who will increasingly transition from passive recipients to active participants in managing their health.   

Dr. Fickenscher will discuss how healthcare is moving rapidly from a fragmented model centered around episodes of care delivered by individual providers to a patient-centered model where all the providers throughout the continuum of care work together. Telehealth programs will enable patients to continue receiving needed monitoring and care wherever they reside, whether it's in their own home or a family member's, a skilled nursing facility, assisted living, or some other location.

"The trend in the industry is to not only move care to the lowest-cost setting but also to provide more convenient service and improve outcomes," says Dr. Fickenscher. "Nowhere is the cost lower than in the home and services are enhanced for people who are either transitioning from the acute care environment or who have chronic health conditions.  Furthermore, through the effective use of telecare services, quality is improved.  In the past, telecare has relied too much on the patient knowing what to do, remembering to report readings, and reporting them accurately. The new generation of telecare technologies eliminates those concerns by automating reporting functions. In addition, telecare technology now enables data transmission and a consultation with a clinician over smartphones and tablets so patients can safely pursue daily activities at different locations."

Dr. Fickenscher will emphasize in the keynote that achieving these goals isn't about using any one particular technology. Instead, it's about applying and leveraging technology properly – along with attention to the process of care delivery – so that providers can understand more fully what's happening with patients between visits. Through the use of telecare services effective interventions can help providers see if a patient is trending in the wrong direction and if so, create interventions before the condition requires a visit to the emergency department or even a return to the hospital. 

In his keynote, Dr. Fickenscher will emphasize the importance of "ubiquitous interoperability" that enables data integration across the healthcare ecosystem, and why he views the movement toward open source standards as "inevitable." He will also explore how the inextricable shift toward an" information democracy rather than a professionally dominated theocracy" will transform virtually all aspects of healthcare delivery.

As part of his keynote Dr. Fickenscher also examines the role that informatics can play in changing the way clinicians practice.

"Much of the way we've used data in healthcare has been to understand what happened in the past," he says. "The time has come to turn our attention to the future instead. Informatics give organizations the ability to spot trends in patients and populations, and take actions based on that information to help them change their outcomes, especially around chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart failure and hypertension. Focusing on early intervention rather than treatment has the potential to significantly improve the health of individuals and the nation."

To register for the iHT2 Health IT Summit in Atlanta and see Dr. Fickenscher's keynote address, please go to http://ihealthtran.com/atlantaregister.html.

Tweet this: @AMCHealth's  Dr. Fickenscher delivering opening keynote at iHT2 Health IT Summit in Atlanta. #telemonitoring #telehealth

Dr. Fickenscher's photo can be downloaded here.

About AMC Health
Headquartered in New York City, AMC Health is a leading provider of telehealth solutions that provide customized, scalable, cost-effective programs that assist organizations serving at-risk populations and those conducting clinical trials. A proven combination of technology and end-to-end support services enables safe, dependable monitoring at home. AMC Health's remote patient monitoring programs deliver clinically actionable information that enhances care coordination, improves patient outcomes, improves the quality and reduces the cost of clinical trials, and reduces the overall cost of healthcare.  For more information, visit www.amchealth.com.

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Contact: Jan Shulman
Amendola Communications for AMC Health
[email protected]
480-664-8412 ext. 12

SOURCE AMC Health