Baylor Business Review | Fall 2024 Issue
by Franci Rogers
What’s faster than the speed of light? Technology, it would seem.
Today’s faster-than-light world means that technology is changing at an unstoppable pace. Mobile communications, shrinking devices and cloud technology are changing the way all of us work and play. We talked four alumni into sitting still long enough to tell us how they are helping usher in a new digital dawn.
Baylor Business Review, Fall 2013
By Franci Rogers
As the first department to offer a PhD program at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, all eyes were on Information Systems to see just how they would manage this pioneering step.
Now, four years later, the university has conferred two doctoral degrees in the program, has eight current degree candidates, and will welcome another four students in the fall.
“We are definitely where I hoped we would be at this point,” said Dr. Dorothy Leidner, Ferguson Professor of Information Systems and director of the PHD in IS program. “We are very pleased with the success. Our students are publishing in respected journals and are getting very good job placements.”
Of the two graduates of the program, the first is currently working as an assistant professor at HEC-Paris, a top business school in Europe. The second recently accepted an assistant professor position at California State University, Fullerton, after completing a term as a visiting assistant professor at Washington State University.
One student is currently writing his dissertation and interviewing for positions at a variety of schools. He has been invited to spend a month working on his research at a prestigious German university this fall.
Baylor funds two incoming students, stipend and tuition, each year. However, some students enroll using funds they have received from other places. The U.S. Army, for example, is paying for one student. Another is receiving funding from his home university in another country, where he will return to teach. Yet another is being funded by his employer.
“Because of students getting alternative funding, we’ve seen the program become bigger and more diverse, and that is a great benefit to us,” said Leidner. “We can continue to provide very personal instruction and direction, and at the same time have the students learn from each others’ areas of strength.”
Dr. Timothy Kayworth, chair of the information services department, is also pleased with the growth of the program.
“A major factor in our success has been getting high caliber students to join our program,” he said. “We need to continue to be intentional in recruiting talented, highly motivated students from around the globe and then placing these students at leading universities upon graduation.”
Part of that intentional growth will be making the program more international than when it began. The faculty wants to make sure their candidates are maintaining a global focus. Leidner is working with universities in Europe and Asia to that end.
She is also hoping to start an executive PhD program at Baylor. While the current program focuses on the candidates becoming educators, this program would see people with doctoral degrees returning to the corporate world.
“It’s much more common in Europe already for executives to have PhDs,” said Leidner. “In this global economy, it’s a matter of time before it becomes more common here.”
Forward thinking and good outcomes are beginning to get outside recognition for the young program.
“Every year we increase the quality that we provide our students, and every year the quality of the research our students are doing improves,” said Leidner. “We’re becoming well-known as a good, well-rounded program.”
Soon, the business school will be home to another PhD program. Baylor Regents recently approved a PhD in health services research offered by through the school’s Robbins Institute for Health Policy and Leadership.
Baylor Business Review, Fall 2013
“Pariveda’s unique approach to career development requires a smart and driven person to succeed. Due to an exceptional educational experience, Baylor grads bring that intelligence paired with leadership and dedication to our world of technology consulting. Baylor has played a significant role in the success of our company as Baylor grads span from the most recently hired all the way to our CEO. We will continue to hire graduates that come from Baylor University and grow them from consultants to leaders.”
Collins DeLoach
Vice President, Pariveda Solutions
BBA – Management Information Systems ‘94
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Pariveda Solutions, Inc. is a leading technology consulting firm delivering technology solutions. Pariveda’s technology solutions include Mobility, Cloud, Data, Portals and Collaboration, Custom Software, Enterprise Integration, CRM (customer relationship management) and Strategy. Pariveda Solutions, Inc. is an employee-owned private company with a core mission to develop, manage and apply talent for the benefit of their clients. The company operates on a local project delivery model and its locations span nine cities across the U.S. For more information, visit www.parivedasolutions.com.
Pariveda Solutions and The Business of IT are trademarks of Pariveda Solutions, Inc., Dallas, Texas
Baylor Business Review, Fall 2013
By Franci Rogers
When Russell Bertwell first visited Dr. Hope Koch’s upper level Management Information Systems class, it was simply as a guest speaker. But the day he was scheduled to speak was also the day that students were turning in projects they had been working on nearly all semester. The projects had students taking in-depth looks at using technology to create business solutions.
Learning about the projects sparked an idea in Bertwell.
As a senior manager at the technology consulting firm Accenture, Bertwell recognized an opportunity to expand the learning experience for Baylor students.
“As a Baylor grad, I’m always looking for ways to foster new talent and be supportive of the Hankamer School of Business,” he said. “I wanted to do something beyond a career fair.”
After brainstorming a bit with Koch, they created the IT Intervention Competition.
“We ask the students to identify a process that isn’t working so well,” said Koch. “We tell them to look where they go to church, where they do volunteer work, within their campus organizations, and even where they work. Once they identify a problem area, they design technology to improve the process.”
The competition is designed to mirror real-life job situations. They need to create a plan, come up with a budget, and then “sell” their ideas to Accenture employees who are surrogates for the real clients.
“We like being involved from the very beginning of this project,” said Bertwell. “What makes it unique is that we are there to guide the students from the start.”
In an attempt to embed technology in every aspect, the project is kicked off via a video conference, where a representative from Accenture explains who they are, what the competition is about, and why it’s relevant before giving the assignment.
“About a month later, a team of Accenture consultants comes on-site to the classroom,” he said. “At that point all the groups should have evaluated the potential benefits and risks and come up with a business plan.”
The groups make presentations to the Accenture representatives, just as they would at a real job.
“We evaluate the ideas as if we were working with them on a real project,” Bertwell said. “We try to point out things they wouldn’t think of, like pitfalls or hidden costs. We help them see the real-world things.”
After the projects are initially evaluated, Koch leads the students through the business-case, development and implementation process, preparing them for the final presentation.
“In the end, they give their final presentations to their peers and consultants from Accenture, just like we were their client,” said Bertwell. “We evaluate their solutions and try to determine if their IT intervention would be successful. We make it as much like a real-life presentation as possible. We try to give good feedback and put them in the hot seat, just like a client would.”
In his nine years at Accenture, Bertwell has plenty of experience in those types of situations to be able to convey a very accurate picture to the students.
“This small simulation is a microcosm of what we do on a larger scale, with millions of dollars at stake, every day,” he said.“The stakes are very different, but it’s all the same concepts. And learning this way, with very real processes and very real solutions, is extremely valuable as these students enter the workforce.
This is a safe place to make mistakes and to make change.”
Koch has been pleased by the wide variety of projects her students have tackled.
“Students tend to first identify troubled processes that are closest to home for them,” she said.
For example, one group was frustrated by the way the laundry rooms operate in residence halls. Often, after hauling all of their clothes to the laundry rooms, students found that all of the machines were in use, either because it was a busy time or because other students had not removed their items in a timely manner after they were done.
“This group set out to create a solution that would not only monitor open machines and allow you to check before you go all the way to the laundry room, but also would tell you when your laundry is done and remind you to go get it,” said Koch. “We tell the students that they need to do something where they know the whole process. This was something that fit that very well.”
Two of last year’s winning projects also suggested improvements to campus-centered processes.
BioPaw improved the log-in and printing processes for students accessing Baylor computing resources. Another involved Baylor Dining Services, which streamlined the ways dining halls communicate their offerings and made it easier to identify establishments that accept BearBucks.
The third winning project last year was more universally applicable. Students created an app for mobile phones that allows users to save and organize receipts. “While Accenture awards the winning teams a $250 cash prize, the students are more concerned about representing Baylor well to the Accenture consultants,” said Koch. “I impress upon them that they are competing for jobs with other students from top-tier schools across the country, and we want to make sure Accenture thinks well of our programs.”Other projects have involved computerizing processes at churches, time cards for student workers and even a marketing tool for a retail business.
“I’m excited for this program to continue and for our partnership with Accenture to grow,” said Koch. “It’s such a great way for students to get real experiences and expand their ways of thinking.
Accenture’s consultants [Russell Bertwell, Margaret Moul, Rory McKenna and Catherine Zaruba] are so good with them. The feedback they give is personalized and tailored to exactly what problems or successes they are encountering. We video record all the students’ presentations so they can critique themselves and get better. They just learn so much.”
For the third consecutive year, the IT Intervention Competition began again this semester with Koch’s MIS 3305 classes. In December, the students will present their final projects to Accenture and their peers.
Baylor Business Review, Fall 2013
DRAYTON MCLANE JR., BBA, Baylor Regent Emeritus, received the Mirabeau B. Lamar Medal for his contributions to higher education. The medal honors individuals, companies and foundations that have displayed an extraordinary commitment to higher education in Texas. The medal is awarded by members of the Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas and the Texas Association of Community Colleges.
MCLANE also was presented with the Founders Medallion, one of the most distinguished awards given by Baylor University. The award recognizes men and women significant to the life and future of Baylor University.
THOMAS O. FOSTER, BBA, J.D. ‘64, will serve another term as Northstar Healthcare’s chief tax counsel. He will also remain on the board of directors for the company. Northstar partners with physicians in the ownership and management of ambulatory facilities and healthcare services. Northstar owns and manages interests in three ambulatory surgery centers, two in Houston and the third in Dallas.
PAUL L. FOSTER, BBA, namesake of Baylor’s Success Center, has been reappointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Board of Regents for the University of Texas at Austin. Foster is executive chairman of Western Refining Company. He currently serves as the regent’s vice chairman and has served as a regent since October 2007.
CHARLES RAY THOMAS JR., BBA, MTAX ’83, was named director of the full-time Executive MBA in Hospitality Administration (EMBA) program at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausann in Switzerland. In his new role, he will oversee all aspects of the EMBA programme, which is tailored to both career climbers and switchers in the hospitality sector.
SEN. LARRY TAYLOR, BBA, was appointed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to represent Texas on The Energy Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sound energy policy. Taylor represents District 11 in the Texas Senate, which is comprised of parts of Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties.
TOM HORTON, BBA, American Airlines CEO, worked alongside the CEO for US Airways Group Inc. to reach an agreement to merge in an $11 billion deal to create the world’s biggest airline.
DEEIA D. BECK, MBA ’85, JD ’94, was reappointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Office of Public Insurance Counsel for the state of Texas. The office represents the interests of insurance consumers in regulatory matters relating to insurance rates, rules and forms. Beck has served as public counsel for the Office of Public Insurance Counsel since her appointment in September 2008.
E.J. BIRD, BBA, was named interim chief financial officer for Sears Canada, Inc. He will continue to serve as a director of Sears Canada, a role he has held since 2006, and will step down as lead director and member of the audit committee. Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer with a network that includes 181 corporate stores, 261 hometown dealer stores, nine home services showrooms, over 1,500 catalogue and online merchandise pick-up locations, 101 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair and installation network.
KEN PAXTON, MBA, was elected to the Texas Senate in November 2012 after serving five terms in the Texas House of Representatives. He was recently appointed vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation. Paxton also serves on the Senate Education Committee, the Senate Committee on Government Organization, the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations and the Senate Jurisprudence Committee. He and his wife, Angela, reside in McKinney, Texas, with their three teenage daughters. His son is a sophomore at Baylor University.
JANE CROFT, BBA, was honored as a National Employee of the Year-2013 from Careers & the disABLED Magazine. She was one of 10 winners out of thousands of submissions from all business industries. She currently works remotely from Washington state as an IT quality control analyst for Wellpoint, Inc. Jane wrote: “It was an exciting and inspirational night where all 10 of us come from different disability and walks of life. It is so encouraging to know we have winners out there being great contributors to their respective employers; to the labor force; and to society as a whole.”
ROBERT SARTIN, BBA, was appointed to Frost Brown Todd, LLC’s nine-person executive committee for a three-year term after having previously served on the firm’s strategic planning, finance and advancement committees. Sartin moved to Frost Brown Todd, LLC’s Nashville office in 2011 to help expand the firm’s presence in this market from Lexington, Ken., where he was the member-in-charge of the Lexington office. Frost Brown Todd, LLC has approximately 450 attorneys with 9 offices in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.
KELLI C. STYRON, BBA, JD ’94, was named dean of College of Liberal and Fine Arts at Tarleton State University. She served as interim dean of the college for 18 months, and after a nationwide search and review process, was selected to lead the college as its new dean.
JENNIFER SAMPSON, BBA, president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, was honored by The National Diversity Council as one of this year’s “Most Powerful and Influential Women of Texas.” Sampson is among a group of 19 women to receive this honor in 2013. Honorees were selected based on leadership excellence; professional accomplishments; their impact on revenue, profitability and strategic direction; community involvement and leadership; and demonstration of the highest ethical standards.
BRANDON JOHNSON, BBA, was named director of marketing for the new Frisco Gun Club in the north Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. The Frisco Gun Club is an upscale, country-club style gun range that will be the largest indoor gun range in the country. It also offers fine dining, drinks and cigars to VIP Club members. www.FriscoGun.com
JOYCE LEE, BBA, was named to the executive leadership team at Zoetis Inc., the recently spun-out animal health division of Pfizer Inc., with the largest IPO offering in the first quarter of 2013. She serves as executive vice president and area president of the Canada/Latin America region, which is the fastest growing regional business for Zoetis. The company is the world’s leading developer of animal health medicines. Lee leads teams that are responsible for operations ranging from established to emerging markets. Prior to this role, she was on the animal health leadership team at Pfizer Inc. until the separation of Zoetis. www.zoetis.com. Joyce and her husband, Brian Kim (BS ’93) live in Madison, NJ.
TODD J. LILES, BBA, JD ’96,was named partner in the Dallas office of Cantey Hanger LLP. Liles’ practice focuses on title insurance litigation, real estate litigation and general commercial litigation in state and federal courts in the state of Texas.
SCOTT A. HAYES, BA-BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, was appointed as president and CEO of Dallas-based Institutional Securities Corporation. His plans for the future include ramping up qualified retirement plan assets under management through the firm’s fiduciary services, building assets on the firm’s managed platforms, expanding product and service offerings to clients, and selectively growing the firm’s advisor base. He has been with the company since 1997.
TEMPLE WEISS, BBA, was named chief financial officer of Pegasus Solutions, the largest processor of electronic hotel transactions. He brings a solid blend of hospitality, finance and development experience to the role, including a decade with La Quinta, a Pegasus client.
CHERIE MARCUM, BBA, was named external vice president for Dallas Market Center. In her position, Marcum is responsible for overseeing the company’s financial processes, audits and budgeting system. Dallas Market Center is the world’s most complete wholesale marketplace. Within its marketplace of more than five million square feet, retailers from around the globe source products ranging from home furnishings, gifts, decorative accessories and lighting to textiles, fashion accessories and men’s, western, women’s and children’s apparel.
J.K. BAXTER, BBA, was named senior vice president and general manager for the machine division of HOLT CAT, the Caterpillar Equipment and Engine dealer for South, Central, North and Northeast Texas. In his new role, Baxter will be responsible for leading all sales and support operations for HOLT’s construction equipment division. Additional enterprises he will be responsible for include HOLT AgriBusiness, HOLT Crane & Equipment and SiTech Tejas.
KATIE (HARVEY) LACKEY, BBA, was named partner in the Fort Worth office of Cantey Hanger LLP. The practice focus for Lackey includes appellate, commercial litigation, family law and litigation. Lackey graduated from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 2005.
MATTHEW DAVIS, BBA, joined Panini America, Inc., as a product development assistant. Panini America is based in Irving, Texas, and it is the world’s largest producer of officially licensed sports and entertainment collectibles.
JEFFREY D. CUMMINS, BBA, MBA, CPA, CFP(R), was named Spectrum Financial Group’s “Advisor of the Year” for 2012. He joined the personal financial planning firm in 2002 and helps families get more out of life by getting organized, saving more and creating a financial roadmap for the future. In 2008, Cummins became a Certified Financial Planner ™ and created a niche in working with physicians. He works from the company’s North Dallas offices.
THASUNDA BROWN DUCKETT, MBA, was named CEO of Auto Finance, part of JP Morgan Chase & Co’s Consumer & Community Banking division. Her new role also includes oversight of Chase’s Student Lending business. Chase Auto Finance is one of the leading bank providers of auto financing in the country. With a portfolio of more than $50 billion in assets and relationships with more than 75 percent of all U.S. franchised automotive dealers, Chase Auto Finance provides a broad spectrum of products to meet the full range of credit needs of their customers. Chase Auto Finance purchases auto loans and leases from a national network of automotive dealers as well as making auto loans directly to consumers through various Chase channels. In addition, Chase Auto Finance provides commercial loans to auto dealers throughout the U.S.
DAVID PAAVOLA, BBA, joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP as an associate in its Columbia office. He practices in the areas of business litigation, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, and products liability. Before joining the firm, Paavola served internships with the Honorable Henry F. Floyd, former U.S. District Judge, District of South Carolina, and the Honorable Margaret B. Seymour, U.S. District Judge, District of South Carolina. He earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 2012 from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
SARAH ROBERTS, BBA, was recognized in a list of the top “40 under 40” young professionals in economic development by Development Counselors International, a New York economic development marketing firm. Roberts recruited industry for the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and joined the Chamber team in 2003.
NICK KABANI, BBA, was promoted to a manager within the tax department of the Southwest region’s top accounting firm, Gainer Donnelly LLP, located in Houston, Texas. Kabani has over seven years of experience in tax preparation, review and planning with a focus on both personal and corporate tax.
SARABETH SWAGERTY, BBA, combined a passion for music and her Baylor degree to form her own record label in Nashville, Tenn. Circle S Records was formed after the Dallas native decided to pursue her dreams in the world of country music. The Dallas native teamed with Dean Sams, of the award-winning country group Lonestar, to help produce projects and run the label. Swagerty’s music has been featured on AOL’s The Boot and www.Roughstock.com. Her debut EP, Kickin’ and Screamin’, is now available on iTunes and Amazon. www.SaraBethMusic.com.
ROSE VERA, MBA, names administrator of Austin’s new Silverado Senior Living community. She will manage the property that opened in April. She comes to the position with 15 years of experience in assisted living and memory-care.
LUIS CASTELLANOS, MBA, started Tutor Doctor, a tutoring services business that provides one-on-one, at home tutoring at flexible times and affordable rates for students of all ages in the Austin, Texas, metropolitan area. Tutor Doctor creates a tailor-made work plan for each student based on their goals and situation. Luis writes: “One of the reasons I started the EMBA at Baylor was to learn new skills that would help me complement my experience to start my own business. As part of the assignments and main final project, was the creation of a business plan, eventually pitched to a panel of potential investors. This experience proved to be very educational and helpful for me. I used the learning I acquired at Baylor to start Tutor Doctor.” www.myaustintutors.com
JAKE DAHMS, BBA, has teamed up with another Baylor alum, Tyler Bull, to create a new business in Waco called Sic’em Delivery. The company serves the Baylor campus and downtown Waco businesses with deliveries from local restaurants or grocery stores for a fee. www.sicemdelivery.com
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Baylor Business Review, Fall 2013
By Julie Carlson
Sue* is undergoing cancer treatment at Houston’s famed M.D. Anderson hospital. Whenever she has a question about her care she can log on to her ownpersonal account at MyMDAnderson.org. There she can send emails to/from her doctors and the business staff, look at lab results, read the doctors’ notes and see her entire schedule.
In the next few years, a personal patient portal like Sue’s will become commonplace at hospitals around the country, thanks to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was part of the Stimulus Bill of 2009.
The HITECH ACT gives the Department of Health & Human Services the authority to establish programs to improve health care quality, safety and efficiency through the promotion of healthcare IT, including electronic health records (EHR) and private and secure electronic health information exchanges.
Under HITECH, eligible health care professionals and hospitals can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments when they adopt certified EHR technology and use it to achieve stated objectives.
The first stage of the HITECH act focuses on EHR and on data collection. The specific part of the law states that providers must become a meaningful user of the EHR system by meeting specific requirements, such as ordering medications through a computerized provider order entry for a specific percentage of patients. Providers that haven’t become meaningful users of an EHR system by 2015 will face a reduction in their Medicare reimbursement.
A recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that as of 2012 44 percent of hospitals had a basic electronic medical record system installed. Additionally, the number of physician offices using the records increased to 38 percent last year.
Baylor alumnus Alex Bradford is helping hospitals and doctors make the switch to the electronic system. Bradford received his MBA with a healthcare administration concentration in 2011. For his seven-month residency, which is required to graduate, he worked for the New Mexico Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center. He stayed on after graduation.
“Each state has at least one regional extension center. We are tasked to help provider offices that are typically smaller offices and often rural and small hospitals get their electronic health record systems up and running and in compliance with the meaningful use standards,” he said.
According to Bradford, the stimulus bill allocated approximately $19 billion to try to increase the supporting infrastructure of healthcare IT. The goal is that adopting more healthcare IT will lower overall healthcare expenditures and decrease medical errors. While the medical field has long relied on technology, from artificial hearts to robotic surgery, healthcare administration has not kept up.
“If you look at the healthcare administration industry, it is incredibly slow in adopting any kind of supporting healthcare tech,” Bradford said. “It is counterintuitive because healthcare is very complex and a lot of medical and lab technology is top of the line. But when it came to the record keeping aspect, we lagged behind other industries.”
There are multiple reasons for the push for EHR, according to Bradford. Healthcare providers will have more accurate billing and claims by using EHR with the tangible benefit of more money coming into the practice. In many cases, physicians also increase their productivity after learning an EHR system. An EHR will reduce overall wasted tests.
“If a doctor runs an expensive test at one hospital and then the patient gets transferred to another hospital, that expensive test isn’t rerun; the physician can look at the EHR to look at the results. EHR systems also will reduce overall medical errors. For example, if a provider makes a mistake and prescribes a medication that interacts with another in a negative way, the system will alert them,” Bradford said.
However, sharing those health records across medical organizations remains a difficult proposition. Stage two of the HITECH Act will focus more on interoperability while stage three, which is still to be thoroughly defined, will most likely involve the seamless exchange of healthcare information.
“In some other countries with a more socialized healthcare system, a universal form of EHR has been established,” Bradford said. “In the U.S., we have to maintain the competitive market. What has been done with the stimulus bill is that some standards have been put in place, and the systems all have to meet these specific certification standards in order for the hospitals and providers using the systems to be eligible to receive incentive payments. While the systems find different ways to meet those standards, they all have to communicate with people using a different software product that also meets those standards. We are still having problems with that communication, but systems are moving in the right direction in my opinion.”
One way to handle interoperability is the creation of a personal patient portal. The HITECH Act requirements focus on providing patients with timely online access to their health information.
“Stage two has requirements that every provider must have a patient portal. There also is a requirement that says not only do a certain percentage of patients have a certain amount of health information available online, but then five percent of those patients have to go out and view that information on their patient portal,” Bradford said.
Provider-to-provider communication through health information exchange networks are written into the HITECH Act requirements, but healthcare organizations also are looking at the potential to allow the patient to be part of the health information exchange network, too.
“So I would maintain my information on my patient portal, but I can go to a provider and hand them my information, which they can load into their system,” Bradford said.
Smartphone apps might be a way to create such a network, but security and privacy concerns abound. Healthcare providers are governed by strict laws with regard to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and HITECH. One of the core requirements for meaningful use is to conduct security risk analysis, determine what risks exist and set a timeline to address those risks. But no such requirement exists for healthcare information stored on an app.
“When you take possession of it (healthcare information) and share it – stick it in an app; share it on the web, on a social networking site – it’s not going to be protected beyond what’s in the privacy policy for the app, or what’s on the privacy policy for the social networking site; and you have to read that,” said Deven McGraw of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology in a recent interview with National Public Radio.
EHR, patient portals and smartphone apps for storing healthcare information aren’t the only ways the healthcare industry has embraced technology. Hospitals use RFID tags to keep track of inventory. Doctors are using voice-recognition software for dictation instead of relying on transcriptionists. Medical professionals and organizations use YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs to connect with patients or to explain complex health information. In fact, the Mayo Clinic has an entire center dedicated to social media and shares its expertise with other hospitals that want to establish a robust presence online.
“All healthcare groups should have an IT officer,” Bradford said. “It is definitely a growth industry, is high paying and will continue to expand.”
*The patient’s name and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the individual.
Baylor Business Review, Fall 2013
