Rolling Stone Magazine Said He Is Changing America….But Dr. Alan Russell Is Just Doing His Job: What Is He Doing To Reshape Our Views On Medicine?
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This week, “The Raja Show” returns live to the studio, as Raja continues his look at the interaction between medicine and innovation, and the role that the Western Pennsylvania region plays in making it all happen.
-When Dr. Alan Russell assesses the “big picture” of health care in the U.S., his issues with the current system mirror those that most any of us would have. Too much emphasis on treating symptoms and not enough on finding a cure. “General” hospitals that try to be all things to all people rather than focus on the needs of the individual. Figuring out how to put the patient first, treating his or her issue as it happens….when it happens.
As the Founding Director of the Disruptive Health Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Russell is in a position to do something about it. His mission is simple: Use the University’s vast resources in the realm of information technology, as well as his unparalleled expertise in the field of medicine, to conduct research to find cost- and time-effective solutions to solve the aforementioned medical concerns that Dr. Russell (and most of us, frankly) have with the current medical system.
It’s not an easy job by any means, but so far, Dr. Russell has proven to be up to the task. And his body of work has garnered national acclaim. Medical journals throughout the country have lauded his work for some time now, but when Rolling Stone Magazine named him one of the Top 100 People Who Are Changing America in 2009 (and all the way up at #32 to boot…..take that, Will Ferrell and Taylor Swift!), the world at large began to take notice of what Dr. Russell is capable of.
Today, Dr. Russell talks with Raja about what he is doing to bring innovation to medicine, and vice versa. Plus, as a native Brit, Dr. Russell gives his take on the impact of this week’s historic “Brexit” vote.
-Plus, Raja talks with Dr. Srinivasan Suresh, who serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer, Medical Officer, Quality and Patient Safety at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
As CMIO, Suresh is instrumental in implementing state of the art information technology within the framework of medical operation at Children’s. He serves the Pittsburgh Children’s location by crafting the strategy for how, exactly, the hospital would use IT when it comes to treatment of children, especially when it came to the Emergency Department, as Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Emergency Department is annually one of the busiest in the country, taking in almost 80,000 patients a year.
Such volume requires an effective IT strategy to not only keep it all straight, but to ensure that the number that matters MOST to the hospital is “1″. As in, “one patient”….making sure that each individual child gets the treatment that he or she needs, in a timely, cost-effective matter.
Suresh will talk with Raja about his experience in the field of pediatric medicine, and why IT is more important than ever before when it comes to ensuring that all treatment metrics, including response times, medicinal dosage and frequency, and staffing and personnel, are up to par.
Innovation is KEY to making medicine work, as there may be no more critical place for innovation to thrive than an area where innovation can literally SAVE LIVES! Alan Russell and Srinivasan Suresh are two of the region’s foremost leaders when it comes to bringing innovation and medicine together
