C. Martin Harris, M.D., is Chief Medical Information Officer at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where he also is the Chief Information Officer and chairman of the Information Technology Division.
Dr. Harris was the keynote speaker at a Broadband event at the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland Ohio on October 7, 2011. The event was titled Mid-Course Workshop for Broadband Awardees: Accelerating Deployments & Driving Towards Sustainability Conference and sponsored by OneCommunity.
After the keynote address, Dr. Harris answered several questions from the audience. The first was about medical reimbursements. Since historically, telephone calls are not considered medical care, they are not reimbursed. The questioner wonder about the status of this as digital and remote healthcare becomes more prevalent.
Cleveland Clinic CIO Martin Harris
Another asked a question about delivering the Cleveland Clinic model at a distance - outside of Cleveland and even internationally.
One questioner wanted to make sure that not just those who currently have excellent medical care are able to access the new technologies. Dr. Harris discussed the digital models of healthcare.
Privacy and security are the major concerns with electronic medical records. Dr. Harris said that people are not concerned about hacking as much as confidentiality, such as who can see their medical records.
Healthcare Reform is on everyone's mind. Dr. Harris said that no matter what happens, the cost curve is not sustainable.
