New Book Reveals How Emerging Technologies are Transforming Care Delivery and Reducing Health Care Costs

Kaiser Permanente CIO Phil Fasano offers insight into the future of health care

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Mar 05, 2013, 10:38 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In a newly released, thought-provoking book, Transforming Health Care: The Financial Impact of Technology, Electronic Tools and Data Mining, Kaiser Permanente Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Phil Fasano explores how emerging technologies are defining the future of health care.

Fasano advocates that applying technological advances to the delivery of health care will significantly improve the health of patients, communities and the nation, and drive efficiencies in the health care system. Advances in digital health, mobile technologies and analytics are drastically changing how physicians and health care systems deliver care and how patients will participate in their own health in the future.

"As technology continues to accelerate at a rapid-fire pace, health care innovation is propelling us into a new era of care delivery," Fasano said. "This era puts the patient directly in the center, and technology enables us to have well-integrated information conveniently available at every point of care, allowing for better care and improved efficiencies throughout the system."

From the development of electronic health records, which Fasano calls a medical breakthrough as important as penicillin, to being able to see patient test results online, health care today is on the brink of a revolution from which all patients will benefit. Fasano gives readers a glimpse into the not-so-distant future, where patients use mobile phones to take blood-pressure readings during video chats with their doctors; where nutritionists analyze what their clients just ate for lunch via texts and tweets; and where a patient-centered approach is predominant because of the convenient access to information and care teams.

Transforming Health Care also delivers a pointed message to the technology industry, investors and entrepreneurs: They must deliver the innovative, scalable, secure and consumer-friendly technologies that are essential to the future of health care. Fasano offers guidance to finance, business and health care professionals who are prepared to drive transformation through a patient-centered approach.

"Phil has initiated an important conversation for our industry," said Jack Cochran, MD, FACS, executive director of The Permanente Federation. "This is a comprehensive and accessible exploration of how health information technology, done well, will enable us to provide true 21st-century health care."

Published by Wiley, Transforming Health Care: The Financial Impact of Technology, Electronic Tools and Data Mining is now available at leading book retailers and online at Amazon.com and BN.com.

After a 25-year career in information technology in the financial services industry, and now nearly six years in health care at Kaiser Permanente, Phil Fasano is passionate about transforming health care through technology. He is responsible for the organization's health IT agenda and implementing tools and platforms that deliver smarter, more connected care. In 2010, he was named one of Computerworld's Top 100 IT Leaders for his exceptional leadership and IT strategies. Fasano serves as co-chair for the CIO Leadership Network's San Francisco CIO Executive Summit, and also provides technology and health care industry leadership as a member of the board of directors of the Oracle CIO Customer Advisory Board and Sierra Ventures CIO Advisory Board.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.

For more information, contact:
Ravi Poorsina, 510.421-0557, [email protected]
Amanda Wardell, 510.292-0758, [email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente