Tag Archives: HITS

Home for Dinner: HITS aims to reduce physician burnout

By | December 6, 2019

Last year, HITS instituted a program called Home for Dinner, to help physicians use MiChart more efficiently. Provider exhaustion is a significant issue across the medical community. While MiChart, the electronic health record (EHR) at Michigan Medicine, can enhance coordination and quality of care, it can also have unintended negative consequences. Michigan Medicine providers are spending significant time… Read More »

Profiles in IT: Andrew Staley—DEI warrior

Andrew Staley was recently interviewed about his work on the Platform Services team with Health Information Technology and Services (HITS). He also opened up about what it’s like working at Michigan Medicine while dealing with ADHD, ASD, OCD, and a wheelchair.  What is your role at HITS? I’m a web server administrator on the HITS Platform Services team.… Read More »

Michigan Medicine hosts 2019 HDAA Conference

By | November 12, 2019

During the week of October 21, 2019, healthcare data and analytics practitioners from across the U.S. and Canada descended upon Ann Arbor to participate in the annual conference of the Healthcare Data & Analytics Association (HDAA)—hosted by Michigan Medicine. The theme of this year’s conference was The Art of Data & Analytics. Almost 400 attendees from more than 140… Read More »

Building research IT services and partnerships

By | November 7, 2019

The relationship between research and IT is complex. Erin Dietrich, HITS senior director, and her team team are on a mission to strengthen the relationship between researchers and HITS, improve the customer experience, and raise awareness of IT services. “In developing a strategy and vision for research IT, we have focused on defining the services needed to support… Read More »

Michigan Medicine offers a free password manager for its employees

Michigan Medicine employees and students are required to use passwords to access various applications and business systems in their daily work. Because it can be difficult to keep track of multiple passwords, some people choose a simple password they can remember (e.g., their date of birth, a pet’s name, or another easily discovered piece of personal information), keep… Read More »

App connects Michigan providers with U-M mental health experts

Michigan, like most of the country, is in desperate need of more child psychiatrists.  More than 100,000 Michigan children have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or ADHD. Yet, fewer than 250 psychiatrists are trained to treat children in the state. The shortage means pediatricians and other primary care providers often end up treating adolescent mental health issues. “Primary… Read More »

HITS deploys first containerized application to a live production Kubernetes cluster

DevOps is a set of practices that automates the processes between software development and operation teams that historically functioned in relative silos. The HITS DevOps team will provide a new service aligning with these practices.  The team recently deployed its first containerized application to a live production Kubernetes (“koo-burr-NET-eez” or “k8”) cluster. At the heart of this service is a… Read More »

Applications for HITS apprenticeship program now open

The Health Information Technology & Services (HITS) Service Desk is searching for students, recent graduates or other qualified workers to join its entry-level apprenticeship program.  The program is a partnership between Michigan Medicine and Washtenaw Community College (WCC).  Since it began in 2018, the apprenticeship program has had 14 participants and is looking to hire at least four more… Read More »

Michigan Medicine eases the Windows 10 transition

Before Michigan Medicine began its Windows 10 upgrade, the medical center announced the impending project to staff. HITS didn’t want anyone to be surprised. Once word spread, HITS educated employees about the process. The IT staff scheduled meetings with departments, indicated how many devices would be affected, went over schedules and explained what to expect.  “As we do more rollouts, the process has gotten… Read More »

IT helps transform medical student’s learning experience

First-year medical student Jacob Lowy has moderate-to-severe hearing loss in his right ear. Working together, HITS, ITS, and other units on campus leveraged IT that has transformed his experience—including adding captions to lecture videos and setting up realtime captioning (CART) during lectures. Lowy realizes that when something isn’t visible, it’s not always easy to understand. This often happens… Read More »

American College of Clinical Pharmacy recognizes HITS employee’s work

Chris Zimmerman, HITS electronic health record clinical decision support coordinator and informatics pharmacist, is now a co-author of the Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program (PSAP). A compilation of chapters, the PSAP provides a means for thousands of pharmacists nationally to maintain their board certification in various specialty areas. The PSAP also forms a cutting edge education tool for pharmacists to… Read More »

Rematch 2019! ITS v. HITS Backpack Challenge Fundraiser

For several years, ITS has hosted a “backpack challenge” to deliver fully stocked backpacks to local organizations that serve families in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area that struggle economically. Last year, for the first time, ITS invited their colleagues from HITS to a backpack challenge to see which group could raise the most supplies and cash. The 2018 goal… Read More »

HITS apprenticeship program accepting applications

The Health Information Technology & Services (HITS) Service Desk is searching for students, recent graduates, or other qualified workers to join its entry-level apprenticeship program. The program is a partnership between Michigan Medicine and Washtenaw Community College (WCC). Since it began in 2018, the apprenticeship program has had four employees. This fall, however, the program plans to hire… Read More »

Med student challenges: How HITS combats graduation confusion

There is a growing need for assistance as medical students transition from medical school to other institutions for research or residency programs. Issues such as access to email, U-M Box, and MiChart are relevant worries as more than 150 students near their graduation dates. A recent medical school graduate, Balaji Pandian, also the M4 class’ medical technical representative,… Read More »

Michigan Medicine replaces medication dispensing cabinets with new technology

Michigan Medicine is upgrading its automated medication dispensing cabinets across the health system and ambulatory care sites. BD Pyxis, will replace Omnicell, a tool used for nearly 20 years. Med Inn, Taubman, Cancer Center, and UH South began using BD Pyxis dispensing cabinets this month. Additional sites will go-live on a rolling basis this summer and fall. “Once… Read More »

New tech explored at BRCF Genomics Showcase

On June 13, 2019, more than 300 people came together at the Biomedical Research Core Facilities Genomics Showcase to learn more about the rapidly evolving technologies, applications, and platforms available in the genomics space. Cores are centralized facilities or labs that offer shared services, shared equipment, resources, and expertise to biomedical researchers and investigators on a fee-for-service basis.… Read More »

HITS helps Michigan Medicine improve screening rates for adults at risk of liver complications

Michigan Medicine was recently featured for using its electronic medical record to improve screening rates for adults at risk of liver complications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, baby boomers are at high risk of liver complications from hepatitis C, even though the virus is easily treated after it’s identified. To increase awareness and prevent… Read More »

Profiles in IT: Mahathy Kuchibhatla—Patient Portal expert

Michigan IT News recently interviewed Health Information Technology and Services staffer Mahathy Kuchibhatla, M.S., about her work building and managing the Patient Portal (MyUofMHealth.org). An undergraduate project that used Artificial Intelligence got her interested in computers that has led to a 10-year career in IT that improves patient engagement. Tell us about your background. I have a master’s… Read More »