Features December 2018

In 1987, just months after becoming Hidalgo Independent School District’s lone computer coordinator, 22-year-old Adrian Garcia surveyed the IT landscape and did what had always felt like second nature: he dreamed of making things better. At a time when 10-megabyte Compaq Desktops were considered state-of-the-art and the internet was still the niche domain of plugged-in […]

The evolving nature of health care has some very informed people predicting that the role of the radiologist will be phased out as the full extent of artificial intelligence is realized. Matt Dewey, the CIO at Wake Radiology, isn’t so certain about the impending demise of a profession he holds in such high regard. He’s […]

For as long as the earth’s tectonic plates have been shifting—read: a very long time—humans and other creatures have been affected by earthquakes. And while the phenomena typically last mere seconds, their destruction can be catastrophic and widespread: recent earthquakes have killed hundreds of thousands of people and leveled landscapes across Nepal, Haiti, Japan, Mexico […]

Vince Scheivert laughs as he recalls how his early interest in info-tech was partially awakened by him and some high school buddies attempting a computer program to predict the outcome of 1988’s March Madness. The then 15-year-olds thought they were fairly advanced with computers, and by the standards of three decades ago they may well […]

One-hundred and forty-one hotels, from extended-stay suites to economy units, the length and breadth of Mexico. Nearly four thousand employees. An annual revenue in the nine figures. Hoteles City Express (HCE) is more than a formidable enterprise; it’s one of the fastest-growing hotel chains in Latin America. That, in turn, requires a nimble, two-steps-ahead approach […]

From door to door, the drive will take less than five minutes. Once inside the urgent care center, it’ll be no more than 10 before a doctor is ready to see your son—a few stiches, he’s good as new. That should leave plenty of time to check out the healthy lifestyle center down the hall. […]

For years, whenever a patient was referred by Artesia General Hospital (AGH) to one of its 16 outpatient clinics, hospital staff would have to print the patient’s information from an electronic medical record system (EMR) and deliver it, by car and foot, to the next clinician. After the checkup, new data would be added to […]

Newly hired in June 2017 as chief operating officer at Jackson Parish Hospital in Jonesboro, Louisiana, Dr. Jason A. Thomas gave the CEO a compelling reason to put him in charge of info-tech as well. “I emphasized IT’s evolving role in health care and that it would be best for me to negotiate the contracts […]

By the time you finish reading this sentence, Amazon will have delivered 100 packages to mailboxes and doorsteps throughout the United States. That’s 1.6 million packages per day, or nearly 5 billion every year—all opened with faith the wares inside are as good as advertised. Yet even in this digital age, there are products that […]

Any chief information security officer who believes he or she can ease up on the job ought to think again. So reminds Dr. Trebor Z. Evans, who makes a mission out of securing data while enabling the business operations at the Pittsburgh-based Dollar Bank. “You can’t be too comfortable for a moment,” the ever-businesslike Evans […]