Who or what is BosWashQual?

[Jaz-Michael King]

http://media.linkedin.com/media/p/1/000/005/3b8/19645aa.gif

If you're reading this, you received an invitation to join BosWashQual. And you're probably thinking... what the blip is BosWashQual?

The Boston-Washington Health Quality Network is an experiment in social networking to see who in the Northeast Corridor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BosWash) wants to be in touch with like-minded folks in health care.

I've met a lot of people over the past five years or so who are serious about improving health care quality, cost and quality transparency, electronic health records and personal health records, using new Web technologies to change the way we deliver care, there's an overall theme of re-engineering the way health care works.

Not all of us have the exact same goals or even the same work, but I believe it all ties in to a new paradigm; a patient-centered health care system that caters to informed consumers.

This group has no explicit purpose or goal, I just think we all should keep in touch and know what others in our area are doing. Who knows, we could even collaborate on some ideas...

If you think so too, register for this message board and post your response below.

[Jaz-Michael King]

So I'll kick off the introductions:

My name is Jaz-Michael King, I'm the Senior Director of Communcations for IPRO (http://company.ipro.org) in New York, a health care quality improvement consulting company. I built and run this Web site - Jeny - for quality improvement collaboratives, and I produce and maintain various Web-based transparency sites including a NY/NJ HMO and Hospital report card (http://hcrc.abouthealthquality.org) and the NY Hospital Profiles (http://hospitals.nyhealth.gov/).

I also manage a health care transparency blog (http://www.abouthealthtransparency.org). My background is mainly information technology solutions, so I'm heavily interested in health IT, and I'm pretty vocal about interoperable personal health records on my personal blog (http://ascannerbrightly.blogspot.com).

I live in Brooklyn, travel a lot up and down I-95, I'm originally from Wales and have lived in the USA for about 12 years, and I coach a youth rugby team.

OK, who's next?

[dhowell]

Hi, I was just surfing through the JENY threads and found this one, so I was not invited...but I am very interested in this sort of thing and I would like to participate in it. My name is Denise and I am a wound care specialist nurse currently practicing in the long term care environment. I use the web as a resource for patients, for research, journal searches and as a forum for discussion with colleagues. Because healthcare is a highly complex field today, I'm all for anything that can simplify the process for the patient and the professionals providing the care. So, can I join? :)

[Jaz-Michael King]

I think by dint of finding it you're automatically chairperson... here's the rest of the info:

> > Here's the link to join via LinkedIn:
> > http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/66455/3D883A058F4C
> >
> > And here's the Facebook Link:
> > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9411642303
> >

Welcome!

[dhowell]

Oh my Goodness! Chairperson...what do I have to do? :eek:

[Jaz-Michael King]

Tell more people :)