Over 350 guests from more than 20 client organizations attended the 10th Cerner Middle East and Africa Collaboration Forum (#CernerMEACF19) April 15-17. The three-day forum offered health and technology professionals a range of informative keynote and education sessions, and opportunities to network around industry topics that are shaping the health care of today and tomorrow.
A modern, interactive exploration of health care
The experience started from the moment delegates checked in at a registration desk equipped with iPads for seamless onsite badge printing. The ballroom setup highlighted colorful, overlapping LED squares that signified Cerner’s theme of Smarter Care. Better Outcomes. Healthier You. All social media posts using #CernerMEACF19 were displayed on screens in the ballroom during the forum. This created an interactive, social environment, with the two most active Twitter users recognized on the last day with exciting prizes.
Furthermore, an app was developed to encourage interaction and involvement from the audience. The app included speakers’ names and their presentations, direct interaction with presenters via live Q&As, polls and voting features, and more. Delegates thoroughly enjoyed the app’s game feature which empowered them to compete with their fellow attendees and score points.
#CernerMEACF19 also entertained delegates with a calligraphy station and a GIF booth. At the vox pop-up booth, clients had an opportunity to film video testimonials on the significance of Smarter Care. Better Outcomes. Healthier You.
The exhibition floor and Cerner’s Solution Gallery were open throughout the day giving delegates a chance to network and explore. The gallery featured six Cerner workstations and 12 Cerner partners who filled the ballroom foyer with their offerings, innovations and services.
The gallery hosted Cerner solutions and services related to population health, Cerner’s Logistics Center, virtual assistants, connecting the care continuum and i.s.h.med. In addition, the delegates were given an opportunity to interact with the client experience team, as well as, experience the Cerner health stimulator, which provided them with an exposure to immersive virtual reality.
Driving excellence in health care and pursuing the Quadruple Aim
The first day of the forum kicked off with four pre-conference workshops in the morning followed by four additional sessions in the afternoon. Topics included advancing nursing informatics leadership, clinical excellence, regulatory consulting, revenue cycle, running successful IT-HIS organizations, population health and i.s.h.med strategy with SAP.
On the forum’s second day, Bachir Awad, vice president and managing director of Cerner Middle East and Africa, gave an opening speech. He shared a heartfelt story of his loved one’s journey of overcoming health challenges through the support of one of our client hospitals, accentuating the importance of smarter care that ensures better outcomes and ultimately a healthier you.
The first keynote session of the event was presented by Kathy Sienko, chief nursing officer of Aldara Hospital and Medical Center in Saudi Arabia, who enlightened the audience about the Quadruple Aim, using care team well-being to drive excellence in population health, cost reduction and patient experience.
The next two sessions were presented by Paul Weaver, Cerner’s vice president of User Experience and Human Factors Research, about the company’s UX vision of the future, and Kristen Harnack, senior solution advisor at Cerner Middle East and Africa, who presented an engaging session on population health for today and tomorrow.
Next up, was a panel of prominent industry leaders, including Brian De Francesca, CEO of Ver2 Digital Medicine, Greg Strevig, vice president of Enterprise Analytics at Geisinger USA, and Jamil Asfour, partner at Roland Berger Middle East. The panel, which involved an insightful discussion about customer relationship management (CRM) excellence, was moderated by Michael Schelper, general manager of Strategic Growth Markets at Cerner.
The afternoon sessions focused on the Cerner Middle East and Africa Achievement & Innovation Awards finalists presenting their submissions. There was a total of 12 talks, three for each of the following award categories – User Experience, Patient Experience, Health Outcomes and Financial Outcomes. The audience voted after each session through the event app to select their preferred winner for each category.
The day concluded with a fascinating keynote session by Osman Sultan, CEO of du Telecom, who shared his expertise on how society is gravitating towards digitalization.
Shaping the health care of tomorrow: AI, big data, genomics and more
The final day began with another mind-blowing show opener that wowed the delegates and set the stage for the morning keynote session by Strevig, who explained how health care is being transformed through a collaboration between the provider and the patient.
The keynote was followed by six one-hour interactive breakout sessions covering topics such as clinician burnout, revenue cycle, connected care with smart facilities, eCoach and Ta’aleemona (which means “our education” in Arabic), a CNO/CNIO (nursing) roundtable and a thought leadership panel on technology.
After lunch and networking, Nicklas Dahlstrom, Human Factors lead at Emirates, presented his keynote on safety and human factors. He elaborated on how the realization of need and consequent accidents have led to customer relationship management efficiency success, but it also brings criticisms of its shortcomings and an understanding of required solutions going forward.
Following the keynote were six thought-provoking general sessions presented by clients, guests and Cerner associates on hot topics such as artificial intelligence, impact of digitalization, future of health care, genomics and big data.
The forum concluded with the Cerner Middle East and Africa Achievement and Innovation Awards ceremony, which was hosted by Ali Slimani, general manager of IT Works for Cerner Middle East and Africa. The general managers of Cerner gave out trophies to their client finalists and the winners of each of the award categories.
Cerner’s mission is to relentlessly seek breakthrough innovation that will shape the health care of tomorrow. And we believe that what we do doesn’t just impact health care—it impacts the world. Learn more here.
