Running for your life

I just finished up two nomination packages yesterday.

The first to finish was my nomination to run again as a Board Member in HL7.  In addition to rounding up the necessary nominations, a board candidate makes several commitments to HL7 with respect to participation in meetings, behaving as appropriate to a member of the board, declaring any conflicts of interest, following the bylaws, et cetera.  We also have to fill out a profile, which includes our vision statement for HL7.  Here is mine below:

Vision Statement:

My vision is to see HL7 through a transition in technology and policy to become the best and most widely implemented and understood standard in healthcare. The HL7 organization must better support the changing demands on standards in Health IT. The rise of mobile health, and demands of current national and international initiatives require a more responsive approach to standards development.

The second was a nomination to be on the HIT Standards Committee.  For that, you are requested to submit not "nominations" by others, but rather letters of support.  In addition to a letter of support from my employer, I received many others.  I was deeply honored by what those who offered me letters of support had to say.  This took quite a bit more time to put together than my HL7 nomination, and given the schedule and pace of activities here in the US, fully expect it to take up a great deal more time.

I wasn't asked for a vision statement for the HIT Standards Committee, and now that I think about it, I should probably have written one, so here it is:

My vision for Health IT Standards Committee is that through its efforts, the US will become a leading nation with respect to the use and deployment of Healthcare IT; that our models for collaboration with patients, providers, industry will become an example for other countries, just as we learn build upon the examples and technologies provided by other countries and by international standards organizations in establishing the best healthcare system in the world.

As busy as I am, I think being involved in the governance of standards is vitally important, not just because this is my job, but because it is my passion.  I firmly believe we can build better Healthcare IT through standards, and will continue to work towards that effort, whether or not I get elected or appointed to either of these positions.

And if I do get elected or appointed, I'll be running as fast and as hard as I can, not just for my life, but for my family's, my tribe's, my community's and my nation's.  In fact, I'm running for your life.