Ed McCallister, SVP & CIO, UPMC, Chapter 2

There’s a lot of talk about innovation in healthcare IT, but when Ed McCallister says it’s in the DNA of his organization, it’s not just talk. In addition to more than 20 hospitals, 500 outpatient sites and a health plan, UPMC comprises an innovation arm that has launched several products and companies, including an ACO initiative. It’s no wonder McCallister says innovation is a verb — not a noun. In this interview, he talks about the growing trend in consumerism and how his team is leveraging data to transform the patient experience; the partnership that he believes will transform the way care is delivered; and what it really means to be an integrated delivery system. He also shares his thoughts on where the industry is headed, and what he learned from being on the payer side.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2



* UPMC Enterprises — “Incubator of ideas”

* “The DNA of UPMC is innovation”

* Thinking 3 or 4 moves ahead

* Redefining CIO — “My role is to enable great minds to create the future through technology.”

* Taking vendor relationships from contractual to strategic

* The integrated delivery system model

* Population health — “What’s driving it all is analytics”



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Bold Statements

It’s a different timeline than what we’re used to within in the technology areas, and it’s able to accelerate some of the great ideas and get a product out to market and solve problems faster than traditionally people could as trying to do it as a part-time effort.

We’ve always been at the forefront of hey, we’re very good at this, but this is changing. How do we get to the next this?

You’re not necessarily looking for innovation; what you’re doing is you’re creating an experience in a way that hasn’t been done, and what that equates to is being very innovative in how we think.

There are some great vendor partners out there, but we have to approach it in a very strategic way, less ‘how much more money you’re going to spend over the next 3 years on our product’ and more ‘where are we going to take this thing called healthcare as an industry together.’

When you talk population health, there are the tools — it ties back to the whole idea around guidance, motivation, and convenience for the particular person — but what’s driving it all is the analytics.

Gamble:  So I really want to get to talk more about innovation which UPMC is so unique with things like the technology development center, which to my understanding is a separate operation, but the IT staff can participate.  Can you talk a little bit about how that works?

McCallister:  That’s probably a good segue. TDC, the Technology Development Center, was actually a very successful incubator of great ideas and creation of products, and it actually set the groundwork and set the stage for what we’re calling UPMC Enterprises now. TDC, as you may have known it in the past, has been consolidated into the UPMC Enterprises vision, where we get good ideas and vet them and develop the ones that come through the process and then grow a business out of that particular product. I would view TDC as providing the great foundation for what the UPMC Enterprises’ vision is moving us into the future.

I have a great advantage of keeping the train on the tracks as far as the business. UPMC is in the business of world-class patient care; that’s what we do, and technology plays a big role in that piece. So I have the opportunity to not only keep the train on the track and keep the things moving that have made UPMC the organization that we are, but also have an innovation partner in the UPMC Enterprises group that will grow the future of what we are.