Q&A with Sequoia Project CEO Mariann Yeager, Chapter 1

Are we making progress when it comes to interoperability?

It may seem like a simple question, but in reality, it’s anything but, because, depending on who you ask, the answer can vary quite a bit. For example, patients and caregivers trying to access records might say the industry has made zero progress. On the other hand, those who have been working tirelessly to make interoperability a reality — who have seen firsthand the evolution of data exchange in healthcare, have a different perspective entirely.

As a 20-year veteran of health IT – and CEO of Sequoia Project – Mariann Yeager falls into the latter category. In fact, she’s optimistic about the future, and it’s because of the progress she has seen since the organization was launched in 2012. Recently, healthsystemCIO.com spoke with Yeager about how Sequoia Project acts as a “facilitator” among health systems, vendors, and government agencies; its key initiatives, including supporting disaster response efforts and interoperability testing; and what she believes are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of her role.

Chapter 1



* Sequoia’s mission – “We’ll know we’re successful when information flows freely.”

* Restructuring to reflect growth of eHealth Exchange & Carequality

* Working with providers, vendors & government – “We need all the voices around the table.”

* Improving disaster response with PULSE

* “Let’s leverage the existing infrastructure and use the connectivity providers already have.”

* Interoperability Matters

* Prioritization challenge – “There’s so much we need to focus on.”



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Bold Statements

We’ll know we’re successful when information flows seamlessly and across the whole continuum of care. Until then, we’re focused on narrowing down what the big impediments are and working collaboratively with different stakeholders.

It’s really about collaboration — the broader that is, the better and the more successful we’ll be. It’s very important to Sequoia and everything we do to have open dialogue with all these different groups. We’re going to solve it together, not alone.

Our role is supporting a broader deployment and expansion of PULSE and making sure we’re helping to improve the state of readiness for our country. I believe it should be part of our core infrastructure.

There are also some overarching things that would really benefit from national level coordination. Now that we have real-world interoperable health information exchange occurring, the last thing you want to do is something that would disrupt it.

We see Sequoia’s role as that of a facilitator who can help with the analysis and bring to light the different perspectives. If there are areas where there’s commonality, we’d like to capture those. And if there are disparate views, we can capture those as well, and use that as feedback for policymakers.

Gamble:  Hi Mariann, thank you so much for joining us. I think the best place to start is with an overview of Sequoia Project and its mission.

Yeager:  Certainly. The Sequoia Project is a nonprofit public-private collaborative. We’re fully focused on advancing nationwide interoperability for the public good. We were chartered to offset the burden of government and to really advance the cause in a way that makes sure the interoperability capabilities we’re helping evolve and grow for the country are really suited to meet the broadest needs possible. In terms of our mission, we’ll know we’re successful when information flows seamlessly and across the whole continuum of care. Until then, we’re focused on narrowing down what the big impediments are and working collaboratively with different stakeholders across industry and government to so...