Getting healthcare leaders and experts more involved

Government relations professionals often work with healthcare executives and other in-house subject-matter experts to help them get directly involved in the policymaking process by introducing them to stakeholders, educating them about the process and how to communicate with decisionmakers, and even helping them apply for and get considered for positions on government advisory panels like the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission.

Marc Probst, chief information officer at interoperability vendor ELLKAY, focused on government relations when he was Intermountain Healthcare’s CIO because of the changes happening in healthcare technology at the time as a result of the Affordable Care Act and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health—HITECH—Act. It was also something he was passionate about.

“A unique differentiator for me in that role was the organization I worked for was very, very well known in healthcare information technology,” he said.

Probst was eventually appointed to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s Health IT Policy Committee, making important decisions concerning tech standards, meaningful use, certification and other policy issues with national implications.

“If you have people in your organization who are knowledgeable and passionate, you’re going to lean on them to get involved.”