Three questions with Garri Garrison: From pen and paper to hands free

I sat down with the 3M Health Information Systems Division President Garri Garrison to talk about the upcoming HIMSS show in Chicago and what you can expect at the 3M HIS booth.

3M’s theme at HIMSS this year is “We wrote the book,” which takes a look back at our legacy and looks forward to our next chapter. Can you talk about how 3M’s legacy is guiding our future?

Yes! I’m really excited to attend HIMSS this year and see all our clients and friends in the industry. 3M’s journey over the last 40-plus years has been predicated on change. You know, 10 years ago, the majority of coding was still done manually. Coders had to manually enter codes or diagnoses/procedures into encoding software programs. Physicians used to document with handwritten notes, and we all know how easy to read those were. (They were not!) Over the last four decades, we’ve seen those manual processes slowly transition to automated processes.

Coding has moved from manual coding to computer-assisted coding to now direct to bill and coding automation. Physician documentation has moved from handwritten notes to transcription to speech, and now we’re moving to ambient capture. All along this journey, we’ve been in lockstep with our clients to identify where the problems and challenges are so we can work together to innovate the best, most efficient solutions. It’s really cool to take a look back and see just how far we’ve really come. At times it’s been slow, but we stand firmly in the philosophy that we’d rather get it right than get it fast. And I think our clients appreciate that approach and respect our commitment to doing things the right way. They know that when we tell them something works a certain way that we’re going to do everything we can to deliver on that promise. That’s another reason I love events like HIMSS because it gives us another opportunity to connect directly with the people that are using our solutions every day, gather their feedback and make adjustments to better fit their needs.

What else can people expect at our HIMSS booth this year?

Well, I’ll be there, along with the majority of our leadership team. Dr. Sandeep Wadhwa, our global chief medical officer, will be on hand to chat about our new 3M™ Ambulatory Potentially Preventable Complications Grouping Software, methodologies and value-based care. Jason Burke, our vice president of revenue cycle solutions, and Jared Sorenson, our vice president of clinician solutions, will both be on hand to talk about revenue cycle and physician products and how the two segments interact. Kim Aiello, vice president federal market and grouper applications, will be there to talk with federal markets and Mike Ristau, vice president global marketing and international growth officer, will lead discussions with our global clients. We have a full team that’s standing ready to show you demos of our solutions and new features and to help you figure out what’s the best fit for your unique needs. I hope to see you all in Chicago!

It’s almost earnings season, and financial performance is top of mind for hospitals and health systems. How can 3M help our clients find creative solutions to some of the challenges they are facing?

One of the most important things we do is help our clients measure return on investment (ROI). I’m hearing from literally all of our clients that they are being asked to do more with less and show the value of their investments. Can they prove that the technology they’ve invested in is making a difference? I mentioned in my last blog post that we frequently analyze our clients’ data to help them identify where there could be revenue opportunities by comparing them to best practices and benchmarks. We can help them identify where there are gaps or areas for improvement.

Not only that, but we’re going to do it at HIMSS this year! Our team will be at the 3M booth ready to show you your data and help identify ways we can help close those gaps and inefficiencies. So, stop by, grab a cup of coffee, chat with our leaders and experts and let’s explore how we can best support you. (And you can go back to your boss and take all the credit for identifying these cost savings or revenue opportunities. We won’t tell!)

Garri Garrison is division president for 3M Health Information Systems.

Kelli Christman is marketing communications manager at 3M Health Information Systems.