One of the most exciting things about the current environment in healthcare these days is the confluence of policy and industry trends, a confluence that is creating clarity for healthcare leaders in the U.S. With the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in late June, and the release of the final rule for Stage 2 of meaningful use under HITECH in late August, the policy landscape is clearer than ever for providers in this country.

And as new models of care delivery, care coordination, and healthcare payment emerge, what’s absolutely clear is that healthcare IT leaders, and the multidisciplinary teams of colleagues that they’re leading, are going to be absolutely critical to bringing about the fundamental change that the policymakers, payers, and purchasers are requiring of our healthcare system. In what I’ve been calling the new healthcare, the role of intelligently leveraged IT will be absolutely crucial to achieving every goal: improved patient safety and care quality; improved cost-effectiveness and lowered costs; enhanced accountability and transparency; and improved patient-centeredness/consumer responsiveness.

Here at Healthcare Informatics, we are passionately committed to bringing forward the exciting case studies of the teams and organizations in hospitals, medical groups, integrated health systems, and other healthcare organizations that are showing the way forward to the new healthcare. Indeed, even as the healthcare industry as a whole continues to struggle to meet the core requirements of such mandatory healthcare reform programs as avoidable readmissions reduction, healthcare-acquired conditions reduction, and value-based purchasing, as well as to meet the core requirements of Stages 1 and 2 of meaningful use, and to prepare for the ICD-10 transition, growing numbers of patient care organizations are involved in groundbreaking initiatives that are revolutionizing healthcare processes of all kinds.

So each year, we sponsor the Healthcare Informatics Innovator Awards Program, which recognizes pioneering teams in healthcare organizations nationwide. It’s a program that we’re very proud to sponsor, as it speaks so strongly to our core mission of bringing forward success stories that can help healthcare leaders throughout the industry.

Last year, we ended up with a tie win, and as a result had four Innovator Awards winning teams. Teams from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Michigan Health Connect, the Marshfield Clinic, and Blessing Hospital (in Quincy, Illinois) were recognized by this magazine for wonderful innovations in a broad range of areas, from a city-wide population health initiative, to an electronic physician referrals app, to dashboard support for population health in a medical group setting, to advanced clinical decision support in the hospital environment. Every one of these multidisciplinary teams demonstrated a fabulous combination of innovation, ingenuity, determination, and strong execution, and their results speak for themselves.

How about your organization? Do you have a team or teams that are pushing the boundaries towards the new healthcare? Your organization could receive well-deserved recognition for its innovative efforts. Just let us know, by submitting this online form to us. Please keep in mind, vendors are prohibited from submitting to this program, either on their own behalf or that of a client. But for provider and other healthcare organizations, the sky’s the limit. Let us know about what you’re doing to reshape healthcare in your world, and we might just be able to bring your story attention in the bigger world. There never has been a more exciting time to be involved in innovation in healthcare, and we at HCI are thrilled to play our role in supporting it going forward.