Staying Ahead of the Game with Great People, Processes, and Technology

Sara Sample-Reif is working in the blockchain technology space to help Health IT and Modis keep up with the changes in the STEM fields

Every day brings new challenges, and that’s truer today than ever before, especially when it comes to healthcare. Between technology, which continues to evolve at a record pace, the Affordable Healthcare Act, and the many other factors influencing healthcare, the industry is changing faster than ever before. This means that people in the industry need to stay on their toes, which has always been a primary goal for Sarah Sample-Reif, the North American vice president for health IT at Modis, which provides technology, engineering, and life sciences staffing needs to employers and job-seekers all over the world.

“Understanding the nuances of healthcare as an industry has been a passion, which includes becoming acutely aware of changes and trends,” Sample-Reif says. “Throughout my career, I have driven myself and my teams to exceed our business goals by building and consistently engaging an extensive network of clinical and technical executive contacts within Health IT.”

Today, her focus remains on executive level: highly skilled technical and intermediate consultants in all aspects of the payer, provider, and software development space of health IT, including clinical systems in both payer and provider industries, imaging, as well as analytics and information.

One of the big new things in the healthcare industry today is blockchain technology, which healthcare executives see as a revolutionary new way to keep data secure. Security is one of the most pressing issues in IT today, especially in healthcare, which handles patients’ most sensitive information on a daily basis. Although this could revolutionize digital security, it’s still a very new technology, and what it will mean for the future of the healthcare industry is still unknown.

“Blockchain is very infantile in the conceptual use for healthcare at this point,” Sample-Reif says. “However, the usage in claims data, patient data, and public health information will increase interoperability between organizations and enable patients to be more engaged in owning their health information.”

Interoperability is likely to be a key benefit in an industry where people often get frustrated when one doctor can’t access results from a test or screening from another. Every facility has its own information system and way of doing things, and largely to protect the privacy of its patients, there’s usually a long and involved process required before it can share that information with other facilities. But blockchains that can help facilitate the sharing of files and information between facilities with mutual patients would make getting the right care in a timely manner easier, less frustrating, and more cost effective for patients.

“The adage that everything is based on people, processes, and technology is absolute because all projects need people, just in varying forms.”

While this is all very exciting, Sample-Reif is quick to point out that the long-term implications of blockchain have yet to be fully identified, much less implemented. Although securely sharing patient information would be a huge step forward in terms of providing better care, she stresses that, at this stage, it’s important to remember that we simply don’t know what the future will bring when it comes to blockchain technology.

The fact that, at the end of the day, it’s all about protecting the people, comes as no surprise to Sample-Reif. “The adage that everything is based on people, processes, and technology is absolute because all projects need people, just in varying forms,” she says.

In addition to investing in talent, which allows Modis to keep its projects on track and stay ahead of the curve in the healthcare staffing industry, the company is also committed to allowing its clients to managing teams of highly skilled individuals, which allows its clients to focus on their initiatives.

“As an HR provider in the STEM space, we aim to progress as quickly as the STEM fields do,” Sample-Reif says. “Our new branding, not only speaks to today’s competitive employment landscape, but it is also geared towards solving and anticipating the dynamic challenges that will arise in the future of our work.”

A key part of Modis’s rebranding initiative is to grow its global life sciences footprint, which will pave the way for the company’s niche health IT program in the United States to expand and poise Modis to emerge as a true thought leader in the space.

HIMSS

As if Sample-Reif’s commitment to doing great things by making sure she teams up with great people wasn’t already evident in her work, she also spends a portion of her free time volunteering with the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). HIMSS is a global, cause based, nonprofit organization that is focused on better health through information and technology. The organization leads efforts to optimize health engagements and care outcomes using information technology.

In addition to sitting on the HIMSS National Committee, Sample-Reif is also president-elect of the organization’s Colorado chapter. “Although I cannot speak on behalf of HIMSS, it is my understanding that there is a high focus on workforce development for 2018 and beyond,” Sample-Reif says.