Nurse informatics leaders gather virtually for Big Data Science conference
June 14, 2021
Nationally recognized leaders in nursing informatics gathered virtually for the ninth-annual Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Conference held June 9-11.
Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Conference
Keynote speaker Molly McCarthy, MBA, BSN, RN-BC, national director, US Health Provider and Plans, Microsoft, spoke about the ways big data is changing nursing. “Big data, information and artificial intelligence are really enhancing the patient experience, engaging our patients and that goes back to open data and information transparency,” said McCarthy. She added that big data is also improving clinical and operational outcomes, accelerating innovation in education, improving communication and impacting health accessibility and equity. McCarthy, who leads a team of industry clinical and technical subject matter experts that drive digital technology innovation and transformation for health provider and payor organizations, said equity will be a priority for her team in the coming year. “We are really going to focus on accessibility and equity from a technical perspective,” said McCarthy.
Additional conference highlights included a panel discussion with Judy Murphy, RN, FACMI, LFHIMSS, FAAN; Whende M. Carroll, MSN, RN-BC, FHIMSS; and Martin Michalowski, PhD, FAMIA; facilitated by Rebecca Freeman, PhD, RN, PMP, about artificial intelligence and the future of nursing. Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, Charlotte Weaver, PhD, RN, MSPH, and James Pfankuch provided an overview of updates to the Nursing Big Data Repository, which disseminates nursing best practice standards, tools and concepts, in a vendor-neutral way, to prevent the need to start from scratch with each EHR implementation.
“This year’s conference convened a community of 190 like-minded thinkers online to discuss and delineate action plans to address what matters the most to nurses in this coming year,” said Lisiane Pruinelli, PhD, RN, FAMIA, Steering Committee co-chair. “It was another energetic and resourceful conference, and we look forward to an engaging year and seeing everyone next year.”
The Nursing Knowledge: Big Data Science Initiative is advancing a national action plan to ensure that nursing data are captured and available in sharable, comparable formats for clinicians, administrators, researchers and policy makers to improve health outcomes. The 2022 conference will be held June 8-10 in Minneapolis.