Nashville Technology Council

HCA will buy Denver joint venture for $1.45 billion

NASHVILLE — Hospital chain HCA Inc. has agreed to pay $1.45 billion to gain full control of a joint venture that runs hospitals and surgery centers in the Denver metropolitan area.

The company said late Wednesday that it will buy The Colorado Health Foundation’s 40-percent stake in HCA-Health One LLC.

The foundation and HCA formed the joint venture in 1995, and HCA said it operates seven hospitals and 13 surgery centers in metro Denver, with 8,700 employees and 3,000 affiliated physicians.

HCA said it has invested more than $2 billion in HCA-HealthOne since it was created.

HCA said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter assuming regulators approve. It plans to pay for HCA-HealthOne using funds from its revolving credit facility.

As of March 31, HCA ran 163 hospitals and 107 surgery centers.

Read more about HCA acquiring HealthOne

Many of you may already know that today is World AIDS Day.  Our friends at HP are using their technology in Kenya to help save lives.  In Kenya, almost 10% of women are infected with HIV.  Diagnosis response time is critical in preventing infection to unborn children and treating infants already infected with the disease.  HP has built 5 data centers in Kenya to help reduce diagnosis response time from months to days.  This technological innovation is estimated to save the lives of over 100,000 infants in Kenya each year.

You can read more about how HP is making an impact in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS  in today’s write-up on FastCompany.com.

Today we released a study conducted in partnership with Vaco Technology on the state of technology jobs in Middle Tennessee for the third quarter of 2010. This report, released once a quarter, provides a consistent format for reporting on open job positions.  It includes top tech employers, most popular job positions, and trending data points.  One thing is clear: Nashville is poised to gain traction as one of the leading tech centers in the nation.  In particular we are leading Healthcare IT (HIT), transactions, digital media, and start-up enterprises.

In Greater Nashville, there are more tech jobs than there are people to fill them. The Nashville Technology Council is focused on a three level pipeline for talent growth:

* T3 – Organic growth through local high schools and universities
* Professional Development (Courseware for Career Transition)
* Economic Development (Individuals and Companies)

The Nashville Technology Council spearheads the T3 Initiative to help our local students connect with opportunity and support their academic needs. Our partners at the Nashville Health Care Council and Nashville Chamber of Commerce work with us on events such as the Health Care IT Workforce Solutions Forum to address the gap between skills desired in our local IT grads and the myriad career opportunities in their own backyard.   What else can we do to strengthen our existing workforce, encourage companies to relocate and create the next generation of Techville?  Leave us your comments below and let us know what you think we can do as a tech community to address these issues.

You can review the press release on our Q3 2010 Hiring Trends Report here and download the report in its entirety here.

For  those of you on the fence about attending, check out the final agenda with speakers and topics for tomorrow’s 2nd “Naked Hospital” event being held in Jamison Hall at The Factory at Franklin.  The best and the brightest in our healthcare community will be hosting a frank, revealing discussion about transparency and eHealth.

Interested in attending?  We’ll have limited walk ups, so ensure your seat at the event by registering now! If you can’t attend tomorrow, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@nashtechcouncil, hashtag #nakedhospital) for pics and discussion highlights.

Special thanks to our Titan Sponsors HealthSpring and Peak 10 for underwriting tomorrow’s event. We hope to see you there!

Nashville Tech Story (3/16/10)

Healthcare IT workers are among the biggest users of smart phones and other mobile technology, but addressing the security needs of such devices remains a critical concern, according to a survey released today by Forrester Consulting.

The study, titled “Managing and Securing Mobile Healthcare Data and Devices,” found that 95 percent of healthcare enterprises relying on smartphones for work, making the industry one of the most mobile across all verticals.

But Forrester also found that 90 percent of the IT leaders queried felt data security on such technologies was of high or critical importance, and 86 percent cited regulatory compliance as a concern. Further, more than half of the respondents indicated the need for a tool that can poll for device encryption, and more than a third voiced a desire for a solution that could produce policy violation alerts.


“There’s good reason for these IT pros to be concerned,” read the study, in which 31 percent of respondents reported that their data has been compromised at least once in the previous year. “As close to 100 percent of healthcare organizations take on devices such as smart phones, adding to the desktops and laptops already in place, there isn’t uniform control across the varying types of devices users rely on.”


Source: Healthcare IT News

Nashville Tech Story (12/1/09)

“Having spent 20 years in hospitals and health technology, the Nashville Medical Trade Center represents an opportunity to substantially cut costs in healthcare by bringing products and technologies together in one place for buyers to compare and contrast,” said J. Tod Fetherling, President, Nashville Technology Council.  “Equally important is the opportunity to have technology demonstration projects that are based here in Nashville that represent the best of digital healthcare.” 

EMRs and EHRs will converge over the next 10 years.  Some elements will come quicker, but Healthcare IT is poised to be a leading sector for many years.  Nashville should be leading way in community demonstration projects and in consumer directed value-based healthcare.  This project is another opportunity for us to lead the country in healthcare innovation, not reform.  The city, state, and country need our leadership, now.

Market Center Management Company (MCMC), the management company of leading international trade centers and trade events around the world, today announced the location for its $250 million Nashville Medical Trade Center project: the site of the current Nashville Convention Center at 601 Commerce Street in downtown Nashville.

“This project will create a large number of new jobs in our city right when we need them most,” said Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. “In addition to building on Nashville’s preeminence in the health care industry, the reuse of the Convention Center and the proposed improvements to the center’s physical structure will be a significant contribution to our vital and robust downtown.”

The Nashville Medical Trade Center, the world’s first global health care marketplace, will meet the changing needs of the international medical community by featuring permanent manufacturer showrooms, temporary exhibition space, and conference facilities within a 2 million square foot complex.

“Nashville is the perfect home for this dynamic marketplace,” said Bill Winsor, president and CEO, MCMC. “Its pro-business environment, a convenient location, and leadership in health care are unmatched. Health care suppliers and providers from around the world will travel to Nashville to access the latest medical technology and services.”

Market Center Management Company will begin construction as early as mid-2010 on a new 12-story tower on top of the existing convention center site, as well as develop a new plaza across the street from the historic Ryman Auditorium. In addition, the Broadway-facing side of the property will undergo a redesign.

“This announcement means Tennessee will be home to an important new concept in the marketing and procurement of medical equipment, technology and services,” said Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. “The health care industry is a significant economic engine for our state and this project expands that footprint, representing a major investment in our state’s health care economy.”

Custom space for more than 600 medical companies will be available at the Nashville Medical Trade Center, creating an efficient, transparent marketplace for health care providers and attracting more than 150,000 estimated annual visitors to Nashville.

The project is being designed by Nashville-based Gresham, Smith and Partners, a leading multi-disciplinary design and consulting firm. Construction will be managed by the Nashville office of Turner.

Stimulus Plan – Tennessee

The State of Tennessee has received $572, 701, 043 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act fund. In the fund, $69.93 million has been distributed to urban areas, leaving Nashville and Davison County with $22.65 million to spend on whatever the state deems important. To make sure everything runs smoothly, Tennessee’s Governor, Phil Bredesen, has acquired the assistance of Mike Morrow, Special Assistant to the Governor for Recovery Act Administration, to monitor how the money is being spent.

Numerous individuals and companies will benefit from the money received from the stimulus plan, including those in the technology world. In Tennessee there has been $12,292,400 reserved for education technology.

Tennessee has $11 million in funds allocated to education technology. Some Nashville-area schools have jumped on this opportunity and decided to spend some of the stimulus money on technological innovations for the schools. This would include adding computers in classrooms to give children an opportunity to work and learn on them.

Nationally, there has been $7.2 billion dollars set aside to invest in broadband, which includes funding for education in rural communities. “The purpose of these funds is to build broadband infrastructure and accelerate deployment in these unserved and underserved communities to promote economic development and job creation,” according to the State Opportunities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Connected Tennessee is being held out as a national model for other states to follow.  In addition, there is $350 million for mapping initiatives that follow the ESRI based mapping system built by Connected Tennessee.

Additional Resources to help you track the money:

Recovery.gov

Tennessee’s Recovery Website

Stimulus money to fund three new Nashville area clinics

Stimulus Bill Proposals Include Broadband Networks and Other Information Technology (Opinion)

Stimulus Links

Stimulus Bill Has Billions for Smart Grids

Stimulus Bill to Boost State and Local Information Technology

Is there a National Technology Agenda?

With one of the most technology savvy Presidents in office, you would think that Washington would be openly embracing the Technology Industry.  Unfortunately, the technology industry is not as experienced at lobbying as hospitals, physicians, farmers, and unions.  As a result, it is important that we first define our agenda as an industry and then second to spread the word by meeting with our local, state, and national representatives.

We were fortunate to participate in the TECNA FLY-In in in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 18, 2009.  TECNA is the Technology Councils of North America.  Technology business leaders addressed some of the key issues facing the technology industry and brought the cause to legislators.

TECNA members were in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Technology business leaders addressed some of the key issues facing the technology industry and brought the cause to legislators.

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