Geeta Nayyar, MD, is the chief healthcare and innovation officer for Femwell Group Health and the host of TopLine MD TV. In February, Nayyar will also be a Social Media Ambassador at HIMSS17.
Healthcare IT News asked Nayyar, who is @gnayyar on Twitter, about what she’s most looking forward to at this year’s conference, who she considers to be a health IT hero, and her goal for the role of Social Media Ambassador.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at HIMSS17?
A: I am most looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and colleagues. There are so many all-around amazing people at HIMSS; brilliant, creative, caring and fun — being in their company is inspiring. I am also looking forward to seeing who is really pushing the envelope with well-designed solutions for patient experience, telemedicine and artificial intelligence, including solid, metrics-based user cases that help medicine move forward.
Q: What issues do you think are top-of-mind for your social media followers?
A: Pink socks and killer footwear are the order of the day for my followers and me at HIMSS. We love having fun and are passionate about creative, well-designed solutions that allow physicians and patients to make real connections, improve health and change attitudes. Attitude is everything and they are changing across the board daily as we move toward a more integrated, sharing culture in medicine and health IT, one that inherently rewards simplicity and collaboration. My followers want to know about examples of this positive change, especially ones that can be amplified for population health solutions. Being open to lessons from other industries is also so important, especially as healthcare is being propelled toward consumerism. As an SMA, I want to be the eyes and ears for my followers who are not able to attend HIMSS, bringing them the most compelling conversations.
Q: What's your pet peeve? (Either on- or off-line?)
A: As an Indian American, my biggest pet peeve is Autocorrect.
Q: What is something your social media followers do not know about you?
A: As much as I love digital media, I still love an actual book or newspaper in my hands.
Q: Who's your favorite healthcare hero? Why?
A: My mom is hands down my healthcare hero. She is incredibly passionate about medicine and was an ophthalmologist in India, an OBGYN in England and became an internist when she immigrated to the US. She never gave up on her dream to be a doctor and conquered every barrier to medical licensure she faced in the three different countries she has practiced in. She has a thriving practice in Port St. Lucie. Her patients love her and most recently she won an award for the highest patient satisfaction surveys in the state by a major payer. My mom remains an incredibly dedicated physician, wife and mother of three kids. I couldn’t pick a bigger hero. She inspires me every day.
Related HIMSS17 Social Media Ambassadors:
⇒ Meet Drex DeFord: Former Air Force CIO who started as a rock-n-roll DJ
⇒ Health IT guru Brian Ahier: A big fan of analytics, Don Berwick and Jerry Garcia
⇒ Linda Stotsky: She writes poetry, sticks up for underserved and loves ... boxing?
⇒ Matt Fisher: Healthcare attorney who once was a Starbucks barista
⇒ Jane Sarasohn-Kahn: Health economist, woman in HIT, Social Media Ambassador
HIMSS17 runs from Feb. 19-23, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center.
This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.
