BOSTON — Zen Chu said that IT professionals and those working in healthcare are poised to become heroes by creating new technologies that enhance the patient experience.

“This is the best time in the history of the world to be a healthcare entrepreneur,” Chu, who is the director of MIT’s Hacking Medicine Institute, said here at the HIMSS and Healthcare IT News Privacy & Security Forum on Wednesday. “IT professionals can be heroes.”

Chu made several recommendations to that end.

Simply being faster, better and cheaper is not enough and, instead, new technologies need to bring greater capacity for uses and more trust among patients.

[Roundup: Here's what happening at the Privacy & Security Forum right now]

Explaining that instead of cybercriminal attacks, the term hacking at MIT refers to clever ways of doing things, Chu also suggested that upstarts and entrepreneurs hack current business models in healthcare.

“We encourage not shying away from the business models in healthcare,” Chu said. “Whether you’re a startup or big company, you have to identify and be intentional about the business models you’re going for.”

But while embracing those business models, Chu said that running early versions of software products within hospitals.

“Avoid hospitals for piloting – that’s where startups go to die,” Chu added. “Only go to hospitals where there is a fire you can put out.”

Why will focusing on patient experience make health IT pros into heroes?

Chu said it’s the new lens from which to look into hospitals, clinics, care delivery - the entire landscape. And patient experience can advance work toward the Triple Aim.

“That’s what the best entrepreneurs and venture investors are focused on,” Chu said. 

Twitter: @SullyHIT
Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com

 The Privacy & Security Forum is happening in Boston, Dec. 5-7, 2016. 
⇒ Privacy & Security Forum Boston: What to expect
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⇒ A CISO, consultant, and infosec vendor nail down cybersecurity best practices
⇒ Gone' phishin': Mayo Clinic shares tips for fending off attacks
⇒ What's the fundamental problem with cybersecurity? Relying on the Internet

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