RUSH UNIVERSITY SYSTEM FOR HEALTH
“ These next five years are the pivot point for us, focused on using technology to optimise what we do”
Jeff Gautney SVP and CIO Rush
its workstations ran Windows 7, an unpatchable, insecure system, while multi-factor authentication was missing.
Ahead, an IT infrastructure and cloud consultancy, became a key partner in addressing that backlog, spanning both strategic planning and hands-on implementation.
“ They helped us implement a new network operations centre( NOC) that provides 24-hour monitoring and patching,” says Jeff.“ That’ s led to an overall improvement in finding problems before they become problems.”
Jeff, a New Yorker who relocated to Chicago, admits he brought urgency to a system in need of repair, but was careful not to move too fast:“ I wanted my team to grow with me – not have consultants steamroll them.”
Over five years, Rush has worked with numerous consulting partners, but keeps returning to Ahead for infrastructure and Salesforce for platform innovation. Both prioritise listening and education over simply delivering solutions.
“ Healthcare is a fraction of Salesforce’ s business globally,” adds Jeff.“ We get to take the learnings they’ ve built across every industry vertical and apply them to healthcare. It supercharges what we do.”
Focused on optimisation Jeff reveals that, from a technological standpoint, the next six months will be dominated by a major implementation of Workday.
While Rush’ s clinical records run on Epic, a widely-used electronic health record system, Workday is seen as a trusted counterpart.
“ Just like Epic helped us consolidate and streamline our clinical practices, Workday is helping us do that on the business side,” Jeff continues.
Elsewhere, Rush is moving quickly on AI, deploying targeted tools and beginning its own development work in partnership with Anthropic and Microsoft.
The organisation is also continuing to expand its electronic health record capabilities and pursue an ambitious digital strategy. That includes further investment in its mobile platforms and new ways of engaging patients digitally.
“ The last five years were focused on foundation building,” concludes Jeff.“ These next five years – and the next six months in particular – are the pivot point for us, focused on using that technology to optimise what we do.”
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