Dr. Tim Calahan

Dr. Tim Calahan

CTO at Michigan Medicine

Michigan Medicine
Share
Michigan Medicine CTO Dr Tim Calahan on how the Organisation is Implementing a Cloud Transformation, Moving its Epic Systems off-prem for key Benefits

Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and part of one of the world’s leading universities, Michigan Medicine is a premier, highly ranked academic medical centre and award-winning health care system with state-of-the-art facilities.

As its CTO Tim Calahan explains, as such a top-tier academic institution Michigan Medicine has the ability to significantly move the needle, not just for people within the State of Michigan, but throughout the world.

“We have a vision here at Michigan Medicine to deliver good care and train exceptional physicians, but also deliver that care throughout the State of Michigan in order to deliver that care and make those improvements globally,” Calahan describes.

With extensive experience in developing innovative solutions, specifically helping and assisting healthcare organisations moving to the cloud, Tim Calahan is CTO at Michigan Medicine, responsible for managing much of the technology that the organisation is putting in place. 

One key area Michigan Medicine will be focusing on in this transformation is the moving of its Epic infrastructure to the cloud. One of the more complicated applications within a healthcare system’s ecosystem, Epic was not designed to run in the cloud.  As Calahan describes, the decision to host healthcare records software Epic in the cloud when he was working at EMC was at the time controversial. 

“Epic at the time were actually telling their customers they had to stay on-prem,” Calahan says. “So we were able to provide some very innovative solutions in terms of how to move Epic out of the data centre. As part of that journey we have really shifted the market in opening their eyes to the fact that organisations didn't have to maintain these internal data centres and that they could move things safely to the cloud.

“What brought me to the role here is Michigan Medicine has a strong desire to modernise their infrastructure, modernise how they do business and leverage cloud much more heavily and distinctly than they do today. Here at Michigan Medicine, they want to move everything to the cloud, and because of that desire and the alignment to that mission, I readily accepted the role and the position. We've been hard at work in mapping out what that would look like here for Michigan Medicine, and we're just now beginning to start that journey ourselves of moving workloads to the cloud.”

As Calahan describes, the healthcare industry is complex, particularly when it comes to injecting technology solutions. “You really have to think about it in terms of fixing the flat while the car's heading down the highway,” he says. “You have to be very sensitive to the fact that technology is very important in delivering patient care.

“When we talk about patient care, we are literally providing services around peoples’ lives. As a result we have to be very sensitive and careful about if we're going to change how we deliver care using technology, to make sure that we don't disrupt or degrade services.

“You are impacting peoples’ lives, and I can't count the number of emails that I've received over the last 10 years that I've been in the space, saying that the technology solutions that we're delivering have enabled the healthcare system to help a family member. That's really meaningful. 

“We gravitate toward this industry, maybe because of the challenges and maybe because of the technology that we have to insert into it. But it's really the fundamental mission of delivering care and affecting families and loved ones that really keep you here in this industry, and that's exciting for me.”

Read the full story HERE.

Michigan Medicine
Michigan Medicine
Our Partners
Share

Featured Interviews

Featured

Dr Chris Cross

Neuroradiologist at OCSRI

Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute transforms its operations with GE HealthCare’s True PACS system, enhancing workflows and patient care

Read More

Sunil Dadlani

Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer

Atlantic Health System is Pioneering a New Era in Healthcare, Utilising Cutting-Edge Technology and AI to Transform Patient Care and Operational Efficiency

Read More
Healthcare organisations are prime targets for cybersecurity threats because of the sensitive and valuable patient data that we hold.
Sunil Dadlani
Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer

Mike J. Walker

Executive Director, Global Health & Life Sciences Strategy at Microsoft

Mike J. Walker, Executive Director, Strategy, Health & life sciences at Microsoft on the difference between advising and consulting

Read More

Keith Klintworth

Managing Director at Vitality UK

As one of the global leaders in digital health management, VitalityHealth is revolutionising preventative medicine.

Read More

Martin Curley

Director of Digital Transformation and Open Innovation at Health Service Execuitve

Focusing on patients’ comfort, safety, care & cost-efficiency, Martin Curley presents the digital transformations making home care & monitoring possible

Read More

Dr Chris Cross

Neuroradiologist at OCSRI

Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute transforms its operations with GE HealthCare’s True PACS system, enhancing workflows and patient care

Read More