Jason Lopez: We've been talking a lot about healthcare IT here on Tech Barometer over the past year and privacy and security just can't be emphasized enough. If you ever find yourself working in healthcare IT, it's going to be ever present at the top of your to-do list.
Isaiah Nathaniel: When we look at legislation like the 21st Century Cures Act and how that impacts data at the point of care for the patients being really truly in charge of their information, my data is no longer four walls sustainable. It actually is beyond my four walls. And so for me, it's make sure that, one, at rest it's properly secured. But then in transmission, it's extra secure so that when the patient gets it or the referring hospital and or specialty gets it, they can also say at that point it was secure. Your infrastructure internal to that, under that firewall, under that brick, is where the special sauce is. But I can at least say, CIO to CIO, "hey, you can trust my data."
Jason Lopez: We started this report with Isaiah Nathaniel recounting a spiritual guide. It's how he thinks about his role as the CIO of Delaware Valley Community Health. But it's a lesson he learned from his uncle, Reverend Herbert Lusk II, who died in 2022. In the 1970s, Lusk was a professional football player who played for the Philadelphia Eagles under coach Dick Vermeil.
Isaiah Nathaniel: He was part of the team that went to the Super Bowl against the Raiders. He told Dick Vermeil, I'm only going to play three years, and then I'm going to go into the ministry. I've got a calling on my life. He was getting ready to be the lead running back, brand new contract, and he followed his calling. And that calling took him to North Philadelphia. North Philadelphia was depleted in the 80s. It was one of the worst urban areas in the country. And he took a church that had less than $5 in the bank account and over $500,000 in structural damage. Forty two years later, he rebuilt the church, over 1,000 members, welcomed three presidents, built the first welfare to work program in the country, and he left a lasting legacy. And to make this even more poignant, where the church is, is actually across the street from my home office. So his words to all of us as his children, his nephews, nieces, were these four principles. Never let anyone beat you giving. Never let anyone beat you loving. Never let anyone beat you believing. And finally, never let anyone beat you serving. When you talk about moments like that, when you lose such a powerful figure, I get up every day with those four principles. And my job is to serve my patients through access of technology and give them what they deserve.
Jason Lopez: Isaiah Nathaniel is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Delaware Valley Community Health in Philadelphia. This is the Tech Barometer podcast and we're delighted to bring you these profiles of people in tech who are doing remarkable things. If you like what we do here, check out more stories both podcast and text pieces at the theforecastbynutanix.com. I'm Jason Lopez, thank you for listening.