UPMC’s Chris Carmody discusses network preparedness, advances in cloud technology, and the role of 5G in the future of health care with Nokia’s Heidi Adams
UPMC was prepared for the technological demands of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to its forward-thinking approach to network infrastructure.
Being ready for a massive ramp up in demand for telehealth services, such as video visits between patients and their doctors, along with remote access for thousands of employees, required strong partnerships with vendors and a focus on cutting edge technology long before the pandemic.
Chris Carmody, Senior Vice President of Information Services Division at UPMC, discussed the health system’s network and its importance in the future of health care with Heidi Adams, Head of IP and Optical Networks Marketing at Nokia.
“I know Nokia and UPMC have been collaborating for many years and have worked together to develop a leading edge, flexible, and very agile network,” Adams said. “No one could have predicted the pandemic, but what’s amazing to me is all the work, technology, and planning that went into network development has enabled UPMC to continue to work through really crazy conditions.”
Looking to the future, Carmody noted the importance of several leading-edge technologies that are a focus for transforming care at UPMC.
Machine learning is key for understanding and harnessing the unstructured data that is so prevalent in health care. Cloud technology and artificial intelligence are essential for moving and communicating data newly unlocked by machine learning. And 5G networks will enable a host of new applications for improving patient care.
“I’m so excited for how we’re going to truly transform patient care,” Carmody said.
Watch the “Ask an Innovator” video
The conversation between Adams and Carmody is available in the video below, and has been segmented into four chapters:
- Chapter 1 – How is UPMC thinking about 5G?
- Chapter 2 – Impact of precision medicine on network infrastructure
- Chapter 3 – 5G timeline, security, and talent
- Chapter 4 – What are you excited about for the future?
Additional resources
Learn more about how Nokia and UPMC are working together on a network for real-time health care.
See Nokia’s Karl Bream discuss the disruptive potential of 5G during a keynote at the CCM’s Top of Mind Online virtual summit.
And watch Carmody and other health IT leaders talk about strategies for improving interoperability during a roundtable held at the CCM.
