Evidence-Based Medicine

Q-rounds is built upon evidence-based medicine. Our founders have been leaders in forging much of the research on the importance of communication in healthcare and the intersection with patient engagement technology, that is cited internationally by those looking to improve healthcare.

Featured Resources

The NIH has awarded a major, multisite research grant to study Q-rounds in general pediatric care. The grant is led by Dr. Michelle Kelly at the University of Wisconsin and brings together two children's hospitals: UW American Family Children's Hospital and UC Davis Children's Hospital.

The study asks a question that matters to every family with a hospitalized child. Does getting the right people to rounds make those children safer?

Rounds are often a family's one chance each day to talk with their child's care team. When families and nurses are in the room, care decisions get made with the people who know the child best. Yet at many hospitals, more than half of rounds happen without a family member or a nurse present. Q-rounds was built to close that gap. It sends real-time updates so families, nurses, and interpreters are there when rounds reach the room.

Our early work at the University of Minnesota NICU tripled family and nurse presence on rounds. That NICU has now run more than 25,000 rounds with families using Q-rounds over two years.

This study takes the next step. It's a rigorous, independent evaluation across two hospitals, designed to detect whether Q-rounds reduces harmful medical errors. It will also examine whether Q-rounds can close participation gaps for families facing language, socioeconomic, and geographic barriers, and what it takes to put this in place and sustain it across different health systems.

We're grateful to Dr. Kelly and the full team of investigators for taking this on. Independent research like this is what turns adoption into evidence.

Congratulations to everyone carrying it forward. We're honored to be part of it.

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Q-rounds co-founder and CEO Dr. Mike Pitt recently joined Erin O'Brien on the No Operating Manual podcast, a show about building healthcare companies when there's no clear path and no one tells you what comes next. The conversation covered the origin of Q-rounds, the data behind it, and the honest reality of building a company in healthcare.

The Question No One Tried to Solve

Every hospital has a question that gets asked every single day: "When will the doctor be here?"

For most families and nurses, there has never been a good way to answer it. Families sit and wait, afraid to leave the room and miss the one conversation that matters most. Nurses skip lunch. The whole day bends around a moment.

Q-rounds started by trying to solve that problem. If Uber can give you real-time updates that your driver is minutes away; Great Clips can tell you you are next to be seen for a haircut; and restaurants can tell you when you are going to be seated; Q-rounds can give families, patients, and care teams the dignity of knowing when to be at rounds. At Q-rounds we call that Time Transparency.

It was built by patients, for patients. But solving the patient's problem is not enough on its own.

The Insights That Make it Work

The reality for Q-rounds is, "if we don't make the doctors' lives better, it won't get used."

A tool that helps families but burdens clinicians dies on the vine. So the question became: what is the case for the clinician to want this too?

The answer turned out to be strong. There is a nearly 40% reduction in medical errors when the nurse joins at rounds, and too often nurses are left out simply because they don't know when rounds are happening. Solve the timing, and the nurse is present, the doctor knows everyone is ready, and the family is there for the conversation instead of hearing it secondhand.

The result is a rare kind of product, one where every user thinks it was built for them. Nurses say, "Where's this been all my life? I get to take my lunch breaks again." Families say, "I didn't have to quit my job to be present for rounds because I was able to be notified through Q-rounds." Doctors say they're getting to see six or seven times as many families in less time.

The Data Shows it Works

Erin's reaction to the numbers on the show was direct: "The data is pretty amazing." Q-rounds drives a 197% increase in family presence, a 215% increase in nurse attendance, and we know there is a 38% reduction in harmful errors when nurses are present at rounds.

What started as an efficiency tool became something bigger. As Erin named it during the conversation, "this is care efficiency that's reducing cost of care."

The long-established, best practice in healthcare, especially in pediatrics, of multidisciplinary family-centered rounding is accomplished less than 5% of the time, because coordinating all of those people in one place at one moment is nearly impossible. Q-rounds exists to close that gap.

Be Married to the Problem, Not the Solution

When Erin asked what advice Mike would give other founders, his answer was clear: be married to the problem, not your solution.

You can tell the difference between a company committed to solving a problem and one that simply has an idea for a technology it is sure will work. Founders who stay committed enough to the problem that they would throw out their original idea to get closer to solving it are the ones who tend to make it.

Watch the full conversation

Watch Dr. Mike Pitt on the No Operating Manual podcast with Erin O'Brien:

Patients are first and foremost people. How they feel about their provider, the care they received from them and the environment it happens in are driving forces in ensuring a high quality healthcare experience. Hospitals with high patient-reported satisfaction scores also tend to exhibit higher profitability, which allows them to secure the necessary resources to continue providing exceptional care.

In the high-stress, high-tension environment of pediatrics, the Q-rounds clinical rounds orchestration application can improve family attendance at rounds and enhance care team collaboration, contributing toward less burnout and more satisfied patients.

Prioritizing family involvement

Given the age of pediatric patients, their family members are essential allies when it comes to communicating their needs and requests. Their presence at rounds is essential, helping both put the patient at ease, as well as sharing relevant information the patient might not be able to communicate themselves. Most importantly, parental consent is a necessary part of implementing a care plan, so when they’re not present, care can be delayed.

64% of families felt that their doctor was more compassionate after interacting with them during rounds.

Q-rounds makes it easier for families to schedule their day around rounds, because they receive real-time notifications letting them know when rounds are taking place or if there’s any change in the doctor’s schedule. Over time, this builds trust between healthcare providers and families, allowing them to establish an ongoing relationship.

Communicating more effectively

Think back to one of your most confusing healthcare interactions. Now imagine how much less you would have understood if you had been ten years old—or less than five—at the time. That’s why it’s important to avoid medical jargon when communicating with children and their families. Not only can it help put them more at ease and make them feel more comfortable, it can lead to more constructive conversations.

57% of the time, care teams learned new and pertinent information about their patients when families were present at rounds.

Q-rounds improves communication among patients, their families and care teams by making sure everyone is present at rounds, whether it’s providing notifications for in-person rounds or giving families the option to attend virtually. Q-rounds also removes language barriers by helping confirm interpreter services will be provided.

Engaging nurses and specialists

Nurses are experts who can help explain health plans and procedures, as well as answer questions and advocate on behalf of patients and their families. Nowhere is this more evident than in pediatric nursing, where nurses often interact more frequently with patients on a day-to-day basis.

215% increase in nurse presence for the entirety of rounds after using Q-rounds

That consistency—tracking day-to-day changes both during and outside of rounds—is a vital part of pediatric care. Even the slightest change in status can speak magnitudes when it comes to a pediatric patient’s overall health and wellbeing. This highlights the need for nurses, physicians and even specialists to remain informed, and have the ability to collaborate together, in determining care plans.

38% reduction in medical errors when nurses are present

Q-rounds responds to all of these challenges by keeping nurses and specialists informed via notifications about when in-person rounds are beginning, as well as making it possible for specialists to attend rounds in-person or virtually. This flexibility means specialists have the option to do more consultations during the day, since it reduces travel time or allows them to see patients they wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to interact with.

‍Rounding it up

In pediatrics, patient satisfaction is ultimately about identifying an issue, treating it as quickly as possible, and helping patients and their families move on with their lives.

Q-rounds was founded on the understanding that multidisciplinary family-centered rounds have the power to improve the patient experience and enhance care teams’ ability to collaborate in providing top-notch care. Our real-time schedules, ability to RSVP to rounds, SMS text messages, alert notifications and virtual attendance option empower patients, families, nurses, physicians and specialists to both be present and plan their day around rounds.

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Interested in learning how Q-rounds can address your unique rounding challenges? Schedule a demo.

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The Power of Presence is an interview series that explores the experiences of physicians, nurses and families who have used Q-rounds; they are not compensated for sharing their stories, and responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Mike Pitt, M.D., is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and award-winning educator, as well as the CEO and cofounder of Q-rounds.

After 15 years of practicing pediatrics and educating future healthcare providers, Mike Pitt, M.D., knew the hospital rounding experience needed to change. What he didn’t expect was to be surprised by his own invention, the Q-rounds clinical rounds orchestration application.

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I’ve never been great with names and often struggle remembering the nurses’ names in the hospital. Q-rounds is changing that.

‍How did you learn care team members’ names before?

In some instances, you just see a number on a whiteboard—or you’re hoping name tags are facing the right way so you can read them. Even worse, sometimes I wouldn’t even meet face to face with the nurses, because they didn’t know when to be present for rounds so we wouldn’t be in the patient’s room at the same time. I noticed the last time I was rounding with Q-rounds, that by the end of the week I’d learned the name of every nurse on the floor. As I’m rounding in the Q-rounds app, II not only see the name of each nurse as I navigate from room to room, because Q-rounds sends them real-time notifications of when I will be there, I am able to round with the nurses for each and every patient.

Greeting nurses by name helps patients and their families feel like their care team is a cohesive unit.

‍How does knowing someone’s name add value to rounds?

Knowing someone’s name matters—it’s a sign of respect, not only in the workplace but as fellow human beings. Research has shown that we have a surge of oxytocin - the joy hormone - when we hear our own name. There’s real value in being able to greet the nurses by name when they enter the room for rounds. It helps establish a broader relationship between me and the nurse, and shows the cohesiveness of the care team to patients and their families. They feel better seeing that I recognize their nurse, who is often their main point of contact.

I knew I wanted to help make things more predictable for patients and their families—I didn’t realize it would strengthen my own connections with the care team.

How else has learning people’s names enhanced rounds?

Rounds have become more inviting and engaging as I’ve learned people’s names. I’ve noticed nurses staying more engaged as I’m teaching during rounds, and in some cases sticking around after rounds to learn with the rest of the team—everything feels more holistic and interconnected instead of frantic and disjointed.

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Rounding it up

Q-rounds does more than make sure everyone is present at rounds—we’re creating an environment where physicians and nurses can forge stronger connections. This can help alleviate nurse and physician burnout, by helping people feel more connected to each other.

Delis are a microcosm of the world, because who doesn’t love a freshly wrapped sandwich? And who wouldn’t want to sample some olives or cheese?

And who doesn’t love getting a number letting them know exactly when their order is ready?

As consumers, we’re trained—if not conditioned—to expect information about when something will occur. We’re told when our packages will arrive, when our meals will be delivered, that our haircut is scheduled and the bus is three stops away.

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The need for Time Transparency®

That certainty—knowing exactly where you are in the queue—is what we call Time Transparency®. Up until now, it’s been lacking in healthcare settings, leaving us held hostage when we’re at our most vulnerable.

Nothing strips a person of their humanity faster than being trapped in the fog of knowing something’s wrong, and having to wait until someone can finally tell them what’s going on. Test results, diagnoses, treatment plans. These are life-altering—and sometimes shattering—moments that deserve everyone’s full attention.

Family members of loved ones in the hospital are afraid to get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom in case they miss the opportunity to meet with the doctor during rounds. And that’s just the families who are able to be at the bedside in the first place. Many can’t afford to be there all day waiting for rounds, or may not live in the same city as their loved one.

Ultimately, hospitals are waiting rooms,too. While it may start with waiting around for rounds, the side effects go deeper than that. Wasting time and money. Inefficient scheduling and care team frustrations. Missed connections. Decreased levels of care, and unnecessary emotional stress and feelings of helplessness put on patients, families and providers.

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Taking the waiting around out of rounds

Q-rounds is reimagining the rounding experience with clinical rounds orchestration that sends real-time notifications of when to arrive at rounds, ensuring the entire care team, patient and family members are present. And for families who can’t be there, they can RSVP to join rounds virtually the moment the doctor enters their loved one’s room. Introducing Time Transparency® to rounding lets everyone plan ahead, taking stress off patients and their families, and lets providers and administrators more efficiently manage their day.

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Because healthcare works best when everyone works in sync.

In the fast-paced world of healthcare, efficiency and seamless coordination are paramount to providing high-quality patient care. Daily rounding schedules have emerged as a powerful tool healthcare organizations (HCOs) can use to optimize their operations and elevate patient experiences.

Together, we’ll explore the benefits of knowing daily rounding schedules, delving into how they improve efficiency, care team communication and collaboration, patient care and satisfaction, resource allocation, data analysis, and overall compliance. We’ll also examine how our clinical rounds orchestration application, Q-rounds, empowers healthcare teams to harness the full potential of daily rounding schedules, further enhancing patient-centered care and organizational success.

Improved efficiency: Streamlining workflows for optimal performance

Efficiency lies at the core of exceptional healthcare delivery. Knowing daily rounding schedules allows HCOs to align staff schedules with patient needs, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity.

With Q-rounds, healthcare professionals can access real-time rounding schedules, enabling them to plan their activities accordingly and have a real-time answer to the most common questions patients ask their nurse, “When will the doctor be here?” By strategically prioritizing rounding times, HCOs can optimize staff deployment and resource allocation, resulting in reduced waiting times for patients and smoother patient care workflows.

Enhanced communication and coordination: Uniting care teams for better outcomes

In a collaborative healthcare environment, effective communication is vital to ensure seamless patient care. Daily rounding schedules serve as a unifying thread, bringing care teams together at specific times to discuss patient progress, treatment plans, and any potential challenges.

Q-rounds empowers care teams by providing them with real-time rounding schedules, ensuring all team members are present and informed during patient rounds. This enhanced coordination fosters clearer communication, empowers interdisciplinary collaboration and results in more comprehensive and patient-centered care.

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Streamlined patient care: Elevating outcomes and safety

Streamlined and coordinated patient care is essential for delivering positive health outcomes. Daily rounding schedules enable HCOs to implement standardized care practices, reducing variations in care and medical errors.

Q-rounds sends real-time notifications about rounding times to nurses and providers, ensuring patients receive timely and consistent care. This streamlined approach not only improves outcomes, it enhances patient safety and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

Increased patient satisfaction: Cultivating a positive healthcare experience

Patient satisfaction is an integral measure of a healthcare organization's success. Efficient and well-coordinated daily rounding schedules contribute significantly to a positive patient experience. Knowing when to expect the care team instills confidence in patients, making them feel valued and heard.

Q-rounds ensures patients are informed of rounding schedules, and gives them the opportunity to join rounds remotely if they can’t be there in person, empowering them to actively participate in their care and fostering a sense of partnership with their healthcare providers. The result is higher patient satisfaction rates and improved patient retention for HCOs.

Better resource allocation: Strategically managing staff and assets

Resource allocation is a critical aspect of effective healthcare management. Daily rounding schedules play a crucial role in ensuring the right staff members are available at the right times to deliver care effectively.

Q-rounds facilitates strategic resource allocation by providing real-time data on rounding schedules, enabling HCOs to optimize staffing levels and manage resources efficiently. By aligning staffing needs with patient demand, HCOs can improve cost-effectiveness, reduce staffing inefficiencies, and deliver timely and personalized care.

Data collection and analysis: Informed decision-making for continuous improvement

Data-driven insights are invaluable in the quest for continuous improvement in healthcare. Daily rounding schedules serve as a structured framework for data collection, allowing HCOs to gather essential information during patient interactions.

Q-rounds allows healthcare teams to capture valuable data points related to patient care, treatment progress and patient feedback. These insights enable HCOs to analyze trends, identify areas for improvement and implement evidence-based practices, driving organizational growth and delivering better patient outcomes.

Enhanced team collaboration: Fostering unity and cohesion

A cohesive and supportive care team is the backbone of successful healthcare delivery. Clear and predictable daily rounding schedules enhance team collaboration by promoting active participation during rounds.

Q-rounds facilitates better care team collaboration by ensuring all members are informed and prepared for patient interactions. This sense of unity and cohesion boosts team morale, fosters a positive work culture and translates into improved patient care and satisfaction.

Compliance and accountability: Upholding the highest standards

Adherence to healthcare protocols and standards is essential for ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Daily rounding schedules play a vital role in maintaining compliance by ensuring timely patient check-ins and monitoring.

Q-rounds empowers HCOs to promote accountability among care teams, ensuring they adhere to established protocols and meet patient care requirements. This commitment to compliance safeguards patient well-being and upholds the highest standards of healthcare delivery.

Rounding it up

The benefits of knowing daily rounding schedules extend well beyond mere scheduling conveniences. Healthcare organizations stand to gain improved efficiency, care team communication and collaboration, patient care and satisfaction, resource allocation, data analysis, and overall compliance.

Q-rounds takes these advantages to the next level, providing real-time rounding schedules and notifications of when to arrive for rounds, facilitating team coordination and empowering both healthcare providers and patients alike.

Embracing this technology ensures a patient-centered approach, elevating the overall healthcare experience and fortifying the foundation of successful healthcare organizations.

Q-rounds, our clinical rounds orchestration application, gives healthcare professionals real-time access to daily rounding schedules, enabling them to plan their activities more effectively and deliver timely care to patients. This rounding coordination allows HCOs to maximize efficiency and elevate patient outcomes.

Aligning staff schedules for optimal performance

Knowing daily rounding schedules plays a pivotal role in streamlining workflows and optimizing staff performance. Ensuring the right healthcare professionals are present when and where they’re needed most. This strategic approach minimizes staff downtime and optimizes productivity so healthcare professionals can provide seamless patient care.

Q-rounds goes a step further, sending real-time notifications to nurses, interpreters, patients and families of when to arrive for rounds. Armed with this knowledge, providers, nurses and other care team members can plan their tasks and prioritize patient rounds. This means they spend less time waiting around for rounding assignments and more time delivering critical care to patients.

Maximizing resource allocation

Resource allocation is a constant balancing act in the healthcare setting. With daily rounding schedules, HCOs gain valuable insights into patient demand, allowing them to strategically allocate resources. Knowing the expected number of patients and round duration during specific rounds ensures that enough healthcare professionals are available to provide timely and comprehensive care.

Q-rounds can help HCOs adapt on the fly, allowing administrators to quickly adjust staffing assignments if there’s a sudden surge in patient admissions. This agility minimizes bottlenecks, ensuring a smoother patient care experience.

Reducing patient waiting times

Prompt and timely care is an important aspect of patient satisfaction. Daily rounding schedules enable healthcare professionals to plan their rounds efficiently, minimizing patient waiting times or delays. This proactive approach to patient care shows patients their time is valued, reinforcing a patient-centered culture within the hospital.

Q-rounds acts as a reliable guide, giving providers and care teams real-time updates on rounding schedules. Knowing when they’ll be needed allows healthcare professionals to be more responsible and deliver care more promptly. This results in patients experiencing reduced waiting times and feeling more at ease during their hospital stay.

Creating smoother workflows for patient care

Smooth workflows are the signature of a high-functioning healthcare organization. Daily rounding schedules create a structured framework for patient care, ensuring no patient is overlooked or neglected during the rounding process. When providers are aware of the timing and sequence of rounds, they can seamlessly transition from one patient to another, minimizing disruptions and maintaining a steady flow of care.

Q-rounds provides healthcare professionals a digital platform to access rounding schedules. Our app organizes rounding assignments, centralizes communication and eliminates the need for manual tracking, streamlining the process. This integration of technology into daily rounding schedules fosters a more efficient and patient-focused approach to care.

‍Rounding it up

Efficiency is the key to delivering exceptional healthcare experiences and achieving positive patient outcomes. Daily rounding schedules can align staff schedules for optimal performance, maximize resource allocation, reduce patient waiting times and create smoother workflows for patient care.

Q-rounds plays a fundamental role in enhancing rounding coordination by providing real-time access to daily rounding schedules in addition to sending notifications to care teams, families and patients when to arrive at rounds, getting everyone present in the room.

Amidst the dynamic changes in healthcare, strategic technology investments play a pivotal role in reshaping the delivery of care. A recent article from Becker's Health IT sheds light on the technology wishlist of health system CEOs, highlighting key priorities for the next 12 months. Q-rounds®, with its innovative approach to patient experience and seamless integrations, emerges as a solution addressing multiple items on the CEO's tech wish list.

Seamless Care Coordination Applications‍

John Couris, CEO of Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital says “...we must effectively coordinate all of the care patients receive so that they move through the system without friction…”

By bringing all stakeholders together for daily rounds, nurses, consultants and families are able to participate in health updates and care decisions more efficiently. And with AI-assisted decision-making, Q-rounds marks patients as high priority or ready for discharge, creating a rounding queue that aligns with the healthcare system's need for innovation and effectiveness.

Drivers of Elite Patient Experience‍

Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., sees successful health systems being hyer-focused on the patient journey, prioritizing easy access to care and a great experience. "We'll eliminate wait times and use technology that streamlines processes. As healthcare leaders, innovation is in the DNA of every one of us.”

Q-rounds® aligns seamlessly with the vision of delivering an elite patient experience. Real-time updates and notifications ensure that patients, families, and care teams are informed about rounding schedules, eliminating wait times and enhancing overall patient satisfaction. The technology empowers healthcare leaders with user-friendly tools, contributing to a future where care is convenient, easy to access, and technologically advanced.

"Meeting patients where they are, when and how they want to interact with us as a health system will be imperative for health systems to continue to be relevant amidst the consumer-focused new market entrants." Says Lynne Fiscus, MD, president and CEO of UNC Physicians Network in Durham, N.C.,

‍Automation Everywhere

Mark Behl, president and CEO of NorthBay Health in Fairfield, Calif., tells Beckers he is prioritizing automation to become more efficient and support the workforce. He said healthcare is at an inflection point, and leaders are searching for "imagination, bold ideas and the courage to think differently" in the next few years to redesign the healthcare system.

Automating healthcare brings opportunity for efficiency, but also can disconnect providers from their teams and patients. Q-rounds is unique in its ability to bring automation to the bedside in a way that enhances human connection, instead of replacing it.

Technology to Support the Workforce

“Staffing shortages are not new by any means, however, they have been exacerbated by growing demand for healthcare availability largely driven by an aging population and an increasing need for healthcare at all levels," Joseph Webb, CEO of Nashville General Hospital, told Becker's.

Q-rounds® offers a transformative solution to support the healthcare workforce. By automating the inclusion of nurses and families during daily rounds, Q-rounds optimizes efficiency without burdening providers with the responsibility of notifying everyone when to be present for rounds. Through real-time updates and communication, Q-rounds fosters a routine connection between healthcare professionals and the families of their patients. This not only contributes to the effectiveness of care delivery but also underscores the human-centric approach that is integral to provider wellbeing. According to a study conducted by the University of Minnesota, the implementation of Q-rounds resulted in a remarkable 247% increase in nurse attendance and a 197% increase in family attendance during rounds, attesting to its positive impact on healthcare engagement.

Health Equity and Population Health Boosters

“Hospitals and health systems refocused on closing the gaps in health disparities and delivering customized population health solutions to their communities during the pandemic. There is huge momentum to continue and grow these efforts as technology makes them easier and more affordable.” Jill Hoggard Green, PhD, RN, president and CEO of The Queen's Health System in Honolulu, sees AI technologies revolutionizing healthcare and moving the needle with health equity.

Q-rounds® contributes to the ongoing efforts to reduce health disparities and enhance population health. Language barriers can significantly impact the healthcare experiences of children particularly when their caregivers prefer languages other than English. In a recent study published in Pediatrics, the association between caregiver non-English language preference and increased healthcare utilization for children was explored. To prevent an inequitable experience for patients of caregivers who prefer another language other than English Q-rounds helps break through language barriers and eliminate the added time waiting for an interpreter by automating their inclusion based on data available in the EHR. A family member can also request an interpreter be added to rounds and RSVP to let the team know if they’ll attend in person or virtually.

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In conclusion, Q-rounds® emerges as a transformative solution that seamlessly integrates with the CEO tech wishlist outlined by Becker's Health IT. By prioritizing patient care, efficiency, and innovation, Q-rounds® is a valuable resource in the evolving landscape of healthcare delivery.

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Source: "Becker's Health IT - Health System CEOs' tech wish list for the next 3 years"