As CIO of HealthPartners, the country's largestconsumer-governed nonprofit healthcare organization, Alan Abramsonhas been at the forefront of some of the most innovative uses oftechnology in the healthcare industry.

For the past decade, Abramson has helped HealthPartners developan integrated electronic health records (EHR) system for physiciansand patients and established a collaborative exchange network thatallows providers and payors throughout Minnesota to share clinicaland administrative data in real time. In August, HealthPartnersbecame one of the first organizations in the country to integrateelectronic X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scans,and radiology reports into patients' EHRs. The technology hashelped doctors at Regions Hospital, in St. Paul, Minn., and 25HealthPartners clinics reduce radiology report turnaround time fromtwo days to four hours.

“What's made this possible is the level of standardization thehealthcare industry has moved to and the cooperation betweenvendors not to feel threatened and believe they have to wall offtheir intellectual property,” Abramson contends. “You can getsubstantial advantage out of IT investments by looking at areaswhere there is no competitive advantage and collaborating withcompetitors to lower the cost for everybody.”