Q&A: Meggie Soliman, IGNITE 2024 Winner and Director of Strategic Innovation at DSS, Discusses Future Vision for Health IT
Meggie Soliman, director of strategic innovation at Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS), personifies what it means to be a visionary female technology leader. With nearly two decades of experience, she takes a disruptive and forward-thinking approach to innovation development for the federal health care arena.
This is why she was recently named a recipient of the IGNITE 2024, Powerful Women Igniting Digital Transformation Award by GOVTECH CONNECTS.
This award recognizes federal, military and industry leaders who have made significant contributions to their respective organizations, displaying excellence, leadership, and an unwavering commitment to driving digital transformation.
In the following Q&A, Meggie discusses her background in health IT and role at DSS, her community support, and overall vision for the future of Health Information Technology.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Please tell us about your background in health IT.
Soliman: Unlike many in health IT, my background is more in the bioinformatics arena. I have a master's degree in biomedical informatics, which essentially merges biology and computer science. This entails understanding how to integrate all of this effectively within healthcare.
I originally began my career in big pharma and clinical research before transitioning to the solution provider sector, where I've been with DSS for the past decade. It's been an incredible journey witnessing various facets of health care – from clinical research and pharmaceuticals to the health care system itself – all intertwined with technology to enhance the overall quality of care.
Q: Please tell us about your role at DSS.
Soliman: In my role as director of strategic innovation at DSS, I take a comprehensive approach to our overall innovation within our organization.
While each team member certainly contributes innovative ideas within their respective areas, my focus is on considering the broader landscape rather than individual products. I aim to identify opportunities where we can lead the way in health care technology over the next three to five years, exploring areas currently untapped for innovation.
This involves developing a strategic roadmap to ensure that our innovation remains at the forefront of health care, ultimately enhancing the quality of care we provide.
For example, in today's landscape there are many opportunities for accelerating time-to-market. We’ve transitioned from traditional waterfall methods to agile frameworks, and now we're exploring additional avenues such as low-code and no-code platforms, alongside services leveraging AI technologies.
In addition, our partnership with AWS further amplifies our capabilities, benefiting from their advancements in AI, including generative AI and large language models. Our focus extends also beyond mere technological adoption where we are deeply invested in addressing provider burnout – a prevalent concern in the industry.
Throughout my career in health care technology, I've observed a persistent gap between tools and user experience. Today, however, we possess the means to bridge this gap effectively. Our primary aim is to craft a seamless experience for all stakeholders, including users, patients, and veterans in the federal sector. We're also keen on leveraging technologies already familiar to them outside of the health care system, fostering a cohesive and user-centric approach.
Q: Can you share with us your community-building efforts?
Soliman: Over the past decade, I've actively engaged with local chambers and organizations like Tech Hub South Florida. Presently, I serve as the chair for Tech Hub's Healthcare and Life Science Committee.
One notable observation upon entering the health care technology sphere was the underrepresentation of women. It's traditionally been a male-dominated industry. This realization ignited my passion for educational outreach, particularly targeting students and universities.
I’ve also given a TEDx Talk about the power of unconventional thinking for fostering creative approaches for innovation development, especially for women in IT.
I aim to dispel the misconception that technology careers are solely confined to coding behind a screen. Through collaborations with local schools and universities, I emphasize the diverse roles available within the tech industry, including customer-facing positions.
Additionally, I advocate for updating school curricula to align with the rapid pace of technological advancements, ensuring students are prepared for the industry's evolving landscape. Contributing to community engagement initiatives is something I deeply enjoy and find rewarding.
Q: What are the biggest trends in digital transformation in the federal health IT arena?
Soliman: The most significant trend in the industry undoubtedly revolves around AI. Its widespread adoption has been fueled by the remarkable capabilities of modern tools and their rapid learning capacity.
AI enables tasks traditionally performed by humans to be executed at an unprecedented pace. Processes that once consumed months for a provider or clinician can now be accomplished in mere seconds or minutes. This heightened efficiency has sparked significant demand and finds application across various domains, including both administrative and clinical realms.
Leveraging AI involves the development of models, algorithms, or the utilization of readily available services. Partnering with cloud service providers like AWS facilitates seamless integration, eliminating the need for extensive development or specialized expertise. This means that applications no longer necessitate ground-up construction by engineers or data scientists. Instead, existing tools can be effortlessly incorporated to enhance functionality.
Q: Please tell us how DSS is working to be at the forefront of these trends.
Soliman: We're deeply committed to exploring innovative opportunities and embracing a ‘fail fast’ approach.
With today's technological advancements, we can swiftly test ideas, often within minutes. By integrating services into applications, we efficiently assess their viability. Recently, we've participated in events such as the VA AI Tech Sprint, Mission Daybreak, and V-CHAMPS Challenge. These competitions offer valuable insights into customer needs and pain points, enabling us to rapidly prototype solutions and gather feedback. For example, the VA AI Tech Sprint focused on ambient voice technology, exemplifying our proactive engagement in cutting-edge initiatives.
With regards to the VA AI Tech Sprint, we used AWS services that were available, and incorporated them within our application. Ambient AI allows providers to no longer look at the screens and have direct conversations with patients or Veterans.
It's akin to Siri on your mobile phone, engaging in a conversation about the patient's visit and their feelings. The tool can distinguish between conversational details and clinical data, enabling it to generate a clinical note for the provider.
Now, providers are no longer tethered to their screens, meticulously capturing every word spoken by the patient. Instead, they have a structured baseline readily available for use and expansion. This significantly alleviates provider burnout.
Q: Overall, how will the health IT landscape look in 10 years?
Soliman: We're witnessing a rise in passive technology, evident in the prevalence of smart homes where technology seamlessly operates in the background, gathering data.
This wealth of information holds the potential to propel us towards precision medicine, tailored to individual genetic makeup, microbiome, and other factors. This shift prioritizes preventive care over symptom-driven approaches. With this momentum, I anticipate that in the next decade, personalized health care will definitely become the norm.
We would like to thank Meggie for sharing insights with us! To learn more about how DSS is a catalyst for health care innovation for the VA, please click here.