How one HCA Healthcare colleague brought innovative ideas to life to improve our patients’ experiences.
Gabriel O. Perez Rodriguez distinctly remembers when he became “healthcare-inspired” in his work in information technology. He had taken a position with an HCA Healthcare hospital, and there was a small sign in the hallway leading to his office. “One day, I decided to stop and read it. It said, ‘If you are not directly helping a patient, you are helping someone who is.’ That was my moment. I realized that this wasn’t just an IT job; this was a healthcare career where my IT expertise was adding value to the care of our patients. More than 15 years later, that is still what drives me.”
That led to his receiving the HCA Innovators Award.
Today, his HCA Healthcare colleagues include “individuals who can work in any industry where there is some sort of technology component,” he says. “But few are the industries where those technology components are used for the direct care and improvement of human life, and we get to support and help those who use them.”
Gabriel’s capacity to germinate the seed of an idea, making it reality, is unparalleled within HCA Healthcare’s innovation strategy. He truly is a foundational element in the company’s quest to remain at the forefront of healthcare innovation.— Fariba Borjian, CIO, East Florida Division
Throughout his HCA Healthcare career, Gabriel has brought innovative ideas to life to improve our patients’ experiences, often partnering with colleagues to ideate or develop innovations. In addition to the nationally recognized ER Wait Times system, which drove ER process improvements and increased patient satisfaction, he’s had numerous other accomplishments. He led the development of Primary Care Physician Referral (PCPR), enabling identification of patients without a primary care physician. “This concept was later used to create the now enterprise-wide Care Assure system, which was also created by the East Florida team,” says Gabriel.
Gabriel also helped lead the development of the technology that manages operating room dockets and requirements; a patient transport system that allows for the electronic request of patient movements within the hospital or to a patient’s post-discharge destination; and the notification platform that enables secure, real-time communication with patients between nurses and providers.
Finally, Gabriel holds five HCA Healthcare patents. “I’m proud we’re able to show that there are truly innovative ideas from our facilities,” he says. The HCA Innovators Award process “highlights the hard work of those who have an eye for solutions. It’s extremely humbling that HCA Healthcare believes in the work that my team and I have done throughout the years.”
