“Tell Me Where IT Hurts” Podcast: Guest Marcus Perez, President, Altera Digital Health

As president of Altera Digital Health, Marcus Perez oversees all the hospital and large physician practice assets that Harris purchased in 2022. Earlier in his career, Perez was vice president and portfolio leader for the healthcare group at Harris, vice president of government practice for Workday, executive vice president of sales for Harris in the public-school sector, and executive vice president of sales at LPS’s government practice. Prior to that, he was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and instructor and an assistant basketball coach at the University of Missouri.  

Now, as he leads a top-five EHR business, Perez has his finger on the pulses of multiple EHRs, as well the healthcare industry at large––and shares some insightful observations on the importance of data, where clinician-facing technology is heading, where it needs to go, and how we can get it there.  

In this birds-of-a-feather episode, Dr. Anders and Perez take a deep dive into the ever-changing role of the EHR, and how these core systems must continue to evolve to not only accommodate the move toward patient-centric care, but to ensure the fiscal fitness of provider organizations. Additional discussion highlights include:  

  • An anecdote from Dr. Anders about the advances made in EHR technology  
  • Perez’s career trajectory ––from West Point to helicopter instructor to HIT exec 
  • What’s changed in the Allscripts/Altera world since the acquisition by Harris 
  • The Altera long-term product focus 
  • The challenge of designing HIT systems with patient care in mind 
  • Investing in good HIT technologies and nurturing, rather than sunsetting them 
  • Thinking of the EHR like the electrical system in a house –– everything plugs in 
  • Why EHRs can’t be great at everything –– and why they must be enablers 
  • Getting the right data to the right people at the right time to make the right decisions 
  • Adapting HIT product roadmaps to accommodate patient-centered healthcare 
  • The changing role of clinical data that is the lifeblood of healthcare 
  • “If you had a magic wand and could change anything in healthcare IT today, what would it be?” 

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