A Time of Reflection and Gratitude

-- Cindy Leavitt

Last Friday, the MSIS managers met to look back at the last year and reflect and share what we were grateful for in the past year. Our goals for the session were to give each manager the opportunity to share the positive things that had happened over the last year, take time to celebrate our successes, feel invigorated, empowered, and supported by our peers and leave with a desire to express gratitude to our teams.

April Jefferson, our change coach, designed a “Draw and Tell” exercise where we drew pictures in response to a series of questions, starting with “What are you most grateful for this year?”  After taking time to draw, each person shared their picture and explained what it meant.  As April explained the exercise, the reception in the room was cool at best. While there wasn’t an audible groan, most of the group were not thrilled to be doing a drawing exercise.

April chose drawing purposefully.  Drawing is very creative and strengthens memories and experiences.  Drawing also produces positive brain chemistry that increased overall state of alertness.

The managers were good sports and doodled their response to the first question. As they shared, the energy in the room changed.  Positive feelings of support and gratitude filled the room when each person shared their stories in response to the question, “Who in the management team are you grateful for and how have they supported you this year?”  There was laughter and joking and genuine displays of excitement from the managers as they listened to each other sharing their stories.

As we left, we challenged each manager to share their gratitude with each member of their team. When we meet in January, we will share our stories about what happened when we shared our gratitude.

I hope all of you experience similar feelings of support and gratitude.   It has been a productive and wonderful year in MSIS.  Please take a few minutes to write down what you are grateful for. You can use the “Draw and Tell” exercise if you find it helpful.

I am so grateful for each member of MSIS and the opportunity I have had to work with you over the last five years.  You are an amazing group of people that I feel privileged to know. 

Have a great holiday and enjoy your family and friends!

Cindy


I am starting to blog externally about our experiments to infuse positivity in MSIS.  Please check out my LinkedIn article (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-reflection-gratitude-cindy-leavitt?trk=hp-feed-article-title-like)

Happy Holidays from LDP and MSIS Marketing and Communications!

MSIS NPS Survey Results: Quarter 3 2015

-- Gray Carper (gcarper@med.umich.edu)

 

Performance & Improvement Management recently closed another round of our periodic customer and staff survey, based on Net Promoter Score methodology, and you'll find the results below. This data will catalyze improvement actions using existing mechanics, like our Problem Management process, and we've already launched another survey round. If you have any questions about this or any other improvement initiatives, please reach out to PIM.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the survey this time - please continue to do so in future rounds!

If the report image isn't displaying properly below, you can also see it in Confluence.

Strategies for support conversations with speakers of World Englishes

-- Gray Carper (gcarper@med.umich.edu)

我識講兩個語言. 英文係我嘅本族語, 不過八年前我開學廣東話...

Wait! Wrong language! Let's try this again:

I’m bilingual. English is my native language, but I’ve acquired Cantonese over the last 8 years. Most of my interactions in Cantonese are relaxed, light, and fun, but some make me very nervous…

1. When I’m asking for help with something that’s important to me.
2. When the conversation is over the phone (where fidelity is low and non-verbal information is lost).

Hong Kong affords me a safety net in that I can often switch into English when I feel I need to, but I don’t always have that luxury, and I’ve felt the panic that ensues when Cantonese is my only option and the other person isn't understanding me.

At MSIS, we support folks who have felt that panic too. Folks who can't use their native language to ask for help. Folks who are afraid to call us, do everything they can to fix their own problem just to avoid that call, and as a result are even more on-edge if they eventually do need to call us.

What if we could help prevent those fears or, if they do kick in, help ease them? Today I present to you a framework you can use to do just that...

Strategies for Supporting Speakers of World Englishes

MSIS and MCIT Service Desks have already been prepared to use this material and, should you want similar training, you can attend our quarterly Customer Experience 101 course (MSIS-30005 in MLearning). Want to build on that? Contact Performance & Improvement Management for ideas.

This work is the result of feedback from our quarterly NPS survey fed through our Problem Management process and I collaborated with many to make it a reality. Endless thanks to Roger Burns, Hong Da, Jonathan Komorowski, Keshav Kondam, Bonnie Thomas, Yuying Tian, Susan Topol, Jianfeng Wang, Michael Warden, Mayumi Yoneta, Erik Zempel, our unified Service Desk, and faculty at Michigan's English Language Institute.

Embiggening our Workflow Support

Alison Ulicny (Yoo-lis-nee)
Product and Application Manager

Gamera (ga-meh-ra) - The Service's Mascot!

Today, I'm officially handing the reigns of Product Management for JIRA to our new product manager Alison Ulicny.  The health system's use of JIRA has expanded quite a bit in the last 3 years. It's only highlighting the need for us to keep advocating for sustainable workflow solutions.  In her short time here, Alison has already helped us re-prioritize needed upgrades, fixed many issues that needed solutions, and is working on strategies for the future.  As she takes the reigns, she will be sheperding more than 15 separate instances of JIRA which currently serve more than 5000 active customers.

JIRA still remains part of GAMERA, our workflow tools service.  With Alison on board, I expect the service will continue to grow and help meet the needs of our customers in the health system.

Please join me in congratulating Alison in her new role.


--
Tony Markel

Qualtrics has been TTO'd!

- Michael Warden

TTO for Qualtrics

As of this Thursday, MSIS has approved a Transition to Operations (TTO) Design Package for Qualtrics. There wasn't a major project pushing us to do this TTO work, but as a component used across many parts of MSIS and the UMHS, it was good to opportunistically move the maturity for this particular investment up a touch. Via a ticket, the PIM group took the lead on drafting and getting approval for the various aspects of the Design of our support of Qualtrics and, by doing so, cleaned up some compliance and security documentation, improved the clarity of how we support the tool, and addressed some outstanding questions of how best to help our customers reset passwords or get help. And now - with an approval in place - we have a better picture of how Qualtrics fits in our service delivery model. It took longer than we would have liked; however, the investment was relatively low and now we've improved our understanding and our readiness to support the tool, which is the point of TTO.

What is Qualtrics?
For the past number of years, the Qualtrics survey-building tool has been available to faculty, staff, and students across the University. Qualtrics was originally provided after the greater university recognized that individuals across the University of Michigan were buying accounts with SurveyMonkey (and other survey tools) and that a site license for a single product would save everyone money while offering more valuable tools and features. Today, Qualtrics is leveraged highly across many different units - or 'brands' - within the University. At the Health System, we use the product through the UMHS brand, located at http://umichumhs.qualtrics.com. This tool - used for creating and collaborating on surveys - plays an important role not just in gathering information but also in analyzing and distributing reports through email or nicely formatted Word, Powerpoint, Excel documents.

How is it used here?
At MSIS, we use Qualtrics throughout the entire breadth of our service model, from our MSIS Project Requests on the MSIS Website through our NPS surveys to evaluate how our service is performing. The tool is used heavily by researchers, by administrative staff, and by our academic support staff doing assessments and was even used to do the vote on the new medical student curriculum. Support is provided through a mix of self-service education through Qualtrics University (http://www.qualtrics.com/university/researchsuite), some basic documentation we have provided in the UMHS KnowledgeBase, communities of users across the university, and through highly skilled experts with Qualtrics, such as Eric Weimer within the PIM group.

Who needs it?
Many of our users need Qualtrics - though they may not ask for it by name. They often ask us for a custom web application, for help with an email, for help with SurveyMonkey, for Sharepoint, or any variety of other offerings. When we push to see what they are going to use it for - look out for phrases like 'We are just trying to collect data on...' or 'We need everyone to submit ...' - those are often keys to using Qualtrics.

If you would like to learn more or review our internal documentation, please take a look at its internal page in our Knowledgebase at the following link: https://wiki.umms.med.umich.edu/x/lYmMBg

Thank you!

Performance & Improvement Management (PIM)

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Not us!

--Monica Webster (websterm@umich.edu)

The Process Improvement Group (PIG) has been active since February of 2012. Since that time the group has led and implemented several key processes including (but not limited to):

• On-boarding and Off-boarding
• Service Outage and Notification Standards
• Code Blue Complaint Handling Process
• MSIS Staff Professional Development Process
• Service Design and Workflow Standards
• Timekeeping and Approval Process
• Service Request and VM Workflow 

With extreme gratitude, I would like to thank the following people for their service and dedication to PIG: Eric Weimer, Sue Boucher, Kenny Hill, Tony Markel, Sarr Blumson, Debra Haslam, Charlotta Jared, and Dave Cuevas. Your time, talents and attention have helped inspire us to create the vision for PIG’s next generation.

The Big Bad Wolf project was to identify and outline the goals and objectives for the next generation of PIG. PIG v2 will work to facilitate problem solving for Solutions Delivery. With the recent addition of Problem Management to our ticket types, a lot of our staff now have Problems they are working through. We are here to help with that process - think of us as “problem coaches” to help you work through problem tickets and resolution.

We will begin by holding open Problem Coaching Office Hours every Thursday morning from 10-11 a.m. in Room 200-233 (the PIM room). If you are currently assigned to a problem ticket, please feel free to utilize this time to drop in so that we may assist you.

If you are interested in becoming part of the group, please let us know. We would be happy to share this opportunity with you as we all work on getting better at solving problems!

Process Improvement Group v2 Charter

 

New Flu Vaccine Policy

Per NCRC Community News & Announcements: Please submit your flu shot documentation to Susan Niepoth or Susie Moore to receive a sticker.

Everyone at our health system has a responsibility to protect our patients, families and each other from the spread of disease. This year we’re taking our commitment to the health and wellness of our community one step further by requiring all employees to receive the flu vaccine.

Under the new influenza vaccination policy, all workforce members must receive their annual vaccine by Dec. 1, 2015 or an approved medical or religious exemption. Those with an approved exemption are required to wear a mask for the entire flu season before they can enter any clinical building where we provide patient care or where patients may be present. Wearing a mask if you are not vaccinated protects our vulnerable patient population and also protects you, your family, and colleagues from getting sick.

This policy applies to everyone who works at our health system, including regular and temporary staff, faculty, students, trainees, vendors, contract personnel and volunteers, regardless of clinical responsibility or patient contact. This includes Medical School employees and those who work in non-clinical settings. Non-UMHS employees in non-clinical UMHS facilities are not impacted by this policy.

Health systems across the country have already adopted this best practice, which is proven to reduce the spread of flu.

NCRC Flu Clinic

7:30AM - 3:30PM

Monday, November 2nd

Building 16, Rooms B001E & B003E

Other Opportunities

0. 
   
   9/29 at Michigan House Dining Room, 2301 Commonwealth, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
   9/30 at NIB, 300 North Ingalls Street, 4C07, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
   10/6 at KMS, 3621 S. State Street, conf. room 5, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
   10/8 at Rachel Upjohn, Garden level conf. room, 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
   10/12-10/18 at UH South, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, F2300, 4 a.m. - 12 a.m. 10/19-10/25 at UH South, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, F2300, 6 a.m. - 6 p.m.
   10/27 at BSRB, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, 4515, 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
   10/28 at NCAC, 2901 Hubbard Street, conf. room C, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
   11/2 at NCRC, building 16, 2800 Plymouth Road, rooms B001E & B003E, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 
   
   

There are many opportunities to get your flu shot at UMHS, including free flu clinics in September and October. Vaccines are also available at Occupational Health Services in the Med Inn Building or from clinical unit flu liaisons. Make sure to have your UMHS ID badge and medical record number (MRN) ready when you arrive. You’ll receive a sticker for your UMHS employee ID badge after getting the shot.

If you get your flu shot at your doctor’s office, pharmacy or any other location outside of UMHS, make sure to get documentation on paper with your name on it. Give this to your department’s compliance contact so they can record it and give you a sticker for your ID badge.

If you have a religious belief or medical condition that prevents you from receiving the flu vaccine, you may submit an exemption form to Occupational Health Services for review by Nov. 1, 2015. Employees who receive an exemption must put on a mask before entering any clinical care building. Later this year, the Infection Prevention and Epidemiology team will notify everyone when flu season begins, which will alert those who received an exemption to start wearing a mask before they enter clinical buildings.

More information about this year’s flu prevention program, including Frequently Asked Questions, is available on our Flu Website.

Thank you for doing your part to protect our patients, families, visitors and employees from the spread of flu.

Website: http://www.med.umich.edu/u/flu

While we're talking about Zendesk...

-- Tony Markel

Today, I am passing the torch of Zendesk product management to Dan Kugler.  Dan has worked for nearly every IT organization at the University of Michigan.  Most recently, he worked as a Neighborhood IT manager with ITS.

There is an uncanny similarity, no? 

Dan will be managing the product in a way I could not as a Service Manager.  I'm excited to see what comes next.

Automations, Macros and Triggers - oh my!

by Michael Warden

MSISers -

As you all know, Zendesk is a critical tool in our workflow for providing great service.  And, as many of you know from our post earlier this year, there are lots of tips and tricks for making Zendesk work for you.

One are of powerful functionality is the use of Automations, Macros and Triggers for getting things done in Zendesk automatically or at the click of a button.  Some of these work individually, some are for all users and some are system-wide and behind the scenes.  In order to help outline the best cases in which to use these features, Eric Weimer put together a basic guide on the recommended uses and how to get help in our Knowledgebase.  Please review the content at the source:  https://wiki.umms.med.umich.edu/x/jYFmCg as well as the current version pasted here for easy reading.

Enjoy!
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Zendesk Macros, Triggers and Automations

Zendesk offers a number of functional components to streamline ticket handling into workflows. A workflow can consist of one or more of the following functional components:

• Macros allow agents to quickly set ticket properties and/or provide a standard reply to a ticket. Macros can also be used internally to consistently route tickets between groups.
• Triggers are business rules that run immediately after tickets are created or updated.
• Automations are business rules that execute when a time event occurs after a ticket property was set or updated, rather than immediately after a ticket is created or updated.

For assistance with creating a Zendesk workflow:

1. Open a new Zendesk ticket.
2. Enter your email address in the Requester field.
3. In the lower left corner, click the apply macro menu, select Design, and then select Create Zendesk Workflow.
4. After the macro is applied to the ticket, scroll to the Description field and enter as much information as possible for the tasks to be performed.
5. Click the Submit button. The ticket will be routed to the Performance Improvement & Management group, who will contact you to assist with designing and implementing a workflow using the appropriate components.

---

Macros

Macros are prepared responses that enable quick response to common requests with a standard reply. Macros can also set ticket properties and are applied when creating or updating a ticket. Macros can be available to all agents (shared macros), only to agents in a specific group, or only to a specific individual. Only administrators can create and manage shared macros. Standard Work = Macro If addressing a ticket involves any amount of standard work, a macro provides an easy way to consistently encompass that work. Macros are especially useful to relay specific information to a customer; e.g., self-help instructions or information packets. To use a macro, while editing a ticket, click the apply macro dropdown menu and select the appropriate macro form the list. The ticket will automatically have its properties changed as defined by that macro. These properties can be subsequently changed by the agent, if necessary. Macros can be organized into categories by including the category in the macro title and separating the category and macro name with two colons; e.g., Accounts::Confluence User will file the Confluence User macro into the Accounts category, which appears in the apply macro dropdown list. Zendesk placeholders are containers for dynamically generated ticket and user data. Placeholders can be placed within ticket notifications to put specific information from the ticket into the notification automatically. The format is a data reference contained within double curly brackets.

See the ZDM - Macros page for more information. Usage Examples Macros are selected manually by an agent. Classify tickets by setting multiple fields with one macro Relay self-help instructions or information packets Provide response templates to agents Route tickets to a particular agent or group (manually)

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Triggers

Triggers are business rules that run immediately after tickets are created or updated. For example, a trigger can be used to notify the customer when a ticket has been opened. Another can be created to then notify the customer when the ticket is solved. Only administrators can create and manage triggers. Triggers contain conditions and actions. Combine these to create ‘if’ and ‘then’ statements (if the ticket contains a certain set of conditions then the actions make the desired updates to the ticket and optionally notify the requester or the support staff). Condition and action statements can be built using ticket properties, field operators, and the ticket property values. Automated Handling = Triggers Triggers provide a way to automate ticket classification and routing in order to streamline ticket handling. Each time a ticket is created or updated, all of triggers run; therefore, when creating triggers, think about the order of triggers. An action in one trigger may change a ticket property that is used by another trigger, which could result in multiple email notifications, misapplied tags, and customer confusion.

See the ZDM - Triggers page for more information. Usage Examples Triggers launch automatically at ticket creation/update. Send a notification to a requester, agent, group, and/or target (non-Zednesk destination) Route tickets to a particular agent or group (automatically) Add agents as CCs to a ticket Classify tickets and apply tags

---

Automations

Automations are similar to triggers because both define conditions and actions that modify ticket properties and optionally send email notifications to customers and the support staff. Where they differ is that automations execute when a time event occurs after a ticket property was set or updated, rather than immediately after a ticket is created or updated. Only administrators can create and manage automatons. Reminders = Automations Automations are time-based; they take action when a time-event occurs, not immediately after a ticket is created or updated. This functionality makes automations particularly useful as a notification mechanism to ensure tickets are not left unaddressed for extended periods of time.

See the ZDM - Automations page for more information. Usage Examples Automations launch automatically at a specific time interval. Notify agents when an assigned ticket remains unresolved for x number of hours Notify agent groups when a new ticket remains unassigned for x number of hours Notify the assigned agent after x number of hours when a Pending ticket has been updated by the requester Close tickets x number of days after they have been set to Solved

The Glove Box - Secure Analysis Environments

I hate being a blocker to research.

One of the common themes I run into when providing services for research is one of data sensitivity. We always ask the question: "Do you have sensitive data?" The researcher, when they have to say yes, knows that there are additional steps required in order to do the work that must be done. We, as service providers, then run the risk of becoming the leading purveyors of "wait" at best, or, "no" at worst.

What if there was a way to align the capabilities of information services with the needs of the researcher so that we could find creative ways to say yes, instead of worrying about solving the same security and compliance issues over and over?  What if we could use automation to create environments tailor-made to solving a particular biological or informational question that are secure and compliant by default?

The Glove Box is designed to answer these questions.

What is The Glove Box?

The Glove Box, as the name implies, will be a service that provides researchers a means to analyze sensitive data in a secure environment.  This implies that the data stays inside the box, without storing it on laptops or desktops in labs and offices.  It can be accessed from any computer, and it removes the performance bottlenecks of storage and networking by keeping the data close to the components performing the calculations.

The Glove Box is designed to be safe and effective.

The Glove Box will assist researchers by using component design that has already passed security and compliance checks.  Note I said component design, not components themselves.  The goal is to define and document how we build environments so that we can re-use them in a modular fashion. Security, access and auditing capabilities are built-in from the outset.  In this sense, researchers can combine and re-combine components compatible with their research at will.

The Glove Box is designed to be simple and easy to understand.

Technology has a tendency to be complex and difficult to operate.  The Glove Box will create environments that are as easy to access as today's remote environments like Sites, or the Health System's Virtual Places.  In addition, support and delivery will be done using the successful Flux support delivery model, which means that researchers get to use the same familiar faces in the same, familiar places as they do for other forms of research.

The Glove Box is designed to be current and relevant

Researchers will have access to standard tools such as SAS, STATA, and Matlab, but also tools like Hadoop and HPC.  By using our methodology to define and validate how we design and build components, rather than what's been designed, updating toolsets becomes easier, and adding new ones becomes less cumbersome as well.

Where can I learn more?

Check out our Google Drive folder. (M+Google credentials required)

View our Email to potential endorsees.

As I write this, my friends in the Health System, the Institute for Healthcare Policy Innovation, the Institute for Social Research, Advanced Research Computing and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts are busy collecting endorsements from their colleagues for this idea that research on sensitive, regulated data should be easy, safe, and effective.

I'm grateful to work in an institution that values, promotes, and implements ideas for the common good. It's one of the biggest reasons I love working at The University of Michigan.

Help Me Now @ Taubman Health Sciences Library is now Open!

I'm happy to announce that we have opened the Help Me Now office on the 5th floor of the newly renovated Taubman Health Sciences Library (THSL).  We are in suite 5100, just outside of the elevators.  Our hours of operation are Weekdays 8am-9pm, and Weekends noon-9pm.  The odd hours are a combination of the LRC Help hours, and HMN, as we are working to support the needs of the constituency.

A Grand Opening event is scheduled for September 16 for dignitaries of the University, donors, regents, and the general public.

Over 200 tickets generated since August 3, 2015.  Most of them with incoming M1's and returning M2's.  With a new building, new curriculum, new Orientation, new staff, new online tools, we have been learning as much as we have been helping.  It's been an exciting three weeks.

Soon, we will be replacing posters up in the UMHS buildings to provide more information to patrons that we exist, and can help them.

We are also showcasing works from fellow MSIS teams to help generate buzz, questions, and interest in other things happening around MSIS.  Some of this will be digital content for our internal LCD marquee, and others are physical, like posters, pamphlets, etc.

If you are around Taubman, come on in!  It's a great space, and has actual windows!  It's a bit noisy at times, between classes, but is a good landing space for anyone in MSIS that needs a space.


Roger Burns,
Service Manager for Help Me Now

How well is MSIS serving you?

-- Gray Carper (gcarper@med.umich.edu) 

Performance & Improvement Management has launched the latest round of MSIS' quarterly customer and staff survey and we want to hear what you think. Tell us by following this link...

http://msis.med.umich.edu/feedback

Only the first question is required, so if that’s all you fill out, it’ll take just a few seconds. Any additional questions you see are optional and should take about five minutes if you choose to tackle them. What you share with us here drives our own improvement efforts, and we see how well those are going by reissuing this survey from time to time. If you’re curious, feel free to read about why and how we do this or browse previous results reports.

Please take a moment to make yourself heard and, if you have any questions, just send a note to msis-pim-questions@umich.edu.

Announcing the IVAC Aperio Image Capture System

MSIS is pleased to announce the availability of the IVAC (InVivo Animal Core) Aperio Image Capture System (IVACICS). The ULAM IVAC team has purchased an Aperio Image Capture System, which includes an automated image capture microscope instrument and configurable image management software, eSlide Manager, from Leica. IVAC's Image Capture System will be used by the ULAM IVAC team to to develop a fee-for-service model to sell image capture services to regional users that do not have their own instruments. IVAC Pathology is the only histology core on campus dedicated exclusively to research histology of animal models and the only core that offers interpretive services from board-certified veterinary pathologists.

Learning about Animal Research

My primary focus has been to support our Research Community since coming to the Medical School in 2006.  It wasn’t until I met the In-vivo Animal Core (IVAC) team members for the implementation of the Aperio Automated Image Capture Microscopy Instrument, that I learned about this growing discipline located in Building 36 at the North Campus Research Center. I focused on the IT aspect of the project, but broadly was responsible for the implementation and coordination of eSlide Manager, a configurable image management software from Leica Biosystems.

However, I had now ventured into the world of Animal Research, a new world for me. Working directly with some of the IVAC faculty and scientific advisors that consisted of Veterinary Pathologists, Toxicology Specialists, Pharmacotherapy, Pharmacokineticcs and Vet Anesthesists/Pain Management, and Study Design and Immunologists, I was forced to recognize the presence of activism and the ongoing debate about the ethics of using non-human animals as test subjects. Suddenly, I am facing the implementation of an IT system that is outside of the realm of ePHI and HIPAA data, but will require the same due diligence as an IT Service Manager.

The In-vivo Animal Core team is dedicated and has put in long hours during the implementation of the Image Capture System because they believe in their mission to excel in project-specific preclinical in-vivo (in the living body of a plant or animal) studies.  I have a newly found respect for this type of research as I realized the contributions animal research made to the world’s major medical advances over the decades going back to the Pre 20^th Century.  In the past 50 years, animal research, conforming to high ethical and welfare standards has helped millions with conditions such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord damage and parasitic infections like malaria, as well as,

• 1970’s:  CT scanning for improved diagnosis; Chemotherapy for leukemia; Medicines to treat ulcers; inhaled asthma medication; Migraine medication.
• 1980’s MRI scanning for improved diagnosis; Prenatal corticosteroids improving survival of premature babies; Treatment for river blindness; Life support systems.
• 1990’s:  Combined therapy for HIV infection; Meningitis vaccines; Better medicines for depression; Medicines for breast and prostate cancer; Medicines for type 2 diabetes.
• 2000’s:  Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease; Monoclonal antibodies for cancers; Cervical cancer vaccine; Clotting agent from milk; Bird flu vaccine.
• 2010’s:  Stem cells for spinal, heart and vision repair; Oral or inhaled insulin for type 1 diabetes; Angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer; Gene therapy for muscular dystrophy ( Health Timeline)  http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/why/health-timeline/

As I marvel at the great strides we have made in medicine, and having personally interacted with the IVAC team, I am thankful for their contributions to early, preclinical, and translation research.

What we are doing to help

The IVAC Image Capture System will have a tiered support model with the vendor, Leica Biosystems, who will be providing initial support for the Image Capture System, the eSlide Manager workstation, and the application.  The MSIS support staff members will provide server and desktop support in collaboration with the Leica Support Staff and the IVAC team for troubleshooting, and desktop support of the workstation, as necessary.  For more information, please go to IVACICS in the Knowledgebase for support information.

A special thanks to the IVAC Team Members, Bob Sigler, Carrie Schray, Florin Timpau, and Wendy Rosebury-Smith; the Leica Biosystems Technical Support Staff, Marc Friedman, Mark Webb, and Kevin Kelly; and MSIS Support Team Members; Sue Boucher, Bruce Taylor, Brett Miller, Sarr Blumson, and Jim Deneen for working together to bring this exciting new ULAM service.   

The In-vivo Animal Core (IVAC) serves as a research resource in support of early, preclinical stage, translational research, and is developing a fee-for-service model, to sell image capture services to regional users that cannot afford their own instruments.

MSIS Virtual Servers - Request Management Meeting Survival Guide

-- Tony Markel

So, you've been asked to attend one of the Virtual Server request management meetings to talk about your request.  It may seem like a road block at first, but these meetings are the physical embodiment of "What if we forgot about process for a moment, and got everyone we needed in one room for 15 minutes to sort this out?"  These gatherings align with our strategies to utilize resources effectively, and provide high-value soultions.  It also reinforces our values of collaboration and rigor.

It also helps get you the solution you need faster.

To speed things along, please refer to these tips when you attend.

Tip #1: Be prepared to answer questions related to your domain.

We really want to get at the heart of the problem you're working on.  We want to hear about it without the filter of Information Technology speak.  While we may be computer geeks, we really do want to know if you're using statistical methods to predict cancer rates in under-served populations, or developing an innovative way to research ion channel transport to aid in drug discovery, or using learning informatics to assist in the design of next-generation teaching methods for medical students. Knowing your mission, your problem, and your processes, helps us find the solution that will provide you with the best value for your hard-earned budget.

Tip #2: We love Lean.  If you have an A3 or other artifact, bring it! 

We are privileged enough to work in a health system that values Lean problem solving techniques. It's a rigorous methodology that produces real value for the Health System.

Tip #3: Know your audience, and how you expect them to interact with your solution.

Are you working with physicians in the Phillipines? Collaborating with chemists in Cologne? Surveying Students in the School of Social Work? Badgering Bioinformaticists in BSRB?  Knowing who you need to reach, and where you need to reach them helps us provide the right solution to the right people, safely and securely.

Tip #4: Know your data

One of the core values of our service is to reduce risk.  This is the risk of running equipment in labs and offices, but it also extends to sensitive, regulated information.  We can help you find the right solution compatible with the regulatory agencies that demand compliance with their policies.

Tip #5: Remember, we're here to help

More Information:

UMHS Knowledge Base: https://wiki.umms.med.umich.edu/x/wgELBg

The AVnatomy of the remodeled Taubman Health Sciences Library

Photo taken in the months before
the start of the renovation

After the renovation

Since my very first day as the Audiovisual Service Manager for MSIS, I have been thinking about and planning the AV design and integration for the Taubman Health Sciences Library renovation.  The journey from planning, to design, to demolition, and rebuilding will be a journey that I will not soon forget.  Today, Monday August 3, 2015 that journey hits a major milestone, as the doors have officially open for business.

I wanted to take an opportunity to highlight some of the audiovisual technologies that have been integrated into the design of the building so you all know what to expect as you start to make your way around the newly-renovated building.

Student enjoying the new lounge
on the 6th floor

The third floor of the new Health Sciences Library has 30 rooms each featuring two high-definition

camera and one or two microphones (depending on the room size) designed to capture the interaction

Digital Sign in the Suite lobby

Master Control Room

Simulation Patient Room

between medical students and actors portraying patients in the standardized Patient Program.  Each room has a Crestron controller panel inside the room to give the patients and/or student full control of their environment.  Using this controller, they can select:

• Privacy mode which will invert all cameras
• Audio only which turns off the video and records the room in an audio only mode
• Full record mode to capture all audio and video from the room.  

The Crestron control displays outside of the room provide a visual feedback to show the current state of the room.

Haworth Workware
Collaboration Tables

Sharp Interactive Display

As you enter the main library on the fourth floor you will be greeted by a four panel video wall.  The technology that is integrated into the Library spaces was all put together with collaboration and teamwork in mind.  There are four collaboration tables with 60” LCD panels that promote sharing and teamwork.  Two team rooms are furnished with Sharp Interactive displays that allow the users to annotate, and interact with the materials that they are displaying.  There are four digital signs in the library suite that are intended to promote the library, upcoming activities student events.  One of the most compelling pieces of technology in the entire building is the Anatomage Table, which is a virtual cadaver that give students the ability to manipulate full size male and female cadavers in several layers.

One of two identical collaboration suites

The fifth floor was designed with students and computing as the main focus.  There are 14 small group rooms that each have a 60" or 70" Flat Panel LCD display with HDMI and VGA inputs.  There is a large computer lab that has a movable wall to give flexibility to the users so that the room can be split in half.  Each room is outfitted with Canon REALiS projectors that are designed for medical imaging due to the LCOS imaging.  To serve the MSA staff located on the fifth floor, there is a large conference room with a 70" flat panel display with HDMI and

One of two identical collaboration suites

VGA inputs and a distance communication room with dual displays and a Polycom videoconferencing unit.  In keeping with the buildings theme of collaboration, there is a corner suite that has a 90" display and two 60" displays.   These displays can work independently to allow the users to work freely on their own or joined together for a shared experience.  To help support the Medical School Community, Roger Burns has opened a premier "Help Me Now" space that has a collaboration station and a large screen LCD for user support.

Student lounge study area

The sixth floor is the home of the new student lounge.  The technology in the lounge offers the Medical Students two 70" displays with soft comfortable seating with HDMI and VGA inputs.  The center of the lounge have two 90" TV's that will have HD Programming from DirecTV so the students can be sure they have a place to watch the Wolverines take the field, catch the local news, or their favorite medical drama.  The northeast corner of the building is set up the same as the collaboration suite one floor down.  The students will have access to 15 additional small group rooms with

One of two distance
communication suites

60"displays, custom speaker system, and HDMI and VGA inputs.  If you need to connect with anyone near or far, communicate with groups near or far, then the three distance education rooms on the south hallway will have what you are looking for.  There are two rooms that are made for videoconferencing.  There is a Polycom Real Presence 700 Video conferencing system that features high definition images from the near site and farsite alike.  There are dual 90" displays for the near end and far end or content.  There are two microphone mounted to the ceiling to be sure that all discussions would be heard near and far.  For the ultimate in collaboration,

Collaboration Classroom

and teamwork, the sixth floor Collaboration Classroom has by far the most impressive blend of technology to bring teams together.  This room has a 90" LCD display for the instructor and six student 70" LCD displays for the students.  The innovative Crestron control gives the instructor the ability to partner displays to promote teamwork, or share one team display with the entire room.  The new drag and drop control technology gives this space the ultimate in flexibility.  The room is also connected to the UMMS Mediasite service for classroom recording and broadcast.

So as you wander the hallways or sit in meetings in the newly renovated THSL, it is my hope that you now have an understanding of what the 85 LCD flat panels, 90 cameras, 171 Crestron controllers, 15 digital signs, and miles and miles of HDMI, VGA and ethernet cable are doing.  

I want to take a moment to recognize and thank some people that have worked tirelessly on this project.  Chris Goosman for helping with the design, equipment and integration standards in an ever-changing landscape.  Charlotta Jared for all of the hard work and dedication bringing all of the digital signs online.  Caleb Newman and the AV Team for their help and support with room commissioning and support moving forward.  Bonnie Thomas for making the materials appear last minute no questions asked.  John Herlocher for being a stable conduit to reality.  Buzz Nau for his leadership and guidance.  Erik Alderink for firmly guiding the helm for EMS Simulation IQ and the Standardized Patient spaces.  Cindy Leavitt, Ted Hanss, Jack Kufahl and the rest of MSIS Leadership for giving me such a great canvas to paint.