Digital Whispers: Healthcare Digitization and the Forgotten Spectrum of Care

Synopsis: When Senator James asks a simple question about the future of healthcare, retired healthcare executive JP Kornig sets out to find an answer.

Aboard his Nordic Tug Spindrift, cruising the waters of the Pacific Northwest, JP reflects on more than twenty years of healthcare digitization and the transformation that followed. What begins as a report soon becomes a journey through the history of electronic health records, interoperability, federal policy, and the overlooked role of long-term and post-acute care in America's evolving healthcare system.

As hospitals and physician practices rapidly adopted digital technologies, a critical part of the healthcare continuum was often left behind. Skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation providers, home health agencies, hospice organizations, assisted living communities, and other long-term and post-acute care providers were expected to care for the nation's most medically complex individuals without receiving the same level of policy attention, financial support, or technological investment.

Through personal experience, historical events, federal initiatives, and real-world healthcare stories, JP traces the development of a system designed around episodes of care while millions of older adults required care that unfolded across months and years. Along the way, he explores the emergence of interoperability, the challenges of fragmented information systems, and the growing recognition that healthcare must be viewed as a connected Spectrum of Care rather than a collection of isolated settings.

Part memoir, part healthcare history, and part policy narrative, Digital Whispers offers a unique insider's perspective on one of the most significant transformations in modern healthcare. It is the story of how healthcare became digital, what was gained, what was overlooked, and why the future of person-centered care depends upon recognizing the full Spectrum of Care.

For healthcare professionals, policymakers, technology leaders, caregivers, and anyone interested in the future of healthcare, Digital Whispers provides both a historical record and a thoughtful look toward what comes next.

Autobiography: John F. Derr, RPh, FASCP, FHIMSS, LTPAC Health IT Collaborative Emeritus, is a pharmacist, healthcare executive, author, and nationally recognized advocate for healthcare information technology. In 2026, he received the McKnight's Pinnacle Agent of Change Award in recognition of his lifetime contributions to healthcare, aging services, and health information technology. A graduate of Purdue University School of Pharmacy and a 2006 Distinguished Alumnus, John has spent more than five decades helping shape the intersection of healthcare, technology, and policy.

Over the course of his career, he has held executive leadership positions in pharmaceutical, medical device, healthcare provider, and healthcare information technology organizations. He has served as a healthcare executive, entrepreneur, policy advisor, and industry leader, contributing to national healthcare information technology initiatives that helped shape the digitization of healthcare in the United States.

John is the founder of the Long-Term and Post-Acute Care (LTPAC) Health IT Collaborative, an organization dedicated to advancing the role of long-term and post-acute care within the nation's evolving healthcare information infrastructure. His work has focused on improving care coordination, interoperability, and information exchange for older adults and individuals with chronic and complex healthcare needs.

In addition to his healthcare career, John served more than thirty years in the United States Navy and Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of Captain.

Digital Whispers draws upon his decades of experience in healthcare policy, interoperability, and the evolving Spectrum of Care.