For many users of healthcare services, the technological side of things tend to only be recognized when a bug or other annoyance crops up. But to those working to improve the databases, connectivity and utility of healthcare’s important services, the developments coming about because of tech advances can be nearly overwhelming.

Michael Lawley, SVP of IT at HealthPlan Services (HPS), joined Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Stu Miniman (@stu), cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, at this year’s IBM Edge event to discuss ways in which healthcare’s tech side is growing, along with his company’s efforts to streamline tasks through cognitive computing.

Positive progress

Starting off the interview, Lawley was enthusiastic about HPS’ current position in the market. His company provides a multitude of services and technologies to over 35 leading insurance companies. “We’ve picked up some really big clients, we’ve got great penetration … it’s a fun time for us,” he said.

He also shared some details on how HPS is working to advance from its already strong position, with the main points of focus being “looking at stabilization and getting ready for capacity.”

But for all of the changes taking place these days, Lawley remained upbeat, even when considering developments that could have a profound impact on his company’s implementation practices. “Go way, way back and think how we started off with this thing called a mainframe [and how it was supposed to disrupt everything]. … Then the next disruptive thing came along. … So I put a filter on it when I hear ‘disruptive,’ and I try to look at it from a positive perspective,” he explained.

Applying lessons

One of the points of interest for HPS currently is centered on identifying repetitive tasks, with plans to eventually handle them through cognitive computing. While many of these tasks are simply being bundled together at this time, there are hopes that more particular treatment of such busy work will be implemented soon. “It’s not about covering [activity] up, it’s about transparency, but also being safe,” Lawley explained.

On the topic of IBM’s relevance to HPS, Lawley was quite complimentary of its business solutions, stating, “[IBM’s] always been an important staple in my data centers.”

Some time was also given to discussion of Lawley’s martial arts background and how lessons from that training have influenced his business behavior, such as what he’s learned about stamina, persistence and performance limits.

Finishing with talk of HPS’ acquisition by Wipro Ltd., Lawley shared what he could, with the disclaimer that as there was so much news to come, he was not at liberty to give all the details. For now, though, HPS will be “looking to leverage scale and scope of the parent company,” Lawley stated.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM Edge 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE