This Monday morning started differently—I’m awake, ready to work, but with nowhere to report.
After nearly nine years at ByLight, my journey there has abruptly ended. ByLight had taken me on as a standards representative back in November of 2016. I have worked on multiple CDA, XDS, and FHIR-based projects ever since. Most recently, I was helping modernize MyHealtheVet—the VA’s patient portal where Veterans securely access their medical records, message their care teams, and manage prescriptions. Our team was about halfway through a FHIR transition and updating the web interface, with Oracle Health (Cerner) integration just beginning to support the VA’s evolving EHR ecosystem.
But the contract was unexpectedly not renewed. We were all let go, and I imagine many of my colleagues are now, like me, seeking what comes next. ByLight fought hard to continue the work, but I don’t know what led to the decision or what the future holds for the portal itself.
What now?
I had expected to retire somewhere in the next 2–5 years, with time to prepare and transition. That plan changed overnight.
Today, I was supposed to co-chair the IHE IT Infrastructure Technical Committee’s face-to-face meeting. Instead, I had to inform my co-chairs and peers that I’m no longer employed and no longer have standing within IHE. Others had scheduling challenges too, so we opted to postpone and shift to our regular t-con development calls instead. IHE will also need to redistribute the roles I held—GitHub administration, IG publishing, and more.
I’ve also informed HL7, and they’ve revoked my authority. I recall from before that HL7 has a method to extend membership continuity, but I haven’t heard whether that will apply to my case.
What's next?
While I had begun thinking about retirement, this came too soon. I’m now exploring consulting work—perhaps independently, perhaps through a contracting organization. I’m not interested in stepping into a dramatically different role or climbing further up the leadership ladder; when I look at what’s done “up there,” I don’t find much that sparks inspiration. It doesn’t feel like the right way to wind down. More likely that I use my FHIR Implementation Guide experience and skills to help projects and regions on their profiling.
I’ve seen other standards geeks continue consulting into their later years, which I’ve always viewed with mixed feelings. The world needs space for fresh leadership, and that’s hard to foster when the same people continue to occupy those positions.
So, here I am again—like I was in 2016—dusting off my resume and pondering the next chapter. I do have a few camping vacations scheduled from before all this, and I plan to take them. Maybe the timing will turn out to be fortuitous.
