What's next for me?

It has been a relaxing week, but I am still interested in opportunities for me. I have had a handful of phone calls. I hear that my name is mentioned positively in many conversations, that I am not involved in.  LinkedIn tells me that my announcement has been seen 11,000 times, my blog article only 104. So, you can understand that I am getting really dramatically mixed messages.

What I'm looking for

I have put together a Resume, and doing that did solidify my interests in 

1. Standards development (FHIR)
2. Profile development (Implementation Guides)
3. Use of Profiles and Standards (Apps and Infrastructure that use standards)

I don't like doing the administrative things that a consultant needs to do, like finding new work, billing, following up on billing. I did this a few times over the last few years, and it is outright drudgery. I also don't want to move into a corporate position, like a director of blah, or senior so-and-so. Learning a new corporate process is not inviting, I did that three times already.

I know that I am close to retirement, I can feel the beach sand beneath my feet.  Thus, I understand that whatever I do needs to make this transparently clear. And I recognize that might limit my opportunities. I am okay with that.

Ongoing Contributions

I will continue my work in HL7 and SHIFT:

• SHIFT on their work to make Consent more implemented. I have been providing subject matter expertise in FHIR Consent and the IHE Privacy Consent on FHIR (PCF) implementation guide. Right now, the team is working on implementing, so I don't have much to contribute. I would like to be involved in code reviews. I am also providing expertise in the discussion with various stakeholders and implementers. 
• HL7 on their work with FAST Consent, which is taking an administrative step beyond IHE-PCF to define policies and management steps for instances of Consent. This work can only be done in a regional context where regional policies can limit the variability. So, context is critical here. Having reviewed many regional policies and applied them to the development of FHIR Consent, I have a pragmatic and realistic perspective to provide.
• HL7 on AI Transparency IG, which is using features we built into FHIR for tagging data that was contributed by AI and providing details of that AI actions in Provenance.  I have applied these concepts to IHE profiles and Data Trust Alliance, and other side projects. The power of Provenance is best shown with use-case analysis and examples. 

I will continue with these, even if only Pro Bono. I certainly hope that I have other opportunities that I could contribute to. I think I still have plenty of energy and expertise to be applied to Healthcare Interoperability Standards development and promulgation.