Becker's Hospital Review

40 CIO / HEALTH IT The CIO's transformational role: 3 execs share how the position has evolved to 'COO by proxy' By Jackie Drees T he acceleration of digital transforma- tion in healthcare is disrupting oper- ational processes and transforming the roles of C-level leadership, posing the question of the CIO's traditional responsibil- ities and its emerging reputation as the new "COO by proxy." While the COO typically oversees an orga- nization's strategy and risk management, CIOs are increasingly being expected to take on more operational accountability as com- panies undergo digital transformations, e Wall Street Journal reported. By 2024, one quarter of CIOs working in large, traditional enterprises are expected to become the "COO by proxy," and will oversee opera- tional responsibilities including recommend- ing enterprisewide digital projects for approv- al and deciding which activities to fund and those that should be discontinued, according to research and advisory firm Gartner's annu- al list of top strategic predictions. Healthcare's CIO is no stranger to this emerg- ing phenomenon. As hospitals and health systems grappled with scaling digital opera- tions in 2020 from rapid telehealth rollouts to expanding data reporting and analytics, the CIO has taken on a more strategic role. A mutual understanding between them and the rest of C-level leadership has emerged as they have witnessed technology's ability to move the business forward, according to Joel Vengco, senior vice president and chief infor- mation and digital officer at Baystate Health in Springfield, Mass. Digitally enabled operations are inevitable across all businesses, particularly health- care, as the evolving CIO role is focused now more than ever on optimizing operational effectiveness and growing revenues through a digital foundation backed by data, he told Becker's Hospital Review. "is focus is where the CIO and the COO truly interlock," Mr. Vengco said. "e COO and CIO must educate the business on how to extract the value of IT to achieve its goals, and the COO must partner deeply with the CIO to optimize and effectively transform operations through the redesign of process- es and the empowerment of people fueled by technology and information." e COVID-19 pandemic jolted a newfound, stronger reliance on technology – normaliz- ing remote work setups, bringing telehealth to the forefront of care and serving as a facil- itator of socially distanced communications. With technology continuing to touch nearly every item in a healthcare system, the "mod- ern CIO" must have a sound understanding of operations, financials and clinical and nonclinical workflows, according to Ray- mond Lowe, senior vice president and CIO at Los Angeles-based AltaMed. Like Mr. Vengco, Mr. Lowe agrees that the CIO and COO must work in tandem on digital transformation as it affects the entire organization and shouldn't be considered as "just an IT project." As healthcare ramps up adoption and deployments of IT best prac- tices, Mr. Lowe said it is important to get in- spiration from outside of the organization as well, which serves as a driving factor in the difference between what makes a CIO good versus great. "You cannot expect all things to come from within the organization," Mr. Lowe told Beck- er's. "A good healthcare CIO must be mind- ful of technologies and how they can be de- ployed in different settings. A great CIO can work across industries to determine fit and lead workflow transformation." Building on the digital transformation efforts catapulted in 2020, as the COO by proxy, Mr. Lowe plans to lead his office to focus more on patient-centric care in 2021. is includes expanding the health system's mobile-first strategy, promoting provider satisfaction and allowing them to work from anywhere. Applying IT to help drive the values of the quadruple aim – improving patient experi- ence, population health, provider experience and reducing the cost of care – is a critical responsibility for CIOs. e CIO can improve both patient and pro- vider experiences through IT, Mr. Lowe said, offering up the following example: with pa- tient-centered care and televideo visits, what happens if the patient needs to go to the clin- ic or the emergency department? is type of scenario, he said, requires an operational workflow change within care delivery oper- ations, in which the CIO's role is designing a system that provides the patient's transporta- tion and scheduling needs while ensuring a seamless transfer of their EHR information. Healthcare organizations today now see the importance of strategic alignment and the value that the CIO's involvement can bring to the overall system. "e CIO's traditional role in providing tech- nology enablement to support the transfor- mation still exists; however, many different expectations around day-to-day operations have changed for the CIO," he said. "e CIO's transformational role is an exciting one, and leading business transformation and driving disruptive growth versus incre- mental growth will be a difference-maker for the healthcare system." While the pandemic has acted as an accel- erator for digital transformation, new tech initiatives had already been well underway at hospitals and health systems across the country. At Mammoth Hospital, CIO Mark Lind has been overseeing operational re- sponsibilities from technology selection and project management to lab and medical im- aging reporting since the Mammoth Lakes, Calif.-based hospital's previous COO retired about five years ago. Rather than replacing the former COO's position, the hospital, which has about 500 employees, chose to divvy the duties of the job between the CEO and other executives. However, the rebalancing proved difficult for the CEO to juggle, as he was then required to directly manage building projects and fa- "The CIO's transformational role is an exciting one, and leading business transformation and driving disruptive growth versus incremental growth will be a difference-maker." - Raymond Lowe, AltaMed

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