Becker's Hospital Review

20 CIO / HEALTH IT e payoff, Mr. Lamm said, has been speed. UNC Health has completed full IT migrations in as little as eight months and as long as 18, depending on the acquired hospital's starting condition. "One of our entities had a situation where they were in desperate need of an IT transition, and we actually did that in eight months, end to end, full IT migration from their legacy IT service provider to UNC Health," he said. "On the long end, we tend to see it might be more like 18 months." Asked what advice he'd offer other CIOs navigating growth, Mr. Lamm pointed back to consistency, even when it isn't the popular answer. "We don't try to do custom arrangements for IT systems for one entity versus another," he said. UNC Health applies the same enterprise standards, from its Epic build to its enterprise resource planning and imaging systems, to every acquisition, with only minor flexibility at the edges. "Overall, we've been very careful to stay very standardized, and I believe that's paid off well for us," he said. Mr. Waters, for his part, sees that same variability as the point. With culture, deal structure and due diligence access shiing from one acquisition to the next, he said MultiCare's first move will keep being to figure out, case by case, how two workforces keep functioning together while the rest of the integration catches up. Between the two health systems, the throughline is the same even where the philosophy isn't. Neither CIO waits for the technology conversation to start with the technology. Both start with the workforce that has to run it. n CIOs shrug off EHR vendor leadership changes By Giles Bruce E HR vendors have seen a wave of significant leadership changes in recent years, most recently a string of executive departures at Epic. Health system CIOs say none of it is likely to change how they run their organizations day to day — though some argue the risk isn't spread evenly across vendors, and that Epic's depth insulates it in a way smaller EHR companies may not. Epic's turnover is the most prominent recent example. President Sumit Rana left Friday after more than two decades at the company. Seth Hain, who led AI efforts at the EHR giant, also departed, along with several other veteran research and development executives. Several of the leaders officially exited the week before Epic's Users Group Meeting, running Monday through Thursday. But Epic isn't the only EHR vendor to navigate leadership transitions in recent years. Meditech founder and chair Neil Pappalardo died in January; Howard Messing, a former Meditech CEO, took over as board chair. Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) brought in new leadership after the company changed ownership in 2022. For CIOs who rely on these platforms daily, the question is whether any of it matters operationally. Aaron Miri, DHA, executive vice president and chief digital and information officer at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health, said he isn't worried. "Leadership transitions at any major EHR vendor can create some uncertainty, particularly given how central these platforms are to healthcare delivery," he said. "But I view these changes largely as part of the natural evolution of mature technology companies." Dr. Miri said his trust extends across all the large EHR vendors. "These organizations have deep talent, strong customer relationships, and long-term product strategies that extend well beyond any one individual," he said. "I don't expect them to miss a beat in supporting their customers or advancing their roadmaps." Michael Elley, CIO of Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health, said it depends on the EHR vendor. "Leadership changes in the non-Epic EHR space is likely more impactful to those organizations than Epic losing a few leaders," Mr. Elley said. "Epic's product, roadmap, and engagement with its customers continue to be strong, and I fully expect new leaders to step into place and continue to drive innovation. For me, it's news on a slow news day." The distinction Mr. Elley draws — between Epic and the rest of the market — reflects a dynamic that's followed Epic for years: The company is privately held, has never done a merger or acquisition, and is built around a succession model in which founder and CEO Judy Faulkner, 83, has said her replacement must come from within the ranks of longtime Epic software developers. That bench depth is part of why Dr. Miri and Mr. Elley both expect the transition to be uneventful from a customer's perspective, even as Mr. Rana was long seen as a leading internal candidate to eventually succeed Ms. Faulkner. Smaller or newer entrants to the EHR market don't have the same depth to draw on, in Mr. Elley's view, which is why leadership turnover there carries more risk for the health systems that depend on them. Hospital and health system leaders are largely taking a wait- and-see approach to Epic's reshuffling — watching for any shift in product direction at UGM this week, but not bracing for disruption. n

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