Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/351959
24 Things like a mobile patient portal allows a patient access to information as well as mobile virtual visits — you can see a provider at any time, which al- lows you to engage in your care. With wearables, you can upload information into your personal health record that allows to understand your compliance and see how engaged you are — these are all things we're doing right now. Mr. Smith: That's not an easy question to answer as our industry is seeing many different forms of disruptive technology evolving at a rapid pace. In practical terms, mobile is shaping up to be a significant disruption across multiple healthcare audiences: the consumer, providers and the workforce. Mobile devices and apps are transforming the way healthcare services are provided, enabling physicians and other clinicians to care for their patients in new and innovative new ways. Examples include the re- mote monitoring and digital interaction with high-intensity patients in the home setting. Other examples include offering mobile patient self- service capabilities like remote check-in, scheduling, bill payment, hos- pital way-finding, e-visits, symptom checkers and many more services. Tablets will become pervasive in our care settings replacing cart-based laptops and in-room desktops. Q: Over the past year, what has been your biggest accomplish- ment? Mr. Canfield: Although not very exciting, I think the work I did this past year that will pay the most consistent dividends is refining and improving our internal IT processes and governance. Defining the roles and processes by which we set priorities, refine strategy, manage clinical content and protect our systems has been time-consuming and challenging, but it is an absolutely necessary foundation for the challenges we now face. Mr. Hess: Being a newly formed integrated health system comprised of three legacy health systems, we have used IT and consolidation of the EHR and enterprise resource planning tools across the health system to help bring our new health system together. The IT integration efforts have sparked collabo- ration, innovation, standardization, efficiencies and other operational and clinical advancements that may not have happened, or happened as quickly as they have. IT has been part of bringing the system together, and that is extremely rewarding. Mr. Kinsella: I feel that over the past year I have established solid relation- ships with members of our health system leadership team (many also new in the past five years) that are foundational to my personal and professional success. This includes assembling my own team of talented direct reports in an Office of the CIO. Now that my 'new guy card' has been shredded, I am personally challenged every day to meet the commitments that we make to deliver the highest value solutions to the enterprise. Mr. Lewkoski: I am extremely pleased to see my leadership team blossom and become very effective. I also have spent a good deal of time helping our CEO develop a corporate-wide project management office. Mr. Ong: Saint Vincent's is in a unique situation. As of July 1, 2013, we are of- ficially affiliated with Allegheny Health Network [in Pittsburgh] and became one of its seven hospitals. We were a standalone hospital, and we became part of an integrated delivery network. Our greatest goal has been developing a greater collaboration with the IDN, and we've increased the IT governance and vision at Saint Vincent's as a result. Mr. Richardville: I do not keep track of "my" accomplishments, because there is nothing that I can accomplish alone. But as a team, our greatest ac- complishment has been to embrace this future, to have the courage to stay the course and to set our chosen strategy and to drive and lead the transforma- tion of our industry. I am very proud of our team, all our teammates, and feel extremely fortunate to be a part of it. Mr. Smith: I'm still relatively new in my CIO role at Banner Health, but a key accomplishment has been the development and endorsement of a three-year IT strategic plan to consolidate and integrate our EHR systems and enhance our consumer digital experiences. Q: What's one piece of advice you'd offer to other CIOs? Mr. Canfield: You can't do it alone. You must build effective relationships with other leaders in your organization and with your peers in other orga- nizations. Mr. Hess: Don't be afraid to stretch the boundaries of being a CIO. I love being a CIO, but much of what I do is not what you would think of a tra- ditional IT leader doing. There is a lot of work in the areas of operational/ clinical strategy, process improvement, organizational change management, outreach, merger/acquisition, accountability structures, building physician relationships and many other things. There is nothing better than making IT work and work well, but without connecting the people and the processes, the information technology itself really doesn't matter. Don't just focus on the IT delivery, focus on the total picture. Mr. Kinsella: As a "recovering consultant," I had a rule of thumb that con- tinues to apply on this side of the desk: Don't ask customers about what they want — because often they really don't know. It's better to work to under- stand what they are looking to accomplish and come back to them with solu- tions, including options varying in effort, cost and time to deliver. Mr. Lewkoski: Partner close with your physicians. It's extremely important that they believe the technology and systems are there for them and they have a very active role guiding their usage. Mr. Ong: I think we, as healthcare CIOs, have to understand health IT is an enabler, and health IT can be a differentiator. As we focus on EHRs, the focus goes from the transactional EHR to a 'smart' EHR, and it becomes integral to us delivering quality and efficient care. As we focus on EHRs from a business perspective, we also have to look at how to reduce risk, ensure the availability of appropriate care and manage the patient flow. It's about having the right care at the right time in the right place. Though, many of my peers already know this. Mr. Richardville: Get a flak jacket, because we must continue to thrive to lead our organizations and move our industry forward. There is a lot of change, and a lot of change at one time. Change management is difficult, de- fining new standards of work is difficult, working with new technology is difficult, and someone has to take the heat. But [your organization needs] to transform, we have to transform. We [as CIOs] need to lead the trans- formation and keep our organizations relevant and focus first and foremost on our patients. Mr. Smith: Establish a solid partnership with key business and clinical ex- ecutives to mutually develop and set the strategic IT direction for the orga- nization. Leverage those partnerships to help set the IT vision and 'sell' the organization on becoming a technology-enabled business. n "Don't be afraid to stretch the boundaries of being a CIO. I love being a CIO, but much of what I do is not what you would think of a traditional IT leader doing." — Steve Hess, CIO of University of Colorado Health