Healthcare CIO roles shift as IT become more complex

Healthcare IT executives and thought leaders are making a transition within their roles. In the past, they’ve been called upon to manage very technical responsibilities—in the last decade, that’s primarily involved getting electronic health records systems rolled out.

Now, these executives are taking it up a notch. They’re being asked to keep increasingly complex information technology systems running, as well as to help fulfill the missions of healthcare organizations.

That’s a common theme among those named to Health Data Management’s 2018 third annual list of the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT. A total of 50 leaders in healthcare information technology were named to the list. To determine which executives to honor, HDM solicited nominations from its readers; HDM editors then submitted their own recommendations, based on their knowledge of the industry. The editorial staff then reviewed each candidates’ qualifications and decided on the final list.

The roles of healthcare IT leaders have expanded—they’re increasingly demanding, growing in complexity.

The speed of innovation has risen dramatically, contends Sheree McFarland, a repeat honoree. “Business leaders and consumers are more educated than ever, with increasing expectations,” says McFarland, CIO of the West Florida Division for HCA Healthcare. “In response, technology companies are advancing their capabilities rapidly.”

That’s a challenge, too, McFarland says, because there’s an growing number of solutions, both products and platforms. “The proliferation of IT can lead to multiple solutions trying to solve similar problems, creating a more fragmented user experience and a more complex IT environment.”

The rising number of healthcare IT solutions is adding challenges for IT executives who are trying to make diverse systems exchange information and work together, says Theresa Meadows, senior vice president and CIO at Cook Children’s Health Care System, Fort Worth, Texas.

“Now that the majority of healthcare organizations have EHRs deployed, the focus is how do we ensure interoperability with other third-party systems and other organizations,” Meadows says. “The ability to have reliable information about the patient across care transitions is extremely important. We also now have the ability to begin using the data collected by the EHR to make strategic decisions that will impact patient outcomes.”

Deanna Wise, executive vice president and CIO at Dignity Health, believes similarly. “A CIO’s job isn’t just about deploying technology—I’m always looking for creative and innovative ways to accomplish ambitious goals that serve to improve the quality and safety of patient care,” she says. “Our IT team continues to create new strategies to meet our most foundational technical and strategic challenges.”

Those diverse challenges mean increasingly incorporating new types of technologies.