September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about suicide prevention and promoting mental health. Suicide is very personal to me. My wife died from suicide. I wrote what started as a blog but became a longer story about my family’s experience with suicide and offered[…]
Is HIT Strategic Planning Still Relevant for Providers?
In the past there was little question about who owned the HIT Strategic Plan – the Chief Information Officer (CIO). That has changed in many organizations. Organizations are creating new C-suite officer roles – chief data and analytics (CDAO), chief digital officer (CDO or CDIO), chief data officer (CDO), chief[…]
An Effective Strategy for Valuing HIT Investments
Assessing the value of IT investments has posed a challenge throughout my 35+ year career as a healthcare CIO. With the growing demand for digital health solutions and the surge of interest in AI in its various forms, establishing a reliable IT investment valuation process has grown increasingly crucial. A[…]
Revitalizing Healthcare: Shaping Perceptions, Restoring Trust
At a recent healthcare conference attended by leaders from healthcare systems representing more than 19% of the total of 6,120 US hospitals, there were several presentations and many side conversations about the state of consumer satisfaction. An Ipsos survey published on February 27, 2024, was consistent with concerns expressed. Ipsos[…]
Future Proof Your IT Environment: Strategies to Address Technology Debt
Addressing technology debt[i] in the health IT environment is crucial for ensuring patient safety, regulatory compliance, efficiency, data security, scalability, innovation, and cost efficiency. Healthcare IT professionals and their organizations must leverage technology effectively to deliver high-quality care while staying competitive in an evolving healthcare landscape. There are many factors[…]
Safeguarding Our Digital Foundations: The Case for Cybersecurity as a Utility
Cybersecurity is an international challenge. Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. Bad actors, including those that are nation-sponsored, focus on vulnerable targets and critical infrastructures. Healthcare has become a favorite target. The news media has been flooded by reports that the Change Healthcare cyberattack is having ‘far-reaching’ effects on providers,[…]
Auditors Should be a Leader’s Best Friend
It’s January, a new beginning in many ways. It’s common as a New Year approaches to spend some time thinking about, hopefully celebrating, the past and planning for the future – from both a personal and professional perspective. That review sometimes elicits resolutions – to improve, to make a brighter,[…]
12 Steps to Prepare for 2024 – Big Challenges – Bigger Opportunities
If you’re fortunate enough to work in healthcare and IT, every year presents a significant mix of big challenges and even bigger opportunities. Next year is no exception. One of HIT’s paradigms for approaching challenges is to focus on people, process, and technology – technology being the easiest of the[…]
The Importance of Thoughtful Design in All Aspects of HIT Deployments
There has never been a busier time in development and deployment of HIT (Health Information Technology). The allure of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its diverse manifestations, the quest to automate mundane tasks, the prevalence of End User Developed Applications (EUDAs), and the pervasive culture of instant gratification driven by rapid[…]
Combining GAI and Human Expertise to Improve Care Consistency
Among the many issues facing healthcare is unnecessary variation in clinical and administrative practices. EHRs, when implemented properly, can help reduce variation but only in a humble culture that embraces best practices using IT enablement to ensure consistent instantiation of best practices. A question that deserves much attention is, “How[…]