We hear the term “digital” used everywhere. In the healthcare sector, we’re told that we must get to digital in 3 years or less or we’ll become irrelevant. So, what is Digital Health and how do we become a Digital Health System? A Google search for “define digital health” yields[…]
10 Steps to Prepare for 2020 – Big Challenges – Bigger Opportunities
It’s that time of year again when prognosticators and futurists compile a top 10 list for the upcoming year. Please joining me in welcoming 2020 with a call to action for our wonderfully challenging and opportunity rich healthcare IT environment. Before starting the list of recommended actions, I suggest that[…]
Aligning IT with business strategy: Be engaged!
By Erik Kubinski, MBA, ACHE There is a lot of literature available to us in books and elsewhere on how to better align IT with the business strategy. A classic book that we still discuss today from the 1990s, is “Practical Steps for Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategies,” even[…]
NHIT Week: 4 Leaders on the Value of HIT
September 23-27 is National Health IT (NHIT) Week. A time when our industry highlights the impact of IT in transforming healthcare and advocates for needed changes. This year’s asks revolve around population health, modernizing the public health infrastructure, access to broadband and telehealth, and Social Determinants of Health. In recognition[…]
A Recipe for Success: 3 Key Ingredients to Advance Your IT Career
By Catherine Iocona. One of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced as a healthcare IT leader has been guiding talented individuals as they grow and develop in their careers. I’ve enjoyed that so much that I recently followed that passion by transitioning to leadership coaching with a focus on supporting[…]
Who am I? Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) can help.
Who am I? Let’s assume that we’ve solved the positive person identification problem and we know with 100% certainty the identity of the person who’s come for a health or care interaction. Do we really “know” them? I think not. Even today with the proliferation of electronic records and the[…]
Who Belongs at the Center of Everything We Do?
Ask a healthcare system leader where they focus and the answer will generally be the same, “We put the patient at the center of everything we do.” Laudable, but examine how budgets are spent, where efforts are focused, and you’ll find that providers are more often at the center. This[…]
When an interim CIO makes sense
The demand for interim management in IT is high and takes many forms. When there is an unexpected vacancy in a senior IT leadership position and no obvious interim person to step up, the executive team must act quickly. They often start with their trusted network or turn to a firm that specializes in interim management[…]
Orchestrating Effective Meeting Performance
By Kirk Mahlen, Advisor In almost every organization, we hear complaints that there are too many meetings and too much email. To make matters worse, many meetings are perceived to be both unproductive and time consuming. While the subject of meetings is decidedly not glamorous, it is important to remember[…]
IT Is Reaching Commodity Status – Are You Taking Advantage?
Though my business card says Principal, I’d prefer the term Provocateur. As a year-long challenge to traditional thinking, I have proposed the notion to professional friends and colleagues that many skills, processes, and technology in the healthcare sector have reached commodity status. That change presents great potential benefits for the[…]