• July 2008 FEATURE ARTICLES •
The Healthcare CIO
C. Martin Harris, M.D., MBA
Chief Information Officer, Cleveland Clinic
Q HMT: What is the role of today’s CIO, and how
might it change in the future?
"I think we’re in a transition period from a
physical integrated delivery system to a virtual integrated
delivery system that’s capable of serving and meeting the needs
of patients and physicians on a regional, national or
international basis. The challenge for the healthcare CIO will
be moving from the focus on implementing the electronic medical
record and all of its components, to providing the same service
for patients no matter where they are. This involves building a
toolset that will help CIOs create this virtually connected
integrated health delivery system model. They have to go from
being an internal operations expert to someone who’s interacting
with patients and physicians, and who is virtually connected
across regions, nations or the world.
"You’re a change agent, because you must
create tools that are not normally part of the CIO’s skill set,
but which are required to enable a virtual integrated delivery
system. That’s fundamentally dependent on the delivery of new
HIT tools, not just for the employees inside an organization,
but also for patients wherever they are, especially when they’re
at home, and for physician collaborators that are not part of
your organization but are virtual participants in a
shared-patient’s care.
"The CIO has to develop a skill set that’s
consumer/customer oriented versus being operations oriented.
These are the new responsibilities that are going to be required
of a successful CIO over the next five years."
Q HMT: What about the CIOs of smaller
healthcare organizations?
"Once we enable these virtually integrated
delivery systems, I can see smaller hospital organizations that
are virtually integrated with larger ones like the Cleveland
Clinic. The CIO of a smaller hospital will be responsible for
integrating upstream so that the patient experience isn’t
interrupted and all of the physicians involved in that patient’s
care have the information when and where they need it."
Q HMT: How should IT managers and directors
prepare to take on the CIO role?
"Although their IT skills will be very
important, understanding the concepts and principals of
operations in the current model of healthcare delivery inside
the hospital and physician’s office is equally important, as
well as learning what it means to a doctor to care for patients
when they’re not physically present. That understanding will
enable the CIO to guide the development of tools that will be
required to deliver practical medical care in the 21st century."