While almost all CIOs think the effect of HITECH on their careers will be positive, more than 65 percent say fulfilling its mandates will have the opposite effect on their personal lives and health. And an almost equal percentage feel that overwork brought on by the government-driven mandates will damage their family relationships. In what might be seen as a paradox, though over 93 percent feel HITECH will be good for their careers, more than 72 percent are concerned about being able to deliver on what is expected by the organization. When it comes to having the right staff to tackle those duties, respondents are almost evenly spit, with 52 percent saying they have, or are confident of acquiring, the necessary talent.
(SnapSurveys are answered by the healthsystemCIO.com Advisory Panel. To see a full-size version of all charts, click here. To go directly to a full-size version of any individual chart, click on that chart)
Very Positive
- It has created new opportunities and directions
- I will be needed :)
- It will mean work, maybe not at the same institution, but there will be more than enough work to go around.
- Change is opportunity. I am at heart an optimist. I know we will make things better
- The industry has shifted into high gear and there is so much movement towards EMRs and information exchange that the experience will be very valuable in the future.
- Raises the dialog.
Hard to Tell at This Point
- If all goes well and of course the reverse if it does not.
- It has raised a broad set of expectations with relatively little alignment to future benefits.
- Positive as long as I don’t end up being sacked because the CFO thinks we could have hit all the requirements for the money and we don’t. I cannot be the only one that feels this paradox.
Mixed Bag
- Provides increased visibility for IT within the healthcare industry; on the other hand, it has also contributed to unrealistic expectations about what IT can accomplish.
- The good, plenty of work to do and challenges to meet. The bad, expectations that we have a magic wand and can make this all happen overnight with little or no additional resources.
- It definitely has generated more opportunities to put in several more hours each week :) But I think the jury is still out on what the “main” effect of HITECH will be. Although the final rules are out, the final definitions are not; and the devil is in the details.On a positive note, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best CIO minds in the industry on several different groups, which has been very rewarding personally.
Painful
- If you call getting more work and having deadlines to get all of it completed to be positive
Feeling the Strain
- Meeting the requirements has put a large strain on myself and my staff. We are moving much more quickly than we would have otherwise.
- There will be a lot of pressure to accomplish a lot of high profile work in a short period of time. Headaches, ulcers, sleepless nights, working long hours and weekends comes to mind.
- I think with the huge undertaking this will be it cannot help but impact my quality of life negatively from increasing stress to adding hours to an already long day.
- Certainly adds to the stress of the job!!
- More hours onto an existing full plate.
- Lots of stress.
- Too much too quick.
- It has been rough on me and my staff and will only get worse.
- Everyone in the department is sleep deprived, suffering the ills of stress both mentally and physically. Four have left for opportunities elsewhere and two are going through divorces which are in some small part related to their over dedication at work. Life-balance is nonexistent. On most days staff eat lunch at their desk and work. The growth of FTEs has been far outpaced by the growth of responsibilities and expectations.
- We have to do more, more, more, with less, less, less, so the family feels it also.
- Too many hours working and less time for family. Constantly thinking about issues related to HITECH and trying to stay current with industry changes outside of HITECH, such as 5010, ICD-10, etc.
It’s Simply a Tough Job
- I would say neutral if it were a selection. Being a CIO in general has a negative effect on life and health.
- I’m just a little to anal for my own good. I’m a person that has a need to know, of I want to read and understand the rule for myself. So I spend a lot of extra time ferretting out the answers for myself and others.
All is Well
- No change / impact
- I expect to grow and potentially make more money as a result
- It’s enjoyable helping to advance HIT and healthcare.
- It hasn’t impacted my personal life/health”
- When I am excited/energized about work, it spills over into all aspects of my life. It may be obvious to say, but I have found that workload is manageable as long as you consciously manage it.
Very Concerned
- I simply can’t keep up with everything I need to know and develop succinct detailed strategies given the uncertainty that still remains in the meaningful use and certification.
- It has already done that. Joy.
- Already happening. Con-calls during dinner and night. Con-call while celebrating sons 16th birthday. Calling in to con-calls while on vacation is the new expectation for IS and non-IS managers.
- I’m concerned, but somehow we have to shelter them from my issues.
I Can Handle It
- Hopefully my priorities are appropriately set – family will come before work.
- My family is very supportive.
- No different than other issues.
- I have to work hard to make sure these critical things are not overly impacted.
- People who over work, do so in times of calm as much as in times of change. HITECH just one thing and won’t affect my ability or inability to manage workload other than anything else. For people who stress out and overwork – it doesn’t have to be HITECH – it can be the next joint commission survey or the new facility opening up down the street or the changes in reimbursement or….. The key is a positive attitude and taking charge of events, rather than allowing events to take charge of you.
- Been working 60 hrs/week for past 15 yrs.
- I hope it becomes more manageable as the dust settles.
- I’m somewhat concerned, but I’ve been married for 36 years and raised four (4) daughters, I’m not certain that you can’t top that level of stress (just kidding). I like what I do and my family understands that I not only have a job to do, but I have a need to do it very well.
Mixed Bag
- It is certainly taking up a lot of time that might be better spent on other efforts.
Trouble on the Horizon
- I am simply being told to get it done … with no extra resources due to projected income loss from healthcare reform.
- It’s still hard to determine what is expected … so delivering on it remains a mystery.
- I think that the organization is not yet fully aware of the impact of the work involved and that just adds to my stress as incumbent on me to get that info out to them when they have so many other priorities to work on.
- I’m absolutely concerned. The expectations about what IT can accomplish in the absence of major organizational or structural changes are simply unrealistic.
- We are working on this, however the tech component is the easiest. It is the change management and reengineering that keeps me up at night.
- The combination of MU and ICD-10 will really interfere with other technology initiatives.
- This will require funds and resources beyond what most institutions are prepared to expend.
- Of course we are. The goals, unless you are a fully deployed Epic shop, are very challenging.
- Expectation are much higher than in the past. There is no low hanging fruit left.
- Buying a solution is the easy part. Getting buy-in from all the departments, employees, community MD office and the resources required is another story.
- Of course we don’t know what is expected and too little time is provided to plan properly. With the final rule being released in July 2010 and the beginning MU period starting Oct 2010 (2 months) is not even close to adequate planning/implementation time. The final rule had a major game changer included when CPOE was deemed necessary in the Emergency dept. That was never on our radar until July 2010 and now our vendor cannot even deliver the code until 2012.
- We used to establish a yearly plan, and it worked very smoothly, but now i feel like the priorities change daily.
I’ve Got This Under Control
- I have learned that it is up to me to set proper expectations and meet them.
- I think we are still working to figure out exactly what is expected. This is not “black and white” or “pass/fail.” There will be degrees of success. If I deliver on absolutely everything and get an A+ – well, maybe I set the bar too low.
- I’m at the table that is setting the expectations as we move along in our journey. The delivery is not one related to HITECH, but to organizational success and performance. We’ve moved very little on our strategic plan, but we did move some of the items ahead of others to address established timelines.
Good Help is Hard to Find
- Clinical resources are very scarce to hire and consulting firms have “new” faces who have lots of implementation experience, but not in the consutling realm.
- I am not overly concerned but believe we will have challenges in hiring and retaining qualified staff as the demand increases. Especially as the revenue is being impacted via health care reform activity and restricts any increase in expense no matter how vital to the goals of the organization.
- We are limited on staff and funds. Most are already overworked so this will be tough.
- The issue is “qualified” staff. The fact that federal training dollars seem to be targeted at certificate programs at the community college level is a major concern. Do we really think that training at this level will equip staff to deal directly with doctors and nurses on IT issues and use? I’m skeptical.
- Recruiting for specialized areas of talent are very difficult. We seem to be relying more and more on consultants to get the big things done.
- We need boots on the ground with healthcare experience and we compete with many others in the region for the same finite number of resources.
Tricky, but Impossible
- Many of the right staff are already here. the key will be providing them with what they need to develop and grow.
- I think we are all struggling with the same questions, which have not been totally clarified yet. I’ve been very fortunate to attract and retain a very professional and talented team; it’s my hope that this trend will continue. However, there are many factors that can and will impact the future.
- Yes and no. It just depends on if you have funding and can find the people — the people are out there if you can pay.
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