With the year drawing to a close, a large majority of CIOs are chalking up 2016 as a success, with 92 percent noting that they accomplished their major goals, according to healthsystemCIO.com’s December SnapSurvey. Among the key priorities identified? Creating a population health strategy and moving toward an integrated EHR.
And that isn’t the only positive news. More than 80 percent of respondents believe the organization is in a better place than it was a year ago. “We continue to focus our investments in areas that either directly improve the quality of care, or indirectly improve it by increasing efficiency of our processes, which frees time for clinicians to spend at the bedside,” one respondent noted. A significant portion (83 percent) also felt they played an active hand in establishing strategic direction for the organization, which hasn’t always been the case.
Obstacles, however, do still exist, with the biggest culprits being too many competing priorities (58 percent) and a lack of resources (25 percent). “This is an ongoing challenge, not just for IT,” said one CIO. “The pace of change creates much opportunity and demand for service. However, there are never enough human or financial resources to get it all done.”
But no matter what hurdles stand in the way, leaders are geared up to achieve great things in 2017. Not surprisingly, cybersecurity is the top item of the agenda for most (75 percent), followed by population health (67 percent), interoperability efforts, and EHR implementation or optimization (42 percent). It marks quite a difference from two years ago, when meeting federal mandates was the key objective for most CIOs.
And finally, it isn’t just organizational goals that are top of mind for CIOs. In our survey, several respondents said they are looking to advance in their careers, or as one respondent stated, looking for “the next challenge on the horizon.”
Best of luck to all in the New Year!
(SnapSurveys are answered by the healthsystemCIO.com CIO Advisory Panel. To go directly to a full-size version of any individual chart, click on that chart.)
1. Did your organization accomplish the major goals that were established for 2016?
Absolutely
- Two large Epic Community Connect Partner go-lives.
- Getting approval and starting our Epic project.
Yes, for the most part
- Population health management and our data mining strategy.
- Define a population health IT strategic direction.
- Integration of another hospital into the system.
- Lack of budget lead to stoppage on some projects
- Selection process for new HIS.
No
2. What were biggest barriers to meeting your goals?
Lack of budget/resources
Too many competing priorities
- This is an ongoing challenge, not just for IT. The pace of change creates much opportunity and demand for service. However, there are never enough human or financial resources to get it all done.
Vendors not delivering as promised
Lack of leadership commitment
Issues with clinician adoption
Other
3. From the standpoint of leveraging IT to improve care delivery, do you believe your organization is better off now than it was last year?
Yes
- We continue to focus our investments in areas that either directly improve the quality of care, or indirectly improve it by increasing efficiency of our processes, which frees time for clinicians to spend at the bedside.
No
I’m not sure
4. Of the options below, which three will your organization focus on most in 2015?
Cybersecurity
ACO/population health
Interoperability efforts
Cloud-based services
EHR implementation/optimization
Data warehousing/analytics
Patient engagement
Innovation
Other
5. Do you believe that, in your current position, you have enough input into establishing IT strategic goals for the organization?
Yes
No
- As a regional CIO in a large national system, the priorities are established from the corporate office and I feel very much the recipient of priorities — not an influencer of them.
6. What is your biggest personal goal for 2016?
- Look for the next challenge on the horizon.
- Update strategic plan.
- Seeking a new, more challenging position.
- Implement a new EHR.
- Surviving the uncertainty we’re in now.
- Healthcare changes with new administration.
- Actively seek a new position.
- Continue to build a completely integrated environment.
- Prepare for my next career.
- Actively seek a new position.
- Actively seek new position.
- Manage replacement of our entire information system.
Share Your Thoughts
You must be logged in to post a comment.