Blog FAQs

What is your philosophy on blogging?

At healthsystemCIO.com, a blog embodies all the positive connotations of the word, and none of the negative. Our site is not a place to gossip, throw out accusations, or snicker about the latest layoffs at some vendor. To us, a blog is a place where CIOs and other provider-side IT executives can share their insights in a constructive, positive and moderated environment. Blogs on healthsystemCIO.com offer advice, observations, commentary and analysis from those on the front lines of healthcare IT, and they do so in relaxed, informal language.

Specific posts, for example, might deal with the following:

  • Did you just attend an HIE meeting and leave frustrated at the lack of progress? Why? Log in and tell your peers.
  • Did you just find some key information on the 104th page of the Certification Process NPRM at 4 in the morning? What is it? Log in and tell your peers.
  • Did you just renegotiate a major vendor contract and reduce your obligation by half for the same SLAs? How? Log in and tell your peers.

The most wonderful part of working in the healthcare industry is the willingness of leaders to share their knowledge. Hosting a blog at healthsystemCIO.com is the best way for CIOs to give back to their colleagues in an atmosphere that supports their personal brands and professional reputations.

Who can blog on the site?

Part of our vision for healthsystemCIO.com is to provide a format where any CIO who wishes to start a blog can do so. It’s very difficult to start a blog on your own, very hard to drive traffic. Often, with no traffic, a blogger can get discouraged and close up shop. By offering a home for any CIO who wishes to share best practices and lessons learned, we create a high-level, professional and constructive conversation where real information can be gained, where CIOs can receive a solid ROI from the time they invest.

What are the different blogging options/how often must I post?

If you are a hospital or health system CIO interested in writing a blog on healthsystemCIO.com, we’re happy to consider giving you a platform to reach the industry. There are a number of options we can offer, based on how prolific you intend on being. The main point of blogging should be to share your insights and analysis with the industry. Perhaps you’ve accomplished something special, experienced a lesson learned or engaged in a cutting-edge business practice. Let the industry know and share with your peers. Options include:

  1. “The One-Off” — without any continuing obligation, we can publish a post at your convenience. You may ether go ahead and put something together for us to review, or we can brainstorm to come up with an idea that resonates.
  2. “When the Mood Strikes Me” — similar to the One-Off, this option allows you to send us items whenever you like. We’ll give them a review and post for you. This might be a good option if you only plan on posting once a month or less.
  3. “The Standing Platform” — This is the best option if you can commit to blogging at least once a month and enjoy the idea of having complete independence and freedom of action. You send us a photo and 100-word overview describing your current employment and the general topics you intend to blog about. (review the main blog page for examples) We send you instructions on how to post and you’re off to the races. You don’t have to wait for us to publish your items and can get them in front of the industry from anywhere in the world at any time. All your posts are collected under one URL which you can then distribute to your organization and industry peers.

How do I know if I’m doing a good job?

Anyone who is approved to blog on healthsystemCIO.com will be copied on a monthly traffic report that shows the top 20 blog post of the month (according to pageviews), along with a complete Google Analytics report of the overall site traffic for that month. We do this because sometimes posts don’t generate lots of comments, even though they may be viewed by many. Seeing that your posts are popular keeps you engaged and excited.

May I also maintain a blog elsewhere?

Absolutely. If you currently maintain a blog, feel free to continue posting to it. What we do require is that any content published on healthsystemCIO.com be exclusive to our site. This means you may not reproduce content published on hsCIO.com anywhere else. And you may not publish to hsCIO.com content that has previously been published elsewhere. This policy keeps our content fresh and unique, while offering you maximum flexibility.

Will you help me get started?

Of course. We’re willing to provide whatever assistance is necessary to get you comfortable. Whether that entails walking you through the posting process or providing feedback and editing on your first few posts. We’re the blogging experts, and we’re here to help.

If I’m interested, how do I move forward?

Hospital/health system CIOs and other provider-side IT executives who would like to host a blog at healthsystemCIO.com should contact editor Anthony Guerra @ aguerra@healthsystemCIO.com or call 201-638-2727.

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