With a healthcare IT career that started in January 1973 — and has since covered the vendor, consultant and provider sides of the business — there isn’t much that’s going to surprise Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) VP and CIO Charlie Covin. But the HITECH Act, which he describes as close to revolutionary, comes darn close to it. To meet the impending Meaningful Use requirements, Covin has been working closely with his core clinical vendor (Meditch) as well as the rest of his vendor/partners. And to Covin, partnership is the right word to describe a relationship that he’s been on both sides of. To learn more about how to strike a good deal, and operate a sound IT shop, healthsystemCIO.com editor Anthony Guerra recently chatted with this savvy industry veteran.
Chapter 1 (8:40) — Topics Covered: different work experiences: HITECH & the Meaningful Use bar; state of technology at ECHN; change management: Easier to be big or small?; IT financing options; Meditech issues; managing interfaces; Epic alternative?[audio:One-on-One-With-Charlie-Covin-Chapter-1.mp3]
Chapter 2 (9:59) — Topics Covered: Meditech upgrade issues; vendor relationship management & negotiation; speech recognition; Stark & ambulatory EHRs[audio:One-on-One-With-Charlie-Covin-Chapter-2.mp3]
Chapter 3 (7:58) — Topics Covered: IT workforce shortage; dangers of poaching from the clinical side of the house; HIE activities & challenges; advice to CIO/IT director working at the average U.S. hospital
[audio:One-on-One-With-Charlie-Covin-Chapter-3.mp3]
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