Bonnie R. Siegel, Associate Partner, Sanford Rose Associates
Exciting news came out this week about John Glaser’s move to Siemens. We may all wonder and speculate what will be the impact on John, Siemens and the industry, but no doubt, he will help influence and build relationships between customers and the vendor.
As other CIOs ponder their next career move, I would like to reflect on some of backgrounds of healthcare CIOs and their past experiences. As a healthcare IT recruiter, I have had the privilege and honor of hearing life and work stories from many CIOs. There are commonalities among many of the CIOs and from a recent SRA 2010 Health System CIO Survey, some interesting facts I would like to share.
Healthcare IT Lifers
The majority of CIOs surveyed, twenty-three percent (23%) mentioned that their careers started in healthcare IT and they moved up the ranks over the years at one or more hospitals to become the senior IT leader or CIO. Several CIOs mentioned that they have implemented several EMRs and CPOEs at multiple health systems. Three years ago, not many CIOs could say that.
Non Healthcare
It is interesting to note that some CIOs have business and/or IT backgrounds from other industries including manufacturing, banking, retail, engineering, finance, government and military. This was reflected in the survey with fourteen percent (14%) saying they had business or IT backgrounds outside of healthcare. I receive many inquires from talented IT individuals who wonder how to break into healthcare provider IT leadership positions.
It is hard right now to make that transition from non- healthcare IT, since the market is extremely competitive. The truth is, strong healthcare CIOs, who are unemployed or are actively looking, will be preferred in a search, so non-healthcare IT individuals have less a chance to even interview. The skills that might help non-healthcare IT professionals to make an entry into healthcare seem to be in the areas of technology, IT security, business intelligence, ERP, customer service and project management.
Clinical CIOs
The biggest change in CIO backgrounds, that I have seen over the last three years, is that there are more CIOs coming out of clinical disciplines including medical, nursing, laboratory, therapies, pharmacy and radiology. The survey reflected this with thirteen percent (13%) of the CIOs coming from a clinical or direct patient care area. This trend is expected to grow as more health systems automate the clinical areas and implement EMRs and CPOEs.
Consulting
Consulting has always been a key incubator of health system CIOs. Consultants can gain significant operational experience at a variety of hospitals and health systems and in many cases move easily into CIO positions at client sites. The survey showed twelve percent (12%) of the CIOs mentioned healthcare IT consulting in their backgrounds. Unfortunately, unless a consultant has held an operational position, like an Interim CIO role, their background may not be considered for IT leadership positions in a provider setting if they leave the consulting firm.
Vendor
Healthcare IT vendor experience was mentioned by only four percent (4%) of the CIOs surveyed this year. In previous years, it has been as high as nine percent (9%). The vendor background can be helpful to someone aspiring to be a healthcare CIO, in understanding software development, implementation, training, customer support and troubleshooting at client sites. The sales, marketing and business development experience in a for-profit environment, can add to the growth and learning of an IT professional.
In conclusion, what I have found to be an interesting mixture of backgrounds in a health system CIO, is a combination of the three aspects of health information technology — consulting, vendor and provider based IT management. Of course, having a clinical or patient care background can be helpful too, as well as a successful track record of implementing EMRs and CPOE across the health system. Wherever CIOs come from, their stories and past histories are fascinating.
jjsantos says
Bonnie – great post. My career (Aetna, Kaiser Permanente practices, community hospital) certainly tracks with your comments. There is an interesting option that I have taken as a CIO, which you did not highlight. Research firms (in my case Gartner) occasionally hire ex-CIOs for research guidance, to get real world expertise included in their content, and “trusted advisor” roles to other CIOs. Three years ago I took this healthcare CIO career twist and joined Burton Group, which was recently purchased by Gartner. The work has been intellectually challenging and tremendously successful for the company and me. I often refer to myself as a CIO that is (in the yiddish) a cross between a mensch and a yenta. My blog is here: http://blogs.gartner.com/jack-santos/. Look for the piece on life after administrative assistants, as an example. So there are folks with CIO backgrounds that continue to be involved in senior management and the industry, and yet not (strictly speaking) in a vendor or a consultant setting.
Bonnie Siegel says
Jack — excellent point about options for CIOs moving into research, glad it has worked out for you. It seems to be a wonderful way to leverage years of accumulated knowledge in this industry.
Another track for CIOs seems to be moving into COO or CAO roles, as an example, Gary Strong who went from being a health system CIO to COO at Fairview, now CAO at Allina.
I reflected on some past histories of current CIOs, but looking out to the future, what are some other career paths for CIOs?