As health system CIOs brace for more changes in their areas due to growth and expansion, I am seeing some interesting IT organizational structures being created. Are you changing your IT organization? Are you planning some major changes in how your department is structured to serve your expanding services and areas of responsibility? You are not alone. Many health systems CIOs faced with HITECH, Meaningful Use and EHR Adoption and ARRA are crafting new and different IT delivery structures.
The big shake up
Based on CIO survey findings and recent conversations with CIOs, the out-of- date IT organization chart of the ’90s is gone. CIOs are responding to more pressures for innovation, service and increased efficiency. One CIO said he was going to start from scratch, change all the leadership positions and have everyone reapply for their jobs. Another CIO mentioned that the IT organization “doesn’t have the right people in the seats on the bus” and there is a need to revamp for the future. These are drastic moves, but it seems that CIOs are making changes to their IT organizations on a much grander scale than in previous years.
What are the changes in IT?
CIOs are seeing their roles and IT organizations change in the following ways:
- Emphasis on physician relationship management and physician-oriented systems
- More HIE planning and collaboration between other providers
- Increased focus on clinical/business initiatives and less on hard core technology
- Shift to business case, revenue generation and operational efficiency
- Growth of service lines and project management
- Expansion of EMR deployment and clinical informatics
What are the new trends in positions and titles?
The changes in health system IT departments have brought about new titles and service areas. The “key” word in IT organizations now is service, and IT titles are reflecting that change. It can be in the form of Client Services, Customer Service or Service Delivery. CIOs are aligning IT to all business areas, making sure every major client in an organization has an IT representative working with them and their IT needs.
There is an outward focus now for IT departments in health systems beyond the facilities and enterprise parts of the system. Now the focus is reaching out to the community physicians, HIEs, corporate and global partners.
Some new position trends I am seeing this year:
- Business intelligence/analytics IT leader
- Project management office and more project managers
- Clinical informatics expansion and shift to reporting to CNO, CMIO or CMO
- Clinical help desk to meet demands of clinicians
- HR IT recruiter services within the IT department
- IT marketing professional to sell services to community physicians
- HIE, corporate partners and global outreach positions
These new IT organization charts are still in development at many places. It seems health system CIOs are at a crossroads of moving away from the “classic” IT department titles to establish a higher level of service and relationship building in their departments. I look forward to seeing what new IT organization charts appear in 2011.
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