As the calendar year draws to a close, it’s only natural to reflect on what has — and in some cases, has not — been accomplished, and based on that, to establish goals for next 12 months. Recently, healthsystemCIO reached out to some of the most influential leaders in the industry to learn how their teams fared in terms of goals, and where they were able to exceed expectations.
For some, the focus was on optimization after a major implementation, while others strived to strengthen their security posture, drive digital health forward, or simply do more with less. No matter what the objective, organizations took big steps in 2019, and leaders hope to see more of the same going forward.
Below are some of the responses we received.
As 2019 wraps up, what are you most proud of in terms of team or individual accomplishments?
This was an important year for us as we were able to move a few key departments onto our EMR and away from a best-of-breed approach. The other big win was strengthening our security posture a great deal. The department was extremely busy, with most of the attention going toward EMR implementations and security initiatives. Even with that, plus handling the day-to-day items, the team completed just under 50 projects. Lastly, we started looking into what services lines would be most beneficial to our patients from a digital health standpoint.
– Nicholas Szymanski, CIO, Richmond University Medical Center
In 2019, recognizing that the future looks more frugal than the past, we spent considerable time uncovering our inefficiencies within ITS process. I gave my team public permission to self-critique; recognizing that this represented a shocking cultural shift. They came through in spades. Specifically, we focused on: (a) prioritization, (b) manual vs automation and (b) standard work. Ultimately, we recognized that in order to remain relevant, we need to put the value equation at the forefront: do our efforts most efficiently lead to the delivery of an exceptional customer experience and high reliability?
– Lee Milligan, MD, SVP, CIO & CMIO, Asante
I am very proud of our changing culture led by our CEO and the alignment within our C-Suite with the new structure, enhanced programming, and positioning of the Information Technology + Digital Services Division in supporting our strategic imperatives defined in our Mission Forward 2025 strategy.
– Craig Richardville, SVP & CIO, SCL Health
With respect to 2019, I’d say that I’m most proud of the way the IT team at El Camino Health has done more with less. We are a relatively small health system compared to our local and regional competitors, but we produce results that are second to none. From pulling off a big multi-clinic go-live on-time and under-budget to being named to CHIME’s Most Wired Hospitals list, the El Camino Health IT team always punches above our weight class.
– Craig Joseph, MD, CMO, Avaap & Interim CMIO, El Camino Health
In 2019, our IT and Informatics focus was primarily on system optimization, security, and integration. We also continued our strategy of moving systems to the cloud.
In 2018, the entire organization moved to a single platform system. And so in 2019, from a clinical informatics perspective, we concentrated on improving our baseline build with customization and workflows to optimize the new system features throughout various departments. We also had a substantial focus on improving the rev cycle portion of the program, and archiving our legacy data — both clinical and financial — to the cloud.
On the IT side, we made significant strides in improving our security posture, with a large focus on upgrading systems to meet the January 2020 deadline for Microsoft support of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. We also have several other security-related projects in progress, and I anticipate that in 2020 we will continue to work on security.
– Kate Pierce, Executive Director of IT/Informatics at North Country Hospital and Health System, Inc.
I am most proud of my team being able to reach more customers than before with targeted educational programming. Education is key for our team, and we believe that customer outreach helps us better address their many needs. We want a better educated team so that we can work together to address issues of importance.
– Mitch Parker, Executive Director of IS & Compliance, Indiana University Health
Looking over my shoulder, I’m incredibly proud of The Most Wired status accomplished by my team while supporting our ever expanding organization. Our advancement in the telehealth and digital (consumer facing) space has been exciting and a bit scary but super fun. And there’s much more to come. Into the next year, all of the above and excitement around all levels of AI: from creating capacity through core business process automation to begin wrangling the complexities of machine learning.
– Tressa Springmann, CIO & SVP of Performance Improvement, LifeBridge Health
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