What is a hospital CIO? The definition of ?an IT strategistand a deployer of systems? might have fit the bill at one time, but notanymore?or, at least, not exclusively. Today?s hospital CIO must also helpdrive a significant change in medical informatics.
Increasingly, physicians are using electronic medicalrecords (EMRs) as a vital care-delivery tool, and the world that hospital CIOshave known is changing. The challenge now is to enable physicians withintegrated technology at the bedside, support dramatic improvements in thequality of care?across the continuum of care?and deliver a granularunderstanding of quality and cost.
With EMRs, the volume of clinical data available has neverbeen higher. CIOs must now find the way to extract insights from this treasuretrove of data and deliver these insights to physicians at the moment ofinteraction with their patients.
With the HITECH Act of 2009 calling for the ?meaningful?provision of advanced clinical EMR applications and their ?use? by thefrontline medical delivery team, the need for a tight alliance between the CIOand the medical staff has never been greater. For EMRs to serve their intendedpurpose, they must be ingrained in how physicians practice medicine.
The CIO is in a position to combine the knowledge of medicalpractice with a deep understanding of how technology can enable physicians todeliver and document care more effectively and with greater flexibility. Technologyallows consultation and clinical documentation, making diagnoses and writing ofphysician orders all possible?
virtually. This speed of care brings better patient outcomes and, ultimately,reduces health care costs.
The CIO needs a team that understands how medicine ispracticed and must work with medical teams to meld technology into almost everyclinical process. The CIO needs insight into the value of different clinicalinformation and knowledge of the right process to mine that value. What informationcan give the hospital the best visibility into its process of providing care?What technology can enable access to that information at the right time and inthe right location?
Beyond care at the patient level, the CIO will be on pointto develop, maintain and enforce information standards and policies at theclinical level to help automate the processes of pulling information from EMRsfor timely government reporting under HITECH?s ?meaningful use? requirements.Successfully integrating the required standards and workflow changes into theclinical process will require a shift in mindset among physicians, the membersof the care-delivery team and the CIO?s organization.
The next-generation CIO needs to use data standards and arobust and flexible data model, as well as creative new ways to partner withthe medical staff. Only by understanding physicians? practices and theiranalytic needs in detail?and pairing them with best technology practices in theindustry?can CIOs make a significant contribution, ushering in a new era ofmore effective, safe, patient-centric and efficient health care.
Mark Knickrehm leads Accenture?s global health practice.
