healthsystemCIO – Strategies for Hospital IT Leaders

Though health systems talk about what they want their "digital front door" to look like, the reality is they usually have many; none of which provide the same experience. That's because often their individual hospitals, departments, service lines and physician practices -- especially those recently acquired -- have their own digital front doors, if they have one at all. For some, this may simply c...

It’s the old preconception that’s kept security out of the equation for far too long – if cyber gets involved, the whole project is dead, or at least not going anywhere fast. Luckily that dynamic is falling by the wayside, as business leaders have to come to realize that not including security means taking on […] Source: Q&A with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CISO & Associate CIO Monique St....

Healthcare is complicated. So it’s not surprising that healthcare cybersecurity is just as complex. But what shouldn’t be complicated is the guidance health systems are given to deal with threats. In the past, a number of well-meaning entitles – from government to private to hybrids of the two – have put out roadmaps, frameworks and […] Source: Live @ Vive Q&A with Greg Garcia, Executive Director,...

Healthcare is abuzz with talk of artificial intelligence. And when it comes to cybersecurity, that buzz both has to do with how the bad guys are going to use it, and how the good guys can apply it to defense. But Ryan Witt, VP, Industry Solutions, Healthcare, Proofpoint, warns that today, the time of small- […] Source: Live @ Vive Partner Perspective Q&A with Ryan Witt, VP, Industry Solutions, Hea...

“The power of any type of EHR is how it’s being utilized, not only by clinicians but also by your patient population,” said Raymond Lowe, SVP and CIO at AltaMed Health Services. In this interview, he talked about how his team’s recent Epic achievement, how they’re leveraging data to help enable “culturally competent care,” and why it’s not always wise to chase perfection. Source: Q&A with AltaMed...

In an effort to better engage with patients, many health systems have gotten themselves into a pickle by going overboard. Today, with almost every department running its own patient engagement efforts, those at the end of all that attention are feeling overwhelmed. But there’s a better way, and it starts with governance, according to Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO, Artera. Source: Live @ Vive Partner Pe...

How much of an impact can Generative AI have – if leveraged properly, and if all the necessary pieces are in place? Quite a bit, according to Michael Hasselberg. “This is the first time in my career thus far that I’m hopeful that technology will actually make the lives of our clinicians better.” In a recent interview, he explained why, and talked about the innovative work being done at URMC. Sourc...

It’s the foundation of any care access experience offered by a health system or hospital. Provider data powers a myriad of experiences that impact patients, providers, and staff members enterprise-wide. Unfortunately, the many back-end systems that house this data are often out of date and inconsistent, leading to a disjointed experience as people seek to access this information across an organiza...

One of the keys to meeting Penn Medicine’s core objectives – improving efficiency, reducing clinical burden, and delivering a better patient experience – is in establishing partnerships, said Anna Schoenbaum, VP of Applications and Digital Health. The other? Having “strong governance and engagement. That’s part of our DNA.” Source: “We’re All Learning”: Q&A with Anna Schoenbaum, VP of Applications...

When Skip Sorrels, Director of Cybersecurity with Ascension Health, tells a clinician who may be frustrated with IT that he knows what they are going through, he means it. That’s because, in a past life, Sorrels served as an ICU nurse before moving to cyber. As such, he understands what it’s like to have a […] Source: Q&A with Ascension Health Director of Cybersecurity Skip Sorrels: Getting to Kno...

If burglars were consistently entering houses in your neighborhood though the back door, it wouldn’t make much sense to spend the majority of your home defense budget fortifying the windows. According to Ryan Witt, VP of Industry Solutions, Healthcare, for Proofpoint, figuring out where to spend your cybersecurity budget should work much the same way. And speaking of healthcare, he notes that the...

Cybersecurity in healthcare is at a tipping point, poised to move from the voluntary to the mandatory, although not quite yet. For now, it’s still up to organizations as to whether not they want to comply with any specific framework or set of best practices. Of course, demonstrating adherence to 405(d)’s HICP should get some […] Source: Q&A with Intermountain Healthcare VP/CISO Erik Decker: CPGs W...

IT executives have always had a challenging time ensuring their users were operating securely; but since the Covid pandemic larger workforce trends have seen those challenges multiply. Those trends include fully remote work, a gig economy that sometimes involves the use of short-timers like traveling nurses, and an overall trend of higher turnover and staff fluidity. In such an environment, it's n...

It’s been said by many a CISO that they essentially function as the chief risk officer. What they are trying to say, of course, is that the job is all about understanding and communicating cyber risk. Interestingly Jacki Monson – currently Chief Integration Officer, CISO & Chief Privacy Officer at Sutter Health – once also […] Source: Q&A with Sutter Health SVP, Chief Integration Officer, CISO & C...

No matter the size or scope of an organization, "you still need to have boots on the ground in IT," says Ray Sharp, CIO at Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital. In this interview, he talks about the value of rounding, the pros and cons of being a community health organization, and what he learned by spending time outside of healthcare. Source: Q&A with KSB Hospital CIO Ray Sharp: “As a Small Organizatio...

When Swathi West started at Summa Health in early 2023, she embarked on a 90-day assessment that included reviewing job descriptions, along with policies and standards. It’s an approach she heartily recommends for a number of reasons. First, in reviewing job descriptions, West founds a lack of detail that could cause confusion around roles and […] Source: Q&A with Summa Health CISO Swathi West: “A...

Having risen through the IT ranks (often coming out of infrastructure or networking), CIOs know technology inside and out, but when they do hit the C-suite, there is another skill and relationship that is almost as important in determining success -- and that's the understanding of finance and their relationship with the CFO. So what financial chops do CIOs need; and what are the keys to making th...

There’s an old adage that people won’t comply with the “what” if they don’t understand the “why.” For information security professionals, communicating the ‘why’ around the need for compliance with security policies has always been a challenge. Trevor Brown, Deputy CISO with Yale New Haven Health, says one of the best ways to get the […] Source: Q&A with Yale New Haven Health Deputy CISO Trevor Br...

Sure, health systems need attractive buildings, and the top physicians expect nice offices in which to work, but dollars must be found to address technical debt and the security risks that come along with it, or one’s IT house will be built on “a foundation of sand,” according to UofL CISO Greg Peebles. Of course, […] Source: Q&A with UofL Health CISO Greg Peebles: For a Secure Foundation, Health...

It’s nearly impossible not to get caught up in the excitement around digital tools and AI, but if the right approach isn’t taken, it could be all for naught, according to Robbie Freeman, CNIO at Mount Sinai. In this interview, he talks about his team’s strategy to “get it right on a small scale” before going too big. Source: “Technology Isn’t the Barrier”: Q&A with Robbie Freeman, CNIO, Mount Sina...

For IT and digital leaders, one of the biggest opportunities is to improve AI literacy and manage expectations by having “deep, meaningful conversations and not just throwing buzzwords around,” said Tarun Kapoor, MD, Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Virtua Health, who shared his thoughts in this podcast interview. Source: Q&A with Virtua Health Chief Digital Transformation Officer Tarun Kap...

While there's no lack of tools to address the countless cyber challenges organizations face, there is definitely a lack of internal cyber staff at health systems available to support them. This makes it tricky for CISOs and other IT security professionals to determine whether they have what it takes to get their money's worth out of -- not to mention address the issues identified by -- what might...

“Success in the CIO role isn’t about who has the biggest IT chops in the room. It’s about understanding the business need” and communicating it, said Teresa Andrea of Silver Cross Hospital. It’s also about asking questions, being vulnerable, and being willing to “work in the gray.” Source: Q&A with Silver Cross Hospital CIO Teresa Andrea: “Technology Touches Every Part of Healthcare.” on healthsys...

It's one of the most infuriating things patients can experience during their care journeys -- they've had an image taken (perhaps even at another unit in the hospital) and the clinician they are now in front of either didn't receive it or can't access it. And it's not only frustrating for the patient, but for the clinicians on both ends of that image handoff who are unable to deliver the care they...

Post 9/11, it was a key element of messaging in New York City – if you see something, say something. The idea, of course, was that law enforcement could only do so much; but vigilance on everyone’s part would be a game changer. And it’s that same principle that Ron Mehring says is key to […] Source: Q&A with Texas Health Resources CISO & VP of Technology Operations Ron Mehring: “Openness & Respect...