The world of diagnostic imaging is in flux as never before. CIOs are trying to navigate a shifting landscape that now includes cardiology, pathology and other specialties, while working toward integration between RIS, PACS and the core hospital EMR. And all that's while managing an exploding level of study volume and storage needs. Our two-part cover story, “A Single Source” on page 26, examines how CIOs are addressing these challenges. In Part I we speak to CIOs of three very different organizations to see how they are managing to pull all the pieces together. Part II takes a look at the current vendor landscape in PACS and RIS, and showcases the strategic perspective of leading consultants in the space.
On August 18, the scenario every CIO dreads became a reality for Chuck Podesta when Fletcher Allen Health Care suffered an outage that knocked the EMR offline for more than seven hours. As hospitals move further towards an electronic environment, it's a situation every CIO needs to be prepared for. Server reliability is becoming an increasingly critical factor - and the onus is on IT leadership to ensure that the vital patient information is safe and accessible. In “All Systems Down” on page 20, we find out what Podesta learned from the crisis - and how other CIOs can take steps to prevent one of their own.
Enterprise EMR implementations are long and complicated, usually taking place over the course of a few years. Though vendors offer project management staff to work onsite at the hospital during implementations, some hospitals choose to forego that talent in favor of a consulting firm, and still others rely more on their in-house staff. In “Inside or Out” on page 16, we take a look at the pros and cons of every approach - vendor, consulting or in-house - and talk to CIOs who have experience with all of them.
Healthcare Informatics 2009 November;26(11):10
