M.D. Mobility, ICD-10 Deadline, and Action Items for Accountable Care

The rapid pace of technology development is opening up a broad range of ways to meet physicians' needs for mobile computing as never before, while fueling a host of issues around cost, interoperability, security, and patient privacy. In this month's cover story, beginning on page 10, Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland looks at what medical group, hospital, and health system leaders are saying about the strategies and vision needed to make the mobile future a success for all involved.

As the Oct. 1, 2010 deadline for ICD-10 approaches, hospital CIOs and HIM directors are laying the groundwork for a smooth transition. In the article on page 18, Associate Editor Jennifer Prestigiacomo takes a look at critical care assessments, training programs, and costs that will be required to make the changeover a success.

The push for accountable care has left many CIOs uncertain about the IT requirements to make ACOs a success. On page 24, healthcare expert Daniel J. Marino provides guidance on strategies, systems, priorities in the form of action items, which taken together point to the importance of developing an integrated IT plan.

As more and more hospitals take on the task of selecting and implementing an electronic medical record system, all are grappling with issues of funding while weighing the value propositions that EMRs provide. Hospital CFOs, bankers, and consultants weighed in on the issue at the HFMA ANI conference in Orlando in June, as highlighted in this month's Financial Management story, beginning on page 32.

This issue's Clinical IT Perspective shines a spotlight on Carol Scholle, R.N., whose team at UPMC was the third-place winner of the first Healthcare Informatics/AMDIS IT Innovation Advocate Award. Beginning on page 36, she describes how she and her colleagues implemented “SmartRoom” technologies to improve care delivery.

Last but not least, how should prospective healthcare CIOs handle tough and uncomfortable questions that are bound to come up in a job interview? On page 48, Career Paths columnist Tim Tolan takes on the role of coach, and tells you how to knock hardball questions out of the park.