Cover Story: CMIOs and the Next Frontier
As hospitals progress in their clinical IT implementations, many are realizing that the CMIO role is invaluable to achieving deep and wide use of the systems in question. The role, it’s clear, has come a long way. What are most CMIOs doing in an average day? What are most being asked to focus on strategically? And what are the most common reporting structures? In this story, we’ll look at just where this hugely important person in the hospital stands.
Contact Mark Hagland
Clinical
Getting Ready to Define Meaningful Use
Are you getting the most out of your EMR? Hospitals will soon be asked to demonstrate “meaningful use” of these expensive systems by the new administration, but many savvy CIOs are already measuring just how their EMRs are being used today. Are these systems improving clinical performance? What measurements are being used in the field? We’ll talk to CIOs who, rather than waiting, have developed their own definitions of meaningful use.
Contact Daphne Lawrence
Financial
Post-Discharge Care
The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported that 20 percent of Medicare patients are re-admitted within a month. As such, better hand-offs and post discharge follow-up are clearly going to be scrutinized as bundling gains inroads. Post-discharge procedures (and technologies) should be on every CIO’s radar since the new administration plans to lower payments to hospitals with excessive re-admission rates. But exactly how can IT systems help? We’ll talk to CIOs and consultants who are already thinking about this topic.
Contact Daphne Lawrence
Administrative
Before the economy crumbled, “green” IT practices were gaining momentum in healthcare, with 57 percent of organizations indicating they planned to actively pursue energy-efficient IT practices in the near future. But when the economy hit a downturn, talks about environmentally friendly systems grew quieter. Some organizations, however, have forged ahead with plans to implement more efficient practices in the data center; build or retrofit “green” facilities; and find creative ways to reduce energy consumption or cut down on waste. In this article, we’ll look at the implementation processes involved with issues like server consolidation, the costs exerted and savings realized with green practices, and whether going green is economically feasible in the current times.
Contact Kate Gamble
Wireless
As more hospitals and health systems adopt electronic records, and more patient data becomes accessible through devices such as laptops and handhelds, CIOs are under increasing pressure to ensure that medical information is protected. In recent months, several hospitals have experienced security breaches that can cause serious damage to an organization’s reputation. This article will examine the measures that CIOs are taking to safeguard patient data and the policies and procedures that are enacted in the event of a security breach. It will also look at how the provisions in HITECH surrounding PHI will shape the CIO’s strategy.
Contact Kate Gamble
Imaging
The recession, vendors, and the future of PACS
As PACS systems become increasingly commoditized, and the economic recession depresses sales, what strategies should CIOs be looking at in order to take advantage of a market in turmoil? We'll talk to CIOs, consultants and industry experts about how the PACS (and RIS) market is changing, and what CIOs need to do in order to get the best deals and avoid making costly and time-consuming mistakes in the diagnostic imaging management area.
Contact Mark Hagland
Policy
The best of David Rath’s Policy Blog (www.healthcare-informatics.com/david_raths)
Contact David Raths
