If you've felt the role of a healthcare chief information officer (CIO) has shifted recently, you're not alone. What some are calling the "post-modern CIO" is increasingly seen as a strategist at the helm of integrating IT with their hospital's overall goals.
In previous years, healthcare CIO responsibilities were focused largely on a hospital or health system's IT strategy. From implementing complex electronic health records to migrating patient data to the cloud, the aim was to maximize their organization's technological capabilities.
However, as technology becomes increasingly linked with operations, the role of today's CIO is effectively expanding beyond "automating and digitizing processes and employees to focusing more on the consumer," according to a MedCity News report on the role of the CIO and digital access for consumers.
How the healthcare CIO compares to CIOs in other industries
The evolving role of the CIO applies across industries. As with their healthcare colleagues, these executives are being asked to blend their communication, business and management skills with their tech acumen almost across the board.
For example, banking CIOs are leveraging cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and maximizing automation opportunities to not only lower their IT costs but also to streamline and enhance the customer experience. CIOs in e-commerce are similarly changing how their organizations operate by integrating cloud-based solutions to track inventory and manage shipping.
The COVID-19 effect
The push to fuse IT priorities with broader healthcare goals has grown for several years but accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology immediately became the foundation of nearly all activities in healthcare as providers needed remote capabilities and patients needed reliable telehealth choices.
Virtual healthcare will remain critical for the industry beyond the pandemic. Telehealth helps address key structural barriers and is popular—76% of patients who have had a telehealth visit would prefer to continue using it in the future.
Digital transformation in healthcare
Healthcare is entering a new digital age, requiring organizations to transform how they deliver core services, protect critical data, and keep patients and members in an optimal state of health. This means the technology used by healthcare organizations is increasingly critical to addressing strategic needs and managing risk. Embracing these digital changes means CIOs can move their operations toward real-time Enterprise Intelligence (EI). This approach to healthcare fuses data and technology, allowing CIOs to revamp the infrastructure of existing facilities or build new ones that provide real-time, data-driven care delivery.
By effectively deploying network transformation strategies, CIOs can create a more streamlined, connected healthcare experience for patients and providers. For example, connecting first responders with hospital-based providers accelerates care and creates new pathways that improve patient outcomes. It also opens the door for expanded virtual care. Telehealth not only extends healthcare services to patients with limited access to care, but it also potentially reduces emergency department utilization.
This push toward EI is already happening in several key areas:
Artificial intelligence (AI) applications
Investing in AI algorithms that promote predictive analytics, resource allocation and clinical decision-making presents opportunities to improve interoperability. It can also allow the healthcare CIO to lead the charge for change if they're responsible for coordinating collaborative efforts between patients, payers and providers.
Technology in medical treatment
The increasing sophistication of medical treatment, including the use of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technology, further highlights how intertwined technology and healthcare operations have become.
Online tools for patients
Healthcare organizations and patients are increasingly reliant on the digital front door—the online tools patients use to access healthcare. For example, healthcare CIO responsibilities include streamlining and protecting the digital portals patients use to search for providers, make appointments and message their physicians. CIOs can improve the patient experience by taking the digital front door a step further. For telehealth patients who need emergency care, CIOs can create a system that coordinates transportation and appointment scheduling through patients' electronic health records.
Big data
Proper data collection is critical for healthcare CIO success, and privacy and protection are paramount. CIOs can manage these risks through security solutions, as well as creating and implementing organization-wide processes that safeguard user data. Explaining the importance and benefit of collecting patient information also increases buy-in and trust from other institutional stakeholders and the patients themselves.
What the post-modern hospital CIO must anticipate
The focus on more patient-centered care continues to intensify and technology has a critical part to play. As part of this process, healthcare CIOs will be integral in helping hospitals and health systems follow this trend.
One important task CIOs will face is augmenting the mobile-first strategy. Secure connections and patient privacy will be paramount among healthcare CIO responsibilities. The healthcare industry remains among the most targeted industries for ransomware and other cyber attacks.
Maximizing the benefits of innovation while protecting against cyber threats is an example of the post-modern CIO evolution. These new responsibilities will impact CIOs' ability to satisfy the patient and provider experience. Understanding technology isn't enough. Healthcare CIOs now have a larger role to play in overall business strategy and risk management.
Learn more about the digital evolution in healthcare and how it's revolutionizing the delivery of patient services.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.