CEOs Talk Shop: I.T. a Strategic Asset
October 2004
Hospital CEOs have a new world-view of information technology. No longer deemed an insatiable cost center, many CEOs now see I.T. as a means to advancing a hospital's strategic plan.
In the eyes of Mike Glenn, CEO at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, Wash., "I.T. really has grown in the last five years as a strategic enabler, not an out-of-control expense."
A large part of the 126-bed hospital's strategic plan is managing the organization's I.T. needs, Glenn says. Technology is one of the hospital's seven strategic goals.
Specifics include implementing "state-of-the-art" clinical and administrative information systems and developing and implementing not only a day-to-day strategic plan but an overall vision for I.T.
For Olympic Medical Center and other hospitals, information technology has gone from 800-pound gorilla to workhorse.
"The buck stopped here when I.T. started to consume seven figures of our capital budget," Glenn says. "It started out that we needed to better manage this growing expense and went to `Let's leverage it not just to meet day-to-day operations, but to position us to meet our long-range goals.'"
Many other hospital CEOs share Glenn's experience. They are embracing I.T. for its capabilities in enhancing patient safety and improving quality, as well as automating administrative, financial and clinical processes. CEOs now are leaning on I.T. to bridge gaps in staff shortages, particularly in providing nurses more easily accessible patient data and reducing paperwork. Mobile technology is bringing data to clinicians wherever they might need it, and electronic medical records and computerized physician order entry systems are helping to improve record keeping and cut medical errors.
As CEOs tap information technology, they are relying increasingly on CIOs for guidance and input. In many organizations, the CIOs is now an integral part of the executive team and has close ties to the CEO.
Information technology is not without its problems, and there's a list of concerns keeping CEOs-and their CIOs-up at night. The roster includes costs, integration, and users' acceptance of and capacity for absorbing new technology and new ways of doing their jobs.
But CEOs like Henry Ford Health System's Nancy Schlichting still view I.T. as a critical factor in improving operating and patient care efficiency. Schlichting also is president of the Detroit-based delivery system, which has four hospitals, including a 900-bed academic medical center, a 700-physician group practice and an HMO.
"We are focusing on I.T. as part of strategic decision making for our organization," Schlichting says. Information technology has played a key role in Henry Ford Health System's efforts to enhance patient safety, efficiency and quality of care, as evidenced by its ambulatory electronic medical records system.
The organization's health plan also has driven the delivery system to use I.T. to meet its broad constituents' needs, she says, including Web-based provider and member services. Further, the organization offers Web-based appointment scheduling for patients and human resources functions for employees.
I.T. the key
At Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, a 216-bed teaching hospital in Nashville, Tenn., I.T. is helping improve patient safety and reduce variation in care. "If a child is sick enough to be hospitalized here, we need to ensure that we are the safest place for them to be hospitalized," says CEO Jim Shmerling.
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