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What It Means to Be Really Busy


By Chuck Christian, Director of information systems, CIO, Good Samaritan Hospital, Vincennes, Ind. February 1, 2008

I’ve had two careers in health care; one as a registered radiologic technologist and the other as a CIO. There was some time spent in the world of HIS vendors that helped bridge the gap.

My first career is important as a reference point. Let’s just say that being responsible for the daily fluoroscopic procedure room kept me slim and trim. Not to mention it taught me a whole lot about customer service, human dignity, and physician relationships. It also honed my reflexes very well.

When I was a young professional, I thought I was busy; but I was also naïve as to what busy could really be.

Some time ago, I gave a presentation at the local university to a group of students who were about to graduate with various degrees in information technology, computer science, etc. I had been asked to speak about the state of the current job market in these respective areas as they related to the health care market.

After the professor introduced me, I placed my cell phone, laptop, PDA, and pager on the table at the front of the room. I went on to explain that technology is a wonder thing; with the devices that I just placed on the table, I had been able to leverage every moment of free/spare time that I used to have. The class laughed, only because they had no idea what busy was. To be honest, at the time of that presentation, I had no idea what busy was, I just thought I did.

Okay, so why am I on the topic of being busy? Mostly it’s because this is a topic that comes up every time you get two or three CIOs or other I.T. professionals within talking distance of each other. (Sorry, I was raised in the South, and the term ‘talking distance’ is a defined unit of measure).

So why are we so much busier today than ever before? I think there may be a couple of reasons. For years, everything that I’ve read about being a productive and effective CIO has been telling me that I need to be more focused on the business, learn what the business units are doing, and help them be successful with the appropriate and cost-effective application of information technology. Those of us who have been successful have had the pleasure of keeping our jobs and being asked to do more. (I believe there is a direct mathematical correlation between being successful and getting more moved onto your plate.)

Another reason is that our internal customers are becoming more and more technology savvy and are demanding more. If we (as the keepers of technology) can’t meet their perceived need in the defined timeframe, they will go ahead and move forward with what they think is the best approach for them, never thinking that there is a whole other organization around them that might just not be compatible with the “HCF” solution that vendor “X” just presented (HCF = High Cool Factor).

I’m not suggesting that our internal customers do not know what they need, only that they may not take into consideration the broader, organizational view of how all that technology should fit together.

End In Sight?

I’m not sure if there is an end in sight; I have the pleasure of working with our administration, medical staff and community leaders on community-based projects that will benefit the patients that we all serve. I also have the honor of working with some very bright individuals at the state and national level, all trying to raise the level of quality (and lower the costs) of the health care that we all deliver.

Will our plates ever get any less full? I don’t think so; there is much to be accomplished, and it will only be accomplished by very busy people.

We will always be required to keep the current “stuff” running while looking into the future, trying to predict what will be required to react to the next round of regulatory requirements and your vendor-partner “vision modifications.”

If you’re not very busy, ask yourself if you are doing enough locally and on a broader scope. Get involved with your professional organizations, like CHIME, HIMSS, and others; these are great sources of education, information and help (from my personal experience).

Those of us who have chosen to be (and are fortunate enough to remain) CIOs will never be less busy. I don’t believe that it’s in our nature.

 (c) 2008 Health Data Management and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cardforum.com http://www.sourcemedia.com @

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