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CIO Wears Many Hats


By Ron Kloewer, CIO - Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, Red Oak, Iowa April 1, 2008

When I describe my job, I usually get the same reaction: “You wear many hats.” As the CIO of a small, rural hospital, it’s vital that I be versatile. I increase my value to the organization by contributing in many areas.

In addition to the role of I.T. leader, I am the risk manager, the safety officer, the director of campus development and the administrative supervisor for laboratory, radiology, facility management and dietary.

These are exciting roles, both challenging and rewarding, with an incredible view of the future.

That’s because my job is largely about creating a shared vision for the hospital through the strategic planning process—helping people see the vision and make it their own, then allowing them to realize it.

That Vision Thing

As director of campus development, I facilitate the strategic planning process for the organization. So I have a close view of the business goals and objectives as well as that “vision” thing.

I then integrate the I.T goals to work in support of the broader hospital initiatives. By adding value to my role as CIO, I not only achieve the strategic I.T. initiatives of the hospital, I also assist the CEO and the executive staff with other equally important initiatives.

Many small hospitals struggle in meeting I.T. achievement goals because they lack executive leadership with a solid understanding of I.T., or they lack I.T. leadership with the range of skills required to participate in and manage at the strategic level.

It is vital that I.T. goals be aligned with the strategic plan of the organization. Without that alignment, projects will fail, or worse, create constant pain and loss.

Small hospital CEOs can achieve greater success in realizing strategic goals by retaining I.T. leaders with skills that go beyond the technology. Individuals who excel in planning and execution, who have solid project management skills, and who can communicate easily across the political minefields bring value to the organization. At a time when many of the biggest changes in health care are being driven by I.T., success for these and the related projects is vital.

Our hospital is small, yet we are the second largest employer in our community. I have an opportunity to work with many talented people who have dedicated their lives to health care.

They take care of and nurture people, and I am always in awe of the attention and compassion they bring to their work.

My job is to support them and support their goals and objectives as well as those of I.T. My job is also to see that our shared vision for a healthy community is realized. So I get involved in community outreach and business development to help our community grow and prosper.

My career began in construction engineering, project management and development. I view I.T. at our hospital through the lens of a developer, and I build our systems using a fundamental approach. 

First, any I.T. project must support the hospital’s vision, goals and objectives. Second, we must build a solid foundation, strong enough to support the new or remodeled system. This will often consist of building political support as well as the obvious technical underpinning. Then we add structural elements, like good project management and tracking, plus the right talent in the right role.

At small hospitals, many people wear multiple hats. Even the CEO knows it comes with the territory. I.T. leaders in small hospitals should expect nothing different.

I am convinced that small hospitals can increase their success rate for I.T., as well as other initiatives, by retaining talented people capable of wearing many hats, then charging them with leadership and change management that goes beyond their role as I.T. leader or CIO.

From my perspective the job is rewarding and never boring. If the hats fit, go ahead and wear them.

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

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