HealthManagement, Volume 3 / Issue 2 / 2008

Presented by CHIME (College of Healthcare Information Management Executives) and HIMSS (The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society), this year’s CIO Forum provided a breath of fresh air and a motivational mix of inspiration and strategy for over 100 attendants. The CIOs present at the Forum enjoyed the perspectives of four experts on a variety of issues.

 

Princeton University’s Dr. Uwe Reinhardt, for example, surveyed the challenges facing the American health system in the following decade and its implications for IT executives. Dr. Reinhardt discussed the utopian solutions now being debated and explored how a more energetic application of IT, appropriately backed with substantial public funding, could address many of the challenges ahead.

 

On the other hand, John Timmerman, Vice President of Ritz-Carlton presented an overview of the legendary quality of services his group is known for. “What others call complaints,” says John Timmerman, “we call opportunities.” Ritz-Carlton was the only service company to have won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice. Mr. Timmerman shared insights into the employee selection, orientation, training, and empowerment programmes that have earned Ritz-Carlton its enviable reputation and offered approaches on how to make the most of similar opportunities within one’s own organisation.

 

On his part, Matthew Holt, an independent healthcare strategist, chose the topic of Health 2.0: User-Generated Healthcare. In his opinion, blogs, wikis, podcasts, usergenerated videos and specialised searches have been generating a fundamental shift away from the traditional flow of information as defined by the current healthcare system. Raising questions such as the tools to be subsumed into the system, or if health system CIOs should care, Matthew Holt brought his own unique perspective on Health 2.0’s economic, socio-political and competitive imperatives and what it might mean for all of us.

 

Last but not least, Colonel Ragsdale provided an inspiring view on the Changing Face of Leadership. He drew on lessons learned from his tenure as a technologist (the Colonel is a Ph.D), with active duty experience in the Army and a deep understanding of the new ‘what’s-in-it-for-me’ workforce, to discuss how the leadership and mentoring models of the US Military Academy at West Point may create a practical approach for contemporary CIOs.

 

For more information, please visit: http://www.himssconference.org/

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