CIO Baldwin’s blog — “Top Five”

Posted by baldwinc on Nov 21, 2012 in Blog | 1 comment

Having decided to engage as an IT healthcare consultant I added a blog to my web site. My goal is to be thought provoking, principally to Healthcare IT professionals…..

I was recently asked by the CEO of a Boston area software company my opinion as to the top 5 challenges keeping CIOs up at night. It’s a great question and one I thought about back in March 2012 preparing for a presentation at the Medical Users Software Exchange (MUSE) Executive Institute at the MUSE international conference in Florida. I conducted a CHIME Member to Member Survey to gather some data from my peers. The full results of the seven questions are posted on www.csbitsolutions.com under the About/Global IT Healthcare Challenges page.

The survey results suggest the first four – (1) that IT goals in healthcare are not always fully aligned with organizational strategies, (2) that CIOs are under pressure to launch projects and new technologies, sometimes before they have been thoroughly vetted and planned, (3) that architectural design standards are not always followed for new systems, especially regarding data security and external hosting – every CIO needs to review the new OCR audit protocol – I’ve had eye-opening conversations with two CIOs who have experienced data breaches, audits and fines and every covered entity is at risk, (4) that the quality data required for regulatory reporting and risk contracts are not fully synergized with the data defined and collected in EHR deployments.

My fifth is indirectly suggested by the survey — (5) the end-goal of all this intense work is to improve the healthcare system by improving quality and reducing per capita cost. Do you have a road-map to achieve this challenging vision?

I’d like to know what others think……

One comment

Daisey Steep

January 1, 2013

Thanks for your posting. I also think laptop computers have gotten more and more popular currently, and now will often be the only type of computer included in a household. Simply because at the same time they are becoming more and more inexpensive, their computing power is growing to the point where they can be as effective as desktop out of just a few years back.

Nancy Sachetti - Director Highland Healthcare IPA, Co-Director Winchester Highland Management Highland Healthcare IPA & Winchester Highland Management

I was initially overwhelmed with the amount of work our small organization needed to accomplish to develop a Privacy and Security program to meet a regulatory requirements. With the help of CSB IT Solutions, we were not only able to meet these requirements, but also develop some best practices for our organization. In addition, Chris and his colleagues conducted staff training that was clear, enjoyable, and comprehensible for all levels of personnel. As consultants they were highly knowledgeable, thorough, organized and responsive. It’s been a pleasure working with CSB IT!

Martin A. Fogle, MD, MS, FACS - Chief Medical Officer and Chief Security Officer PrimaCare, P.C.

Christopher Baldwin from CSB IT Solutions was “the right prescription” for Prima CARE, a large multispecialty medical group in Massachusetts. From his initial assessment of our complex needs to the crafting of an expert and customized security document, Chris addressed everything from general security to high-tech HIPAA considerations. Our Security Steering Committee was quickly educated and organized, and Chris then gave us the tools to implement our program today and to maintain our program in the future.