I’ve obviously been thinking a lot lately about the rest of the healthcare IT world beyond EHR software. We’ve had such a focus on EHR software, that we’ve forgotten a lot of other IT projects that need attention. I saw a quote recently that a CIO is no longer just managing the IT infrastructure. I believe that’s spot on.
A hospital CIO needs to be an integral part of the business decisions of their organization. You can’t buy a few hundred million (or a few billion) dollar EHR and not think that it won’t have a major economic impact on your organization. However, while a hospital CIO needs to do more than just IT infratructure, they still have to do the IT work as well.
I was thinking about all of the various IT projects that a hospital CIO could still be managing:
- Internal Network
- External Internet Connection
- Firewalls
- Data Center (this could be a few hundred things in itself)
- Servers/Virtualization
- Desktops (virtual or otherwise)
- Mobile Devices (cell, tablets, etc.)
- Telephony
- Identity Management
- Shared Drives
- Printers
- Scanners
- Biometrics
I’m sure I’m leaving some obvious ones off. Please add to the list in the comments. However, even just looking at this is pretty overwhelming. Luckily, most hospital CIOs have a lot of people helping them support all of these efforts. However, each one needs to be considered and managed.
Take a simple example like email. You’d think we’d have it down to a science and we kind of do. However, if you host it in house, you have to constantly stay on top of it, update the software, manage mailbox sizes, spam filters, etc. Whether you outsource your email or keep it in house you also have to manage all the account creation and deletion. You have to provide ongoing help desk support and training.
The point I’m trying to make is that each one of these technologies has its little nuances. It takes time and effort to do them well. Unfortunately, many of them have been transgressed as the all hands on deck EHR efforts have occurred. Now we’re heading back to clean up these messes. Looking at the list above, there are a lot of possible messes waiting for a hospital CIO.