The CMIO - A New Leader for Health Systems

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This is a review Jonathan Leviss, Richard Kremsdorf, and Mariam F. Mohaideen's (2006) article, The CMIO - A New Leader for Health Systems [1]

Summary

Physician leadership of health care information technology projects has been identified as a key requirement for success. [1] The authors did a study to identify and evaluate the skills and experiences needed to be an effective Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO).

Method

For the study, the authors conducted phone interviews with 5 CMIOs from 5 different health systems using a 15 item questionnaire survey. The 5 CMIOs were selected because of the achievements at their health systems.

Results

These are some of the skills / experiences of the CMIO's:

  • All five CMIOs advocated for Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)
    • Set project expectations
    • Created CPOE implementation plans
    • Led communication efforts between physicians and nurses
    • Led the vendor selection process and directed training and go-live support
  • Involved with various committees
  • Had some kind of authority for change
  • Has influence on system's budget decisions
  • Had support staff (either directly or large groups who worked collaboratively)
  • Communicated clinical information systems initiatives
  • Dealt with failed information systems in the pass


Conclusion

"Through the common lessons learned from the interviews of these five CMIOs, the CMIO position's usefulness in an organization has been clarified and justified as the newest addition to health system Chief Officer positions".[1]

Comments

In order for a successful health system implementation, I agree with the author that strong leadership is crucial especially someone with a clinical background. A good CMIO should also be involved with the health system project and consult with their staff on what is best for everyone. For the most part, I agree with the authors. However, I think it would have been more beneficial if they had interviewed more CMIOs. Also, in regards to training, I do not think that the CMIOs need to direct training. Their support staff can be in charge of training end users.


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Leviss, J., Kremsdorf, R., Mohaideen, M.F. (2006). The CMIO - A new leader for health systems. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1561791/