I’ve always been intrigued by the role of CIO. I know a lot of people probably still equate this role to someone who deals with servers and devices all day, but the role has evolved significantly in the last decade alone. Today’s CIOs are at the center of innovation for their healthcare organizations, meaning they need to be well versed in all of the shifting trends and challenges their peers face, and in developing IT strategies to support them.
Throughout this year I will be discussing many of these trends with Bill Russell, former CIO of St. Joseph Health in Orange, CA, and host of the popular “This Week in Health IT” podcast series. As a former CIO, Bill is fascinated by the rapidly shifting healthcare landscape and in striking up an open dialogue with industry thought leaders on what these changes mean to healthcare organizations and the vendors who support them.
Recently, I had the privilege of being a guest on Bill’s Newsday podcast, where we had the opportunity to discuss the latest headlines in our industry, including the top trends we expect to see in 2022.
Among these trends include the future of Telehealth and virtual care and how the consumerism movement is placing healthcare organizations in direct competition with major retail pharmacy chains. We also discussed how nurse and physician staffing shortages, exacerbated by the pandemic, are driving the need for better automation and cleaner documentation—including AI and virtual assistants. Finally, we discussed the growth of smart hospitals as well as the growing shift toward cloud-based solutions and their impact on cybersecurity.
Today, change is happening so rapidly that I could honestly go on for hours on any of these topics, but it was great to discuss these trends with my fellow innovation enthusiast, and I look forward to our ongoing conversations.
You can catch my full conversation with Bill on the This Week in Health IT News podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I highly encourage you to check it out, as it is a great medium for CIOs and aspiring IT leaders on top of mind subjects. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss our future episodes.
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