What traits a healthcare CIO should possess?

CEOs rank technology as their top strategic priority as we head into 2024. Yet, many healthcare organizations have introduced roles such as chief data officer, chief digital officer, chief transformation officer, and chief innovation officer, leading to an overlap. CIOs incorporate words like digital, data, technology, or transformation in their titles, forming CDIO or CIDO acronyms to highlight their leadership in organizational change. Do we require these new roles and additional titles, or should the CIO just do their job?

Here are the three traits of the modern-day healthcare CIOs as we head into 2024.

Life long learner
CIOs must actively embrace lifelong learning to fuel their career growth. They dedicate significant time to teaching and attending advanced courses, workshops, and seminars yearly. They read the latest research articles and case studies, participate in webinars, and engage with industry experts to stay updated. By continuously acquiring new skills and knowledge, the CIO enhances their expertise and drives innovation and progress in their organization. Their commitment to learning inspires their team and underscores the importance of continuous professional development in the rapidly evolving field of healthcare technology.

Aaron Miri, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Baptist Healthcare in Jacksonville, is active in the industry and said, “I’m bullish on the next generation of health IT professionals and I see it first hand while teaching the CHIME CIO boot camp. I would say the distinguishing feature is the hunger to learn more and do more from the next generation. However, the population needs to grow as we must accelerate helping hundreds of future leaders into the thousands to meet the demand of the future. At the end of the day there’s no substitute for hard work and the hunger to learn. Healthcare will reward future talent based on those merits and embracing the Silicon Valley mindset of embracing rapid change.

Decode the buzzword
The healthcare CIO role extends beyond traditional technology leadership. Next-generation healthcare CIOs must adeptly translate complex solutions for senior leaders, ensuring clarity and alignment with organizational goals. Additionally, they must deeply understand how various solutions integrate, as these solutions drive the workflow of patient care. The CIO becomes an essential bridge between technology and strategy, leading change management in technology implementations, facilitating seamless transitions, and fostering innovation in healthcare delivery.

Chani Cordero, Chief Information Officer at Brooke Army Medical Center, agrees and says, “I feel like my superpower has always been able to decipher the shiny stuff and explain it in a way so that nontechnical folks understand. I used to joke with my leadership when they asked me about the cloud, and I said all it is is someone else’s computer.”

Master the casics
Let’s be honest about the life of a healthcare CIO. Most CIOs spend time on operational technology issues, problems, and crises. Healthcare CIOs frequently discuss disruption and innovation but strategize only when the infrastructure, application, and cloud vendors function flawlessly. Unfortunately, daily IT operations often overshadow strategy.

CIOs need to dive deep into the trenches and grasp all technology details down to the basics. Leaders can discuss strategy and digital leadership throughout the year, but at the day’s end, the essence lies in core technology and ensuring everything functions properly.

Once the healthcare CIO masters the operational aspects of their department, they can then concentrate on the strategic initiatives that rank high on the CEO’s priority list.

Zafar Chaudry, Chief Digital and Information Officer said: “The next generation CIO will need to possess a unique blend of strategic vision and business acumen, be an innovation catalyst, use data to make decisions, demonstrate agility, adaptability, and political acumen, maintain stellar collaboration and communication skills, have a deep understanding of cybersecurity, demonstrate emotional intelligence, be comfortable with ambiguity and be able to make decisions in the face of uncertainty.”

In conclusion, the healthcare CIO role is evolving dramatically. Today’s CIOs need to prioritize lifelong learning, master the management of their IT departments, and help organizations distinguish truly innovative solutions from passing trends. A modern CIO’s adaptability and foresight are essential strengths in this ever-changing landscape. Forbes