Becker's Speaker Series: 4 questions with Lakeland Health CIO, Robin Sarkar, PhD, CSM, CPHQ

Robin Sarkar, PhD, CSM, CPHQ, serves as Chief Information Officer for Lakeland Health.

On Friday, Sepember 22, Dr. Sarkar will speak on two panels at Becker's Hospital Review 3rd Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place September 21 through September 23 in Chicago.

To learn more about the conference and Dr. Sarkar's sessions, click here.

Question: Looking at your IT budget, what is one item or expense that has surprised you in terms of ROI? How so?Sarkar Robin Headshot

Robin Sarkar: Our Epic EHR system has been a significant enabler of exemplary patient care and outcomes. What's important to Lakeland Health is not just saving money (return on investment) but saving lives (return on lives), which has been facilitated by our EHR capabilities.

Q: Finding top tech talent is always a challenge. Say a CIO called you up today to ask for an interview question that would distinguish the best candidates from the mid- to low-performers. What question do you suggest he or she ask?

RS: I would recommend asking a question focused on the candidate's collaboration and team-building skills. As a famous author said, "None of us is as smart as all of us."

Q: We spend a lot of timing talking about the exciting innovation modernizing healthcare. It's also helpful to acknowledge what we've let go of. What is one form of technology, one process or one idea that once seemed routine to you but is now endangered, if not extinct? What existed in your organization two to five years ago but not anymore?

RSCommunicating by speaking on the telephone seemed routine many years ago but is losing its leverage in clinical communications.

Q: Tell us about the last time you were truly, wildly amazed by technology. What did you see?

RS: We introduced a secure text messaging system a couple of years ago and were amazed to see how our hospice team leveraged the capability in innovative ways to speed up patient care and drive efficiency. The team sends out more than 50,000 secure text messages every month, and this has become a primary communication mechanism.

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars