Erik J. Devine, Chief Information Security and Technology Officer, Riverside Healthcare
On Thursday, Sepember 21, Erik J. Devine will speak on a panel and on Saturday, September 23, he will give a presentation 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 Erik's session, click here.
Question: Looking at your IT budget, what is one item or expense that has surprised you in terms of ROI? How so?
Erik J. Devine: Training. We are now operating much more efficiently than we were. We are able to take on multiple tasks without the use of a third party and still execute IT projects. Giving employees the power and knowledge to make decisions allows everyone to step up their game in information technology and security. My team is now coming to the table with ideas that will ultimately help patient outcomes.
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?
EJD: Describe a time when you identified an opportunity to be innovative within IT. How did you find that opportunity, and what were the ultimate outcomes? Looking back, would you do anything differently, or have you learned anything from that experience?
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 2-5 years ago but not anymore?
EJD: Antivirus Scanning. We have stopped using Antivirus as it has been used in the past. We now have layered security technologies that stop many viruses. Application whitelisting, application blocking at the edge, data segregation, data leakage prevention and data analytics to understand end-user behavior are helping us create better user experiences for the employees and patients at Riverside.
Q: Tell us about the last time you were truly, wildly amazed by technology. What did you see?
EJD: Technology is all around us and that always seems to amaze me. My wife and I bought a robotic vacuum last winter and that even continues to amaze us. I'm also still wildly amazed by what smartphones are capable of, how fast they have become and all the different inputs that allow us to communicate with systems and people. Smartphones have really changed workflow and how we operate on a daily basis. Organization silos have been brought down by these types of devices, and care can be given to patients that may not have had access to it in the past. I truly believe we have only touched the surface on what a smart phone can do for healthcare and every other industry out there.