Is “chief information officer” still the right title for the job?
Health systems have mostly been answering by adding words rather than swapping out the whole title: Digital, transformation and data are turning up in CIO nameplates at a growing rate. According to a WittKieffer report, about 20% of health system CIOs now hold the title chief digital and information officer, and two-thirds of those changes have come in just the past three years. Still, 71% of CIOs keep the traditional title.
Becker’s asked six health system CIOs: If you could rename your title to more accurately reflect your role, what would you rename it to? Their answers sorted into three camps, plus one holdout who would rather keep the letters and redefine what they stand for.
Two CIOs landed on “technology” as the more accurate word.
Annemarie Eades, CIO at Chicago-based Saint Anthony Hospital, said the title undersells the breadth of the job.
“Given the fact that the core of the CIO function isn’t just ‘information’ or even pure ‘technology’—it’s the strategic orchestration of a portfolio of enterprise solutions,” she said. “Although not perfect, chief technology officer as a title seems far more befitting to me.”
Inderpal Kohli, CIO at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., argued healthcare needs to retire both “information” and “digital” and proposed pairing “technology” with a second word to capture the strategic weight of the job.
“While changing the title alone is not sufficient, it can help establish an identity that better reflects the evolving role,” Mr. Kohli said. “Today’s CIO is expected to serve as a business strategist, digital transformation leader, AI executive, cybersecurity leader, data steward and operational partner.”
Today’s CIO is also responsible for clinical technology, patient and provider experience, operational transformation, innovation, technology governance, business growth and research enablement.
“A title such as chief technology and transformation officer better reflects this expanded role,” Mr. Kohli said. “This recognizes that technology is not the mission, but a catalyst for transforming healthcare delivery, operations and patient outcomes. The technology leader is now a strategic executive who helps shape the organization’s future.”
Two other CIOs argued the title should describe what the role has become for the people around it, not what it manages.
Brian Lancaster, vice president and CIO at Children’s Mercy Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo., said the job has shifted from running infrastructure to clearing a path for everyone else.
“If I were to rename the CIO role today, I would call it the chief enabler officer. Technology now touches every aspect of healthcare delivery, operations, research and the patient experience,” he said. “There is virtually nothing that happens within a health system that is not enabled in some way by technology.”
Mr. Lancaster said the role has shifted from a behind-the-scenes role managing infrastructure and data centers to partnering with clinical, operational and administrative leaders to remove barriers, create new capabilities and support organizational outcomes.
“Success today depends less on being a technology expert and more on being a trusted partner who helps enable the business of healthcare,” he said.
Karen Marhefka, DHA, deputy CIO at RWJBarnabas Health in West Orange, N.J., made a similar case for stepping back from day-to-day systems work, though she framed the goal as freeing the CIO to focus entirely on strategy.
“If I were to rename the CIO role today, I would call it chief health technology strategist. Much of a current CIO’s work no longer centers on managing technology but on helping boards, CEOs, physicians and operational leaders navigate how technology, AI, data and digital innovation can transform care delivery, workforce effectiveness and organizational strategy,” she said.
The role has evolved from managing systems to shaping the future of healthcare, much more akin to a “senior executive IT ‘whisperer,'” according to Ms. Marhefka.
“A good CIO manages both the day-to-day support of all things technical in a health system and is a forward-thinking strategist,” she said. “A great CIO has ‘people for that’ who are 100% responsible for supporting the technical infrastructure, security, data management and application support and evolution.”
She argued that the CIO can then focus exclusively on the direction technology is taking in healthcare and other business sectors.
One CIO leaned hardest into “digital” over any other option.
Jeff Gautney, CIO at Rush University System for Health in Chicago, offered two versions of the same idea: chief digital transformation officer or chief digital intelligence officer.
His answer is also the one most in step with where titles are already moving. Why the CIO title is disappearing has as much to do with “digital” taking over the nameplate as it does with “information” falling out of favor.
Not every CIO wants a new nameplate.
Tim Pugsley, CIO at Watertown, S.D.-based Prairie Lakes Healthcare System, said the letters can stay if what the “I” stands for keeps expanding.
“It may vary somewhat depending on organization size, but I immediately think the acronym stays the same. The (I) is for integration, information, inventive, inspirational, impact … and the list goes on,” he said. “The demands on today’s CIO have greatly transformed from technology-heavy to enhancing operations and process innovation. We must understand the business from end to end, and we are the advocates of the people we serve to deliver high-quality, secure, efficient and sustainable solutions.”
Six answers, one shared instinct: None of the six chose to keep “information” standing alone. Whether that shows up on an organizational chart is a separate question. For now, the job is changing faster than the title on the door.
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