The top health system CIOs have been using innovative digital solutions to address some of healthcare’s most pressing challenges.
Several health systems were recently named winners of CIO 100 Awards for having the most innovative IT departments. Becker’s reached out to the CIOs of those systems to find out what they do differently.
“I have incredible teams here of IT professionals who are deeply dedicated to our missions, research, education, patient care, and are constantly thinking outside the box in terms of leveraging all of these new technologies to solve problems and bring really innovative solutions,” said Michael Pfeffer, MD, senior vice president and chief information and digital officer of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care.
Stanford Health Care was recognized for its “Procedures” feature in its MyHealth patient portal that provides pre-procedure instructions, patient education, wayfinding, e-check-in and transportation details for surgical patients. Over 78% of patients have used the tool, with 87% of patients saying they either agreed or strongly agreed that they were well-prepared for their procedures.
“I’m always impressed by the diverse skills, experiences, and backgrounds of our information services organization,” said Luke Olenoski, senior vice president and CIO of Radnor Township, Pa.-based Main Line Health. “Within our organization, we have clinicians who pivoted to IT and informatics as well as biomedical engineers, traditional technologists and numerous team members who transitioned from other industries such as financial services and retail. That helps drive innovation — having people with different skills and experiences working toward a common goal.”
Main Line Health was honored for a project that transformed mobile emergency network connectivity for the clinical space.
“What stands out about our Enloe team is that I feel like we’re definitely punching above our weight class with the innovation that we offer our organization to support business excellence,” said Tom Osteen, CIO of Chico, Calif.-based Enloe Health.
Enloe Health’s winning project was successfully completing two pilot projects of ambient AI for clinical documentation, then quickly scaling the technology among its ambulatory providers. Burnout rates among clinicians have dropped, as have after-hours documentation. “We were able to execute, partner with and deliver to the business in short order,” Mr. Osteen said. “So it was a Herculean effort for a hospital of our size.”
“We pride ourselves on a highly engaged team that is committed to excellence and innovation,” said Jason Joseph, chief digital and information officer of Corewell Health, dually headquartered in Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich. “We have won awards from CHIME and HIMSS for leveraging our EHR and other technology at top-of-industry levels. Our team has been recognized as a Best Place to Work in IT for a team culture that values engagement and development of our team members. We just have an incredible, high-performing team.”
Corewell Health was recognized for the rapid pace at which it unified its Epic EHR to make for a “seamless clinical experience across our entire geography,” Mr. Joseph said.
“What really stands out about our department is our people,” said Sunil Dadlani, executive vice president and chief information, digital and cybersecurity officer of Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System. “We are not just a support organization. We act as a catalyst for transformation, and we are a strategic engine for furthering the entire organization, be it in healthcare delivery, be it patient experience and engagement, be it on revenue cycle, and most importantly, being a leader across the nation, as a top most-connected healthcare system.”
Atlantic Health System was honored for digitizing its tracking of medical specimens. The platform includes a mobile app that has scanning technology to quickly read and record samples, which are tracked by location, logging all the information into the EHR. The project has increased time savings, efficiencies and accuracy, Mr. Dadlani said.