At least 16 hospitals and health systems are searching for permanent chief information officers, but CEOs say they are looking for something broader than the traditional technology executive.
As AI reshapes healthcare and digital strategy moves closer to the center of organizational decision-making, the next generation of IT leaders is expected to be both operational experts and enterprise strategists.
A Becker’s review found at least 16 hospitals and health systems were operating without a permanent CIO as of late June, with several relying on interim leaders while formal searches continue. The openings span academic medical centers, children’s hospitals and regional systems, following retirements, departures to other organizations and executives moving into new roles.
The scale of the search is notable. So is what the health system CEOs running it say they are looking for once the seat is filled. Two of them, in interviews with Becker’s, described a job that has expanded well beyond its old boundaries, even as they insisted its original core responsibilities have not gone anywhere.
Ketul J. Patel is president and CEO of Marietta, Ga.-based Wellstar Health System, which has been searching for a CIO since Bill Bellando left the role for Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger in early June. Mr. Patel said the fundamentals of the job, in his view, have held steady even as the technology surrounding it has not.
“The core traits and skillsets that information technology leaders should possess, people-first leaders who are at the forefront of their field and effectively translate IT strategy to advance our organization’s mission, have not changed,” Mr. Patel said.
What has changed, he said, is the extent to which new and emerging technologies, AI in particular, can further improve safety, quality and the patient and team member experience. Mr. Patel also emphasized that the role still depends on collaboration well beyond the IT department itself: The next CIO will need to work with leaders across the enterprise to improve access to care, health outcomes and operational efficiency.
Daniel T. Pickett III, president and CEO of Albany (N.Y.) Med Health System, described a similar expansion of scope, but drew a sharper line around what cannot slip. Scot Van Sickle has served as interim chief digital and technology officer at Albany Med since early June.
“I still need a strong technology operator. That hasn’t changed,” Mr. Pickett said. “In a health system, the basics matter tremendously: infrastructure, cybersecurity, the EHR, uptime, data integrity, privacy, and support for the people delivering care every day. But that’s the starting point now, not the job.”
Technology now touches access, referrals, patient experience, quality, workforce, research, financial performance and growth, he said, and it can no longer be treated as a back-office function. That thinking is why Albany Med is recruiting for a chief technology and digital officer rather than a traditional CIO.
“The title is intentional,” Mr. Pickett said.
He added that the ideal candidate does not need to come from healthcare. There is real value, he said, in someone who has watched technology reshape another industry, as long as that person understands the responsibility of working in a clinical environment and is willing to listen carefully to physicians, nurses, researchers, operators and patients before solving problems.
Both CEOs pointed to AI specifically as the force reshaping the boundaries of the role, and both described judgment, not enthusiasm for new tools, as the trait that will separate a good hire from a bad one.
“With AI and other emerging tools, judgment matters most,” Mr. Pickett said. “I want a leader who is innovative but grounded, someone who can move the organization forward while protecting patient trust, privacy, safety, and the integrity of the clinical mission. The systems still have to run. That’s table stakes.”
That tension, an expanding mandate layered on top of an unchanged operational floor, runs through both CEOs’ answers even though they lead very different organizations. Wellstar is a large regional system searching for a direct CIO replacement. Albany Med is redefining the title itself.
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