The success or failure of a health IT initiative often hinges on whether nurses are truly part of the conversation — and clinical informatics leaders are increasingly stepping in to make sure they are.
Whether it’s implementing AI for fall prevention or shaping the rollout of an EHR system, CNIOs are leading efforts to align innovation with the day-to-day realities of clinical care teams.
At Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare, Jason Atkins, chief clinical informatics officer, told Becker’s that the organization prioritizes clinician input — especially from nurses — at every phase of a transformation initiative.
“We actively seek out the nursing voice in the identification, evaluation, design, implementation and sustainment of any change or transformation that impacts nursing practice or care team workflow,” Mr. Atkins said.
This approach is supported through a formal professional governance structure, where councils composed of bedside nurses and nurse leaders help determine which improvements to prioritize. This ensures that the informatics team isn’t working in isolation, but rather co-creating solutions grounded in frontline experience.
The result has been tangible improvements in both safety and efficiency. Emory recently deployed a large language model-powered chatbot that reduced the time nurses spend retrieving information about policies, procedures and EMR workflows.
The system has also helped ease documentation burdens through the integration of medical devices in critical care. Additionally, the organization is working to reduce medication administration errors via systemwide infusion pump integration. One pilot unit even achieved a complete reduction in falls with injury over a four-month span after launching AI-powered fall prevention tools and virtual nursing workflows — all made possible, Mr. Atkins emphasized, because nurses were treated as co-designers, not just end users.
At Indianapolis-based Community Health Network, Anna Lorenzetto, RN, chief clinical informatics officer, echoed the importance of including nurses at the start of any digital initiative.
“If you expect successful adoption and utilization of technology in the end, you must have all key stakeholders present in the beginning,” she told Becker’s.
For Ms. Lorenzetto, success depends on identifying who’s not yet at the table and making sure they get there — particularly the people most affected by workflow changes.
Sometimes that advocacy happens in the moment.
“How do I advocate in real time for a missing stakeholder? Simply by calling out the need and ensuring they are included moving forward,” she said.
Without champions from every affected area, she added, even the best technology risks falling flat — or worse, increasing inefficiencies instead of resolving them.
As healthcare organizations continue their push toward digital innovation, CNIOs are making sure nurses — often the “conductors of care” at the bedside — help chart the path forward.
