An increasing number of healthcare organizations are introducing chief data officers to the C-suite, according to InformationWeek. Nearly 17 percent of CEOs plan to hire a CDO by the end of the year, and 25 percent of organizations worldwide will have a CDO in the boardroom by 2015, according to Gartner data in the report.
Just last month, CMS named its first CDO, Niall Brennan, to handle data collection and dissemination for the federal agency.
Yet most healthcare organizations are trying to shrink C-suites, not grow them. InformationWeek outlined the following three reasons healthcare organizations benefit from the addition of a CDO:
- Centralization of data responsibilities. Healthcare is a data-rich industry — and healthcare reform hinges on the ability to collect and leverage this data for improved care and lower costs. As most healthcare organizations exist now, data responsibilities likely fall under a number of different positions. Forbes contributor Thornton May believes this is exactly why organizations need CDOs, according to InformationWeek. With a CDO, healthcare systems can streamline software applications, storage solutions and technologies.
- New data initiatives. CDOs can lead new data initiatives within the organization, especially interoperability, according to InformationWeek. As health systems move toward more coordinated care, the ability to effectively work together and share data will become essential to care delivery. An executive with working knowledge of a system's data can bring predictive analytics to the C-suite and help drive change.
- CIO relief. The CDO does not duplicate the CIO's role. Rather, the two roles function as peers, according to InformationWeek. The role of the CDO is to manage an organization's data, bridging IT and operations, while the CIO manages the computer systems and technology of an organization, according to Wired.
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