1. Health Services Delivery Organization(s)
   • Hospital/Acute Care
   • Medical Groups (e.g., PPOs, Group Practices)
   • Long Term/Extended Care
   • Home Health Care/Hospice/Long-term Care
   • Public Health Care Agencies (providing direct care services)
2. Healthcare Payer/Insurance Organizations
   • Insurance
   • HMO
3. Management Service Organizations & Other Healthcare IT Related Organizations
   • Organizations related to healthcare IT but whose primary business does not include selling memberships, OR selling hardware, software or consulting services to healthcare CIOs.
   • Qualified organizations normally provide or are otherwise linked to direct patient care. Such organizations may include: radiology groups, disease management companies, RHIOs, state or federal government agencies and state hospital associations.
   • If an organization has multiple business units, 50%+ of the organization’s primary business must meet the above noted membership criteria. For example, if 25% of an organization is dedicated to physician staffing but the remaining 75% of an organization is dedicated to IT consulting, the CIO from such an organization would not be qualified.

1. Highest ranking IS executive OR
2. Regional, market area, or facility level IS executive
     This person will normally be responsible for overall service delivery and budget
     accountability OR
3. Contract CIOs (either employed by a consulting or vendor firm, or are self-employed)
   • If the IS function of a health services delivery organization or a payer organization is outsourced, and there is no CIO employed by the organization itself, then that outsourced CIO (who may be an employee of a consulting or vendor firm, or self-employed) is eligible for membership. In this case, the outsourced CIO must be working full time as the CIO at the specified healthcare or payer organization.
   • If the applicant or renewing member is self-employed (usually as a consultant) and actively looking for a permanent CIO role, he or she may continue with his or her membership for one year. To qualify as a self-employed CIO, the member cannot be on contract with a consulting firm, or have a paid staff of consultants.
   • o All new and renewing CHIME members that are contract CIOs (either employed by a consulting or vendor firm, or who are self-employed) are required to review and sign the CHIME CIO Code of Conduct.
4. IS executives who are not corporate CIOs but who have regional or facility-level CIOs reporting directly to them OR
5. Corporate Senior IT Executives. Applicants who do not meet criteria 1-3 above may also be qualified to join. If the corporate Senior IT Executives are assessed to have a sufficient level of authority in their organization (using a point-based criteria), they are entitled to full membership in CHIME. To download a copy of the Corporate IT Executive application, please click here.

1. Has overall IS responsibility. Additional duties may include telecommunications, medical records, management engineering, etc.
2. Leads the IS strategy for the organization, as evidenced by reporting relationship and committee involvement.
3. Has a significant IS organization, including multiple business/clinical applications and complex technical environments.

1. Change of Employment
   1. If at the time of renewal, the member has changed jobs and no longer meets our membership criteria, the membership will be terminated. For members who have not changed jobs but do not meet our current criteria, CHIME will continue to renew their memberships as an act of good will because they met the membership criteria when they joined.
   2. If the new employer is a vendor or consulting firm, and the member meets the membership criteria, the member will be allowed continued membership. However, the member will not be allowed to serve on CHIME Board of Trustees. If you are a renewing contract CIO that is employed by a consulting or vendor firm and you are between assignments, you will have 60 days from your membership renewal date to secure a new assignment. If after this grace period, you have not secured another CIO assignment, because you are employed by a consulting firm, your membership will be dropped. If your membership is dropped, once a new CIO position is secured, you will be required to resubmit your membership application. This does not apply to contract CIOs who are self-employed.
   3. If a member’s organization is merged/integrated/consolidated, and the member retains or increases responsibilities consistent with the membership criteria, the member will retain membership status. Otherwise, the member will be allowed to complete their current year of membership only.
2. Change due to Unemployment
   Member will be allowed to continue their current year plus one year of membership. A member without a permanent CIO position may seek employment as a self-employed CIO during this period.
3. Change due to Retirement
   If you are retiring but would like to remain a member of CHIME, you may qualify for the CHIME Emeritus Program. In order to qualify for Emeritus status, you must have been a CHIME member in good standing for at least 5 years and you may not be earning income from a position in the healthcare IT industry or be employed by or as a vendor or consultant.
4. Non-payment of Dues
   Membership will be terminated if dues are not paid on an annual basis.

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