CHIME was formed with the dual objective of serving the professional development needs of
healthcare CIOs, and advocating the more effective use of information management within
healthcare. The need for an organization like CHIME had become apparent to leaders of the
HIMSS and CHIME organizations during their strategic planning sessions in 1991. A special
task force was formed to develop initiatives that would respond to this need, and from
those planning efforts sprang the CHIME concept. The idea gained immediate support from
the HIMSS and CHIME organizations, and planning efforts moved swiftly forward to launch the
new organization in 1992.
CHIME's first Board was comprised of individuals who had
participated in CHIME's development. This included HIMSS and CHIME leaders, as well as CIOs
with leadership experience in related organizations such as HISEA and ECHO. CHIME was
unveiled at the 1992 HIMSS Annual Conference, and the membership quickly grew to more than
250 members by year's end. The CHIME organization played a major supporting role in CHIME's
development, providing staff and office support to the new organization. A three-year
development period was initiated for CHIME to provide this support, extending through 1994.
CHIME was created as a complement to HIMSS, intending to provide a specific focus for
healthcare CIOs. CHIME events and activities were designed to reflect that purpose,
including CIO-oriented surveys, education programs, and networking activities.
Forward Progress
Thanks to a very warm reception from the healthcare industry,
CHIME's first 10 years have yielded a number of significant accomplishments. CHIME's
leadership is determined to build upon its early successes and nurture the organization
such that it maintains its recognized billing as the premier organization for
healthcare CIOs. CHIME has made significant progress in growing its membership and
expanding the programs and services it offers to its members.
At the end of CHIME's inaugural year of 1992, 250 senior information management executives
were on board as CHIME's charter members. The membership level continued to grow and
reached beyond 800 by the end of 2002. Since then, membership growth goals have
focused on diversification into all related healthcare sectors.
Networking with peers has always been an important component of the benefits of CHIME
membership. The Spring and Fall CIO Forums provide significant amounts of programming
tailored to meet both professional growth and networking needs of CIOs. The CIO Forums
have addressed such hot topics as healthcare reform's implications for CIOs, and the I.S.
requirements for managed care and community health information networks. CHIME members
have enjoyed a number of prominent speakers at the CIO Forums, including C. Everett Koop,
MD, former U.S. Surgeon General; Warren MacFarlan, Ph.D., of Harvard University,; and
James Clark, Ph.D., Chairman of Netscape.. Future CIO Forums will continue to address
critical challenges facing CIOs and provide the necessary networking opportunities for
CIOs to collectively problem solve.
Given that CHIME members strongly value the experiences of fellow CIOs, CHIME provides
its members with a number of vehicles to collaborate and share information with peers,
including:
- Member InfoXchange - Need some comparative data on staffing ratios or salary
information? Want to contact other CIOs who are using the same vendors you are? You
can
use the Member InfoXchange to immediately find other CIOs who have the same issues,
vendors, or interests as you.
- Member Discussion List - Using our Member Discussion List, you can get instant
answers to your questions. Whether you're asking about a system you are planning to
install,
wondering about a vendor you're evaluating, you can reach more than 700 of your peers
for
their feedback and input.
- IT Warehouse - You can save time and use our online bank of reference material
as your "one-stop shopping" resource for the information and research you need. The IT
Warehouse includes sample documents, job descriptions, research, and more.
- Member-to-Member Surveys—CHIME provides its members with the vehicle to
easily survey the entire membership on specific topics of interest using CHIME's fax
board or e-mail service.
- Distance Learning Center (DLC)—The DLC is your point of access to a wealth
of anytime, anywhere education specially tailored for busy CIOs. Here you'll find links to
both live and archived presentations on dozens of topics. Participate in webcast
presentations
hosted via our College Live online learning program. Access select PowerPoint
presentations
from CHIME's Spring and Fall CIO forums and multimedia-enhanced presentations
conducted by
CHIME members at past HIMSS Annual Conferences. Additional education ideas are
always being
sought for the DLC...you can even submit a topic suggestion or your own presentation
proposal.
A hallmark of CHIME's success has been a close collaborative relationship with the
H.I.S. vendor and consulting community. The CHIME Foundation was formed by the College
of Healthcare Information Management Executives Board
in 1994. Incorporated as a separate non-profit organization, the Foundation was structured
to support CHIME's programs and activities. In 1994, fifteen firms stepped forward to
become the Foundation's first group of member firms. The Foundation Board of Directors,
chaired annually by CHIME's past chair, established a set of educational activities and
surveys designed to promote collaboration between the Foundation and CHIME members. These
activities have proven to be entirely successful—the Foundation and CHIME members
have discovered mutual benefit in such activities as focus group discussions conducted by
Foundation members. In 2006, the Foundation membership rose to
54 member firms.
|
