Highlights from CHIME’s 2003 Fall CIO Forum
The Healthcare CIO Imperative: Get Strategic…or Else!

CHIME CIOs and CHIME Foundation Representatives from around the country gathered at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, AZ for CHIME’s annual Fall CIO Forum event. Held from October 21 – 24, this year’s Forum focused on “The Healthcare CIO Imperative: Get Strategic…Or Else!” The resort provided an ideal setting for the 380 attendees to enjoy top-notch educational and networking opportunities. Special thanks to planning chair Bill Spooner, his entire planning committee, the CHIME Foundation, and everyone involved for making this another fantastic CHIME member event. For those of you unable to attend, a summary of highlights follows:

Registration began on Tuesday afternoon and was followed by a welcoming reception on Tuesday evening. Members settled into the hotel and joined friends and colleagues for a Mexican-themed networking reception complete with south-of-the-border fare and a strolling Mariachi band.

On Wednesday morning, Chairman Jim Turnbull made a grand entrance into the general session on one of the Forum’s great raffle prizes – a Segway Human Transporter. Also providing words of welcome was CHIME President Rich Correll. Following the welcome and an overview of CHIME’s strategic initiatives, Jim presided over CHIME’s annual awards presentation. Awards presented and winners are as follows:

• The Innovator of the Year Award: Daniel Morreale, CIO at North Bronx Healthcare Network, Bronx, NY.
• The Collaboration Award: Pam Wirth, VP & CIO at Susquehanna Health System in Williamsport, PA and Siemens Medical Solutions USA. Accepting the award for Siemens was Siegfried Bocionek, Ph.D., COO of Siemens Health Services and Group Vice President of the Soarian Enterprise Suite.
• The John Glaser Scholarships: Sheila Bruce, Support Services Manager at The Trover Foundation in Madisonville, KY (CHIME member Terry Jackson’s staff member) and Lori Opsal, Director of Acute Care Systems at Allina Hospitals and Clinics (CHIME member Joanne Sunquist’s staff member).

Congratulations to all award winners! Look for more information about the awards and the award winners in this issue of The Connection.

Following the awards presentation, Dr. Clayton Christensen, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School gave a thought-provoking keynote address entitled “Disruptive Innovation as a Strategy Tool for Healthcare.” Dr. Christensen postulated that disruptive innovations are key business drivers as a source of new growth opportunities. He theorized that most technology is above the mainstream consumer, and that disruptive innovation occurs when companies create new technologies and products that cut into the low end of the marketplace – eventually displacing high-end competitors and their reigning technologies. He said that disruptive innovations enable a larger population of less-skilled, less-wealthy people to do things in a more convenient, lower-cost setting, which historically could only be done by specialists in less convenient settings. In order to be successful, Dr. Christensen said, leading institutions must stop ignoring and opposing disruptive innovations as they’ve done in the past.

Robert Pallari, President and Chief Executive Officer at Legacy Health System followed with a presentation entitled “Get Strategic…Or Else! A CEO’s Perspective on Healthcare’s IT Leadership Imperative.” He discussed the role of today’s healthcare CIOs in relation to the goals and concerns of CEOs, and the inherent struggle CIOs face when moving from technologist to strategist to executive leader.

Wednesday’s educational sessions wrapped up with an afternoon of focus groups held by CHIME Foundation firms. These small group sessions gave CHIME members and their vendor/consultant partners the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas with each other on current healthcare and technology issues.

Wednesday evening’s reception closed out the day and provided members with an opportunity to network with colleagues while enjoying some native Arizona entertainment. A Native American flute player serenaded attendees while a Pima sand artist painstakingly created the CHIME logo using colored sand. It was a relaxing way to wrap up a busy day while reconnecting with friends and colleagues.

Thursday morning opened with James Orlikoff, President of Orlikoff and Associates. In a presentation entitled “Creating and Sustaining a Successful CIO/Board Relationship,” Mr. Orlikoff discussed strategies for building successful relationships with hospital boards. He reviewed the history of the original board/hospital/physician relationship, pointing out that while many aspects of these relationships have changed over time, many boards continue to operate in an outdated, inefficient manner regardless of the ever-changing healthcare landscape. He offered insight into how CIOs can overcome board obstacles to change and more effectively bridge the potential gaps between board governance and effective IT strategy.

Following Mr. Orlikoff’s presentation, attendees had the opportunity to attend our all-new peer reviewed track sessions. There were four tracks to choose from: strategy, management, IT value, and clinical applications. Subjects included IT customer service, CPOE, system implementations, physician partnerships, CIO leadership, and EMRs.

Thursday afternoon provided ample time for the annual Fall CIO Forum Golf Tournament at the Kierland Golf Club. The midday desert sun was hot, but all reports indicate that the golfers had a fantastic time. If golf didn’t appeal, attendees had the option of participating in ‘An Afternoon At The Ranch.’ Registrants for the activity were bussed to a desert ranch where they had a barbecue lunch followed by activities including horseback riding, a cattle drive, gold panning, or skeet shooting.

Thursday night’s reception at the resort’s main pool followed the sporting theme of the day; attendees enjoyed a video golf game and sports star impersonators mingling with the crowd.

Friday opened with a special guest presentation by Nicholas Carr, author of the controversial Harvard Business Review article “IT Doesn’t Matter.” Mr. Carr has theorized that while IT is critical to business success and competition, it has become a commodity rather than a strategic tool. Part of Mr. Carr’s hypothesis is since access to technology is widely available to everyone, IT is no longer a viable method to gain competitive advantage. The session ended with a lively question and answer session regarding the application of these theories to the healthcare arena.

The final Forum speaker was Patrick Lencioni, Founder and President of The Table Group, Inc. and author of the bestseller “The Five Temptations of a CEO.” Mr. Lencioni discussed the potential downfalls that are common to all leaders that have the potential to threaten their ultimate success. These temptations include valuing status over results; popularity over accountability; certainty over clarity; harmony over conflict; and invulnerability over trust. Mr. Lencioni related real-life illustrations of each temptation and offered strategies for overcoming your own tendencies in these areas.

The 2003 Fall CIO Forum concluded with our annual raffle prize drawing. Congratulations to the lucky winners:
Tablet PCs: Paul Hansen, Julie Otten, and Andy Adams
Plasma TV – Philip Berman
Segway Human Transporter – Pam Muccilli

Very special thanks again to Bill Spooner and his planning committee as well as the CHIME Foundation member firms, without whom we could not have produced another first-class event. Thank you all for making this Forum one of the best ever!

TOP