In the CMIO magazine, an article entitled CMIO 2010 Compensation Survey: The Results Are In! was recently published. Much of the information is around compensation and the job role, but the interesting highlights are the priorities - IT and business - which they have on their agenda.

The priorities outlined are:

IT Priorities:

1. Reducing Medical Errors
2. Delivering Clinical Knowledge to Physicians
3. Implementing/Upgrading Clinical Information Systems
4. Delivering Clinical Knowledge to Physicians
5. Implementing an EMR
6. Improving Departmental Workflow   
7. Disaster Recovery
8. Enterprisewide Clinical Information Sharing
9. Integrating Systems in a Multi-Vendor Environment
10. Implementing CPOE

Business Priorities:

1. Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)
2. Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
3. Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
4. Clinical Information Systems
5. Health Information Exchange
6. Billing/Coding
7. Data Security
8. Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery
9. Image Management/PACS
10. Clinical/Diagnostic Workstations

Insightful article on a CMIO's priorities, and it would seem that these would be aligned very well to a hospital CIO's priorities as well.

Dr. John Halamka, who is the CIO at Beth Israel Deaconess MC and Harvard Medical School, provides an excellent summary of the just-released Interim Final Rule (IFR).

He includes discussion of the integration standards required to ultimately provide "meaningful use" -- how healthcare providers will integrate with each other in the coming years.

All the usual suspects are there -- HL7 V2.X, LOINC, NCPDP, CDA, and CCD. Interesting parts of the analysis:

• I was surprised with the continued willingness to let CCR be a formal option in addition to CCD.
• The impact on labs with the "obvious winds" blowing towards pure LOINC and UCUM mean much better interoperability in the long term and tons of pain in the next decade.
• Transport options wisely allows either use of socket-layer encryption or VPN-layer protection. This provides a solid "big tent" to allow existing in-place technology to help move data.
• The various vocabulary changes are going to cost billions.
  

Corepoint Health is exhibiting at RSNA again this year. We enjoy the opportunity to engage with our radiology customers and interact with radiology groups, imaging centers, and radiology departments on their integration requirements and initiatives.

Please visit us at South Hall A, Booth 5413. We are showcasing our interface engine, including our approach with DICOM. We welcome discussions on how to integrate your data flow, streamline your operations, and connect to your referring physician EMRs efficiently and productively.

In preparation for RSNA or just to learn more, there are several radiology resources available on our website. A few suggestions include:

• Your Radiology Practice: Build a Better Brand from the Inside Out – an article published on the Advance for Radiology magazine website.
• What is Your EMR Connectivity Strategy? (PDF) – a white paper highlighting a way to evaluate your EMR approach and accelerate delivering patient reports to your referring physicians.
• Foundation First – The New Radiology Rallying Point (PDF) – a white paper outlining a logical model for creating leverage in your radiology operations to create real value in the short and long term.
• Case Studies – insights from various radiology groups and imaging centers on how they delivered integrated radiology workflows and realized tangible value in their operations.
• The Changing Landscape of Radiology – a podcast, listen to Don Shackley, CIO, Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging as he highlights the changing landscape of radiology and the critical importance of improving efficiency and gaining independence from vendors.

There are many challenges facing radiology practices today, so these are important times to innovate and integrate to achieve competitive advantages.