Chief Information Officers of major IT departments at hospitals across the country are under a lot of pressure given the changes in healthcare. From billing, additional legal compliance, EHR requirements, and the Affordable Care Act, many hospital WiFi network CIO's are making goals in 2016 geared towards automation and integration through wireless technology to keep up with the increasing demand.
The following healthcare CIOs weigh in on their big initiatives for 2016 and without any surprise the use of technology, mobile devices in healthcare, and digitalization are unanimously stated.
Mount Sinai Health System (New York)
One of CIO Kumar Chatani's main objectives in 2016 is to ensure their IT systems can support their providers as they try to keep up with New York's changing regulations.
Outside of compliance Chatani wants to utilize analytics that integrate with EMR data to expedite processes and increase capabilities of their providers.
He foresees an increase in cloud technology use in healthcare, more sophisticated network security infrastructure, restructuring for cost reductions, and improving the patient experience with technology.
Trinitas Regional Medical Center (Elizabeth, N.J.)
In 2016 Trinitas also realizes the importance of increased security measures and the continued focus to leverage big-data analytics. CIO Judy Comitto's goal is to educate their consumers by utilizing the data that's being collected at the hospital.
Agnesian HealthCare (Fond du Lac, Wis.)
CIO Nancy Birschbach hopes to see telehealth initiatives grow in the United States as she sees the US being behind the rest of the world in the use of virtual technology in healthcare which will be transformative for medicine.
As a 102 person IT department they're currently working with analytics, telehealth tools, to drive better customer relationship management including home monitoring of some patients.
Meridian Health(Neptune, N.J.)
In 2016 they predict there will be, "More emphasis in mainstream health systems regarding population health and big data."
Cloud computing will also help with the integration among staff as well as for patients to access healthcare data from home (or anywhere else for that matter.)
Washington Regional Medical Center's (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Their technology goals include helipad and network infrastructure implementation as well as a large scale expansion of it's women's health center. With network expansion they want to incorporate better integration with EMR, billing, and automated patient care after discharge.
These are only a few CIOs for the thousands of hospitals across the country, yet technology sits at the forefront of goals among them. Wireless networks in healthcare are continuing to expand to increase patient satisfaction and maximize operational efficiency.
Whether your goal is to make a few changes or transform your current operations, it all starts with proper planning and an intelligent foundation to be successful.
