Friday, July 15, 2011

Straight outta Ojai: CMIOs Part of Planet Alignment

In a great review by Mark Hagland: "CMIOs at the Hot Center: Planets Seen Aligning at AMDIS" he highlights the he annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium, held in Ojai (Pronounced oh high) Valley Inn and Spa in Ojai, Calif. that I also had the pleasure of attending. A busy 2 1/2 days of learning, meeting, talking, eating and fantastic surroundings for running with the added benefit of running into old colleagues and friends).

Although Farzad Mostashari, M.D could nto be there in person he did manage to take the time to join the group by telephone and provide his insight on the latest developments included the much tweeted comment "

"ICD10 is a firm data don't expect a delay"

and for those of you watching this trend this comment will give pause for thought

ICD-10 is reported to be less of an IT issue and more of a physician documentation issue.

Which will make many clinicians shudder at the thoughts of increased regulatory and coding mandates to comply with in what is already a time challenged and complex environment...they will be looking for technical help and that will be driven in large part by the cohort of current and emerging CMIOs. 
As Mark puts it

CMIOs, as well as other physician and clinician informaticists, are in a more central position than ever before in terms of our need for them to help lead clinical transformation of healthcare. Indeed, it’s unimaginable how we as a society might achieve the “new healthcare”—one with improved patient safety, care quality, patient and family satisfaction, clinician effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, accountability, and transparency—without CMIOs and their fellow physician and clinician informaticists. In short, the levels of responsibility set to land in CMIOs' laps are potentially staggering.

There is increasing focus in the US and interestingly now on the other side of the pond where EHI has launched an CCIO (Chief Clinical Information Officer) Campaign that recently received executive support from Lord Howe from the British government. 

As Mark puts it CMIOs are at the center of an exciting time and will be an essential part of the equation to bringing the healthcare system, clicking and screaming, into the 21st Century. I'm proud to be part of this group and look forward to an exciting and fun ride

Posted via email from drnic's posterous