What's next for outdated CIO and CMIO partnerships?

The CIO traditionally runs technology operations while the chief medical information officer works to get physicians and staff on board with new technology--but those roles have become outdated. Especially now that most healthcare organizations have EHRs in place, IT and clinical leaders must turn their focus to value-based care.

Now, CIOs must be involved in clinical operations, with the CMIO serving as “a guide in that area” and more involved in engaging physicians in other technologies, such as registries and population health solutions, according to an article at HealthData Management.

In the new world of value-based reimbursement, “healthcare IT shops are really healthcare first and IT second,” University of California San Diego Health CIO Christopher Longhurst tells HealthData Management

Going forward, he says, IT systems will be seen as “a mechanism for influencing care patterns, enabling clinical resource management and improving patient care outcomes through higher-value healthcare with lower costs."

The article also gives examples of how the two can work together on initiatives such as more effective use of data projects such as patient-level dashboards and report cards.