When I became Pennsylvania Hospital's information officer nearly two years ago, I wanted to hit the ground running to shorten the typical new manager's lengthy learning curve.
As I was getting adjusted, I wanted to be able to point to some early accomplishments: for example, creating positive experiences for VIP information system users and executives through process improvements, as well as enhancing communication and turnaround time for requests and issues. But a little homework was necessary first.
While it may sound paradoxical, the most important recommendation I can give to a new CIO aiming to make an early splash is to be a good listener.
Building a framework of trust and dependability by seeking out people's opinions from the outset sets the right tone for future dealings. Therefore I met with members of the hospital's leadership team, as well as heads of medical departments, during my first few months on the job and asked them what they needed from me to help them do their jobs better.
There were three basic themes: They wanted quicker turnaround time for system change requests and hardware deployment; more time for project validation, rather than meeting project time-lines "just-in-time"; and maximized system reliability through process improvement initiatives. My goal was to create a sense of confidence at the outset that I could be counted on to address their IT needs and not impose my own priorities and agenda on them.
Early credibility is crucial, particularly for a woman in a male-dominated field such as IT, where data show that only nine percent of chief information officers are female.
EARLY WINS
Following my round of meetings with hospital managers, I developed a list of potential early wins that my team and I would tackle immediately. Some were identified by the leadership team in our sessions. Others were suggested by my staff. And I identified opportunities myself based on a long career in health care IT.
Early wins are small-in-scope projects or tasks that, while not necessarily groundbreaking, are relatively easy to accomplish in a relatively short period of time. They are important for a number of reasons.
First, things get done! Second, they build momentum and establish a climate of accomplishment that focuses positive attention on your department and you as a new CIO. Third, they create--or reinforce--patterns of behavior you may wish to inculcate among your staff.
After you generate a few early wins, don't forget to publicize your successes! For example, at Pennsylvania Hospital we developed a plan to upgrade the radiology picture archiving and communication systems (PACS). After meeting with our orthopedic chair, I learned that there was a newer version that gave users the ability to retrieve all images, previous and current, from a single archive.
This was an improvement over previous versions, which only allowed the user to rapidly review recent images and required a more time consuming request and retrieval process for the system to locate an older study from the archive. We identified this as an early win opportunity because it took only 10 months to purchase and implement the new version.
Another early win was our decision to centralize IT equipment procurement and deployment. Previously, purchases were made by department managers. But the managers often had a difficult time fast-tracking purchases because they weren't familiar with various vendors and their individual procedures. Opportunities for economies of scale were also lost.
To streamline purchasing and cut costs, I made the decision to consolidate all IT purchases within my department. This, too, was an early win opportunity because we could affect the change within two months and reduce or eliminate the inefficiencies and customer satisfaction problems that arose out of the previous approach.
Editor's note: Linda Sinisi is CIO of Pennsylvania Hospital, a 519-bed acute care facility in Philadelphia, which is part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. A major teaching and clinical research institution today, when it was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1751, Pennsylvania Hospital became the nation's first hospital.