Author Archives: Sue Schade

Culture change, slow and steady

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You start in a new leadership position and you want to make changes.  Should be easy, right? After all, you’re the boss. You call the shots.Culture change

Not so.

You inherit a history and a culture, ways of working and thinking and behaving. You inherit a leadership team and a staff. You inherit a department that works within a broader organization and its culture. Still, you are the leader; you can make some changes, but it will take more time.

When I started at UMHS, there had been a 6 month gap with an internal interim CIO. She had kept things going but was happy to handoff to me. Continue reading →

Networking, learning and giving back

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I’m heading to the CHIME Fall Forum for a few days. Many of my health care CIO colleagues will be there. I look forward to the chance to network and learn from them in track sessions, and hear from keynote speakers. I’m even being pressed into service on a panel called “Leadership Stories Worth Telling” as there was a last minute cancellation.

I have been active in professional organizations for many years. Anyone who doesn’t take the opportunity to get involved in such organizations is limiting their own professional development and, in turn, limiting what they can offer to their employer.

I remember many years ago when I attended my first professional conference. Continue reading →

Operation Baby Blanket

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Operation Baby Blanket? What’s that? Is that the code name for a new software implementation?

This CIO is the grandma of Hannah, an adorable two year old; two more grandbabies are on the way.  While I’ve done various crafts in my adult life, I don’t do it enough to call it a hobby. And my crochet experience is limited. I did make a baby blanket for one of my daughters 30 years ago.

So I surprised my family two years ago when I told them that I would make a baby blanket for Hannah, and I actually did it. Now, a second grandchild is due in December. Could I make a baby blanket for her in time? Would I be able to squeeze enough time out of my evening email work session to get one done?

I needed to design and create a baby blanket in time for the baby shower.

I am happy to announce that I presented a finished crocheted baby blanket to my daughter, Katie, at the shower last weekend.

How did I meet this goal? Basic Project Management! Continue reading →

Ebola and the role of an EHR

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“EHR Flaw at Core of US Ebola Case”.  No CIO could ignore this October 3rd headline. As a CIO, one of our nightmares is that a problem in the systems we implement could cause a major medical error. One of our core missions in health care information technology is to prevent medical errors.

The statement blaming “EHR flaw” was retracted within 24 hours as the facts became clear. But as hospitals prepare to safely care for patients with Ebola, the role of the Electronic Health Record becomes more clear.

The EHR is a critical tool for handling any kind of infectious disease.  It is the means by which the appropriate information is captured at patient intake and is clearly accessible and visible to all caregivers. Close coordination between clinicians, operations and IT are extraordinarily critical in designing and implementing clinical systems. Continue reading →

Plan for the future, manage for today

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How often have you heard an IT leader say they want a position that’s “more strategic” and “less operational?”

The reality is that there is always a balance of both, depending on the level you work at in your organization. Sometimes, it’s not the balance you’d like to see.

Me too.

As the CIO, my typical day is back to back meetings. Plus, I squeeze in email and phone calls on a range of additional issues. I read and answer email well into the evening after I get home.

In the past week, I’ve reviewed presentations and read articles on health care in the future and how technology enables innovation: reflective thinking and planning.  Continue reading →

Listen and learn — why I host staff breakfasts

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Last November, I started the practice of hosting monthly breakfasts for up to 20 of my department staff at a time. We skipped two months around the time of our major inpatient go live in June. That means I’ve spent time with at least 160 staff getting to know them, listening to their concerns and answering questions in a small, informal setting. There’s a small group of “frequent flyers” who have come to more than one so far. I tease them that it must be the food but I know it’s them wanting to have a voice which I’m happy to listen to.  “Make your voice heard” is a theme I’ve been encouraging all year.

At the most recent breakfast, there was a lull in the conversation.  I called upon one of my frequent flyers whom I have come to know is willing to tell it like it is.  Continue reading →

User group meetings — learning from others (part 2)

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Last week, I wrote about the value of site visits as a way to learn from others. Fresh off the annual Epic User Group Meeting (UGM), I’ll call it a site visit on steroids. There are over 10,000 attendees, 100’s of educational sessions presented by users, direct access to Epic staff, and plenty of networking time; you see what I mean?

This was the first year it made sense to invite my executive colleagues from UMHS to attend. Our core Electronic Health Record is now in place, our executives need to look to the future: what else is possible with the product we already have, what new functionality is planned for future upgrades, and what other Epic users are doing.

Three UMHS executives answered my call and they were glad they did: the Hospitals and Health Centers CEO, and the executive directors of the children and women’s hospital and the adult hospital.  We will debrief as a group soon about what they saw and heard, and to explore what functionality we should prioritize next. Continue reading →

Site visits — learning from others

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What do NHS Trusts (hospitals in the UK), the Department of Defense Military Health System (MHS) and Brigham and Women’s Health Care (BWHC) have in common? They all think they can learn from our experience implementing an integrated electronic health record (EHR) at UMHS. We hosted a group from the UK in early July and hosted military leaders from MHS this week. And we are planning to host a team from BWHC in late October. The UK and MHS are in the planning and vendor selection phase while BWHC is less than a year away from their big bang implementation of a new integrated EHR.

One of the great things about the health care industry is that we are always willing to learn from one another. Continue reading →

Leader as conductor

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Many leaders use a musical analogy to describe leadership: the leader is like a conductor. I wonder how many of them have actually been part of an orchestra or a choir member? I have been in HIT management for 30 years and I have sung in church choirs for over 20 years.

When I walk into our weekly choir rehearsal, I am just one of about 50 voices ready to take direction from our leader – an extraordinary young man, Glen Thomas Rideout, who just completed his PhD in Musical Arts in Conducting. Regardless of the job we hold or the day we had, we are there to take direction from him, to listen to one another and to make music. Continue reading →

Beyond the core Electronic Health Record

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Hospitals have been either implementing or replacing their core electronic health record (EHR) in recent years. The work has included the entire suite of applications that make up the revenue cycle, patient access, and advanced clinicals in both inpatient and outpatient settings. But as we look beyond the core EHR, there is much more potential for technology.

This week at UMHS, clinicians and staff did a two day “deep dive” into the next group of applications as we move forward with our EHR. Teams from transplant, anesthesiology, radiology, cardiology, and home care reviewed Epic’s capabilities so we can decide what will be included in our next phase of work – what we call MiChart Stage 4. These important assessments require an in-depth review of current capabilities, and an understanding of the product roadmap. Continue reading →