It seems there has been a major policy shift at Queensland Health. It now seems it is mandatory to have a clinician as the CIO to assist with the implementation of clinical systems.
Qld Health takes a turn for worse
Abstracted from The Australian Financial Review
Richard Ashby is the new acting CIO at the IT and telco division of Queensland Health. The appointment follows the sudden departure of Paul Summergreene, who had only stepped into the CIO role less than 12 months earlier. Under a restructuring, it is apparently a requirement for the office holder to also have a clinical background.
More here:
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Qld-communications-take-turn-for-worse-GRTSE?OpenDocument
The full details are here:
and here:
This is not a bad idea, just as long as the individual appointed has both a strong clinical background, a strong understanding of how technology can be used to improve the health system, and the managerial skills to have the health sector come with him on the necessary journey of implementation and change. I hope Dr Ashby has all three!
Being a CIO for a State Health System is a real challenge! Sadly the incumbents often do not last long enough to get the job done.
David.
Well you can certainly speak from your personal experiences in NSW on that one. VIC could be a bit of an exception although for Fiona Wilson's perspective the question must be "How long will it take before she gets the job done to the point she can leave and not have everything fall apart?"
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't want to go until she's proven that her original premise was right ie. until she has all agencies using Cerner's clinicals which she first implemented at the Alfred when she was its CIO. None of us are holding our breath.
ReplyDeleteMy hospital has said it is happy to participate as the last cab off the rank with that one.
ReplyDeleteYour hospital is not the only one but the problem is there is only one slot at the end of the queue.
ReplyDeleteSome of us are asking why the Alfred's Cerner Clinicals isn't getting moved over to the new State Centre to prove to the rest of us that the system we have to embrace works the way they say it will.
ReplyDeleteWe can trust a clinician to be CIO about the same time that we can trust an information technology guru to do clinics. If all that is needed needed is a comprehensive knowledge management system - which job would fit best?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately we in Queensland get what we deserve...
There are a basket of problems at Queensland Health that will require a CIO with a set of skills that are as rare as hen’s teeth these days. Sure it would be nice to have a clinical background but you do not have to be a clinician to appreciate what clinicians do and try to achieve. Being one of the many people who have tried to give a senior role in the information division a fair and honest go, I can say that it will take more a just a good CIO with a clinical background to sort out the long list of complex issues that urgently need to be addressed there. It is sad to see the bad karma continue with the messy exit of Paul Summergreene.
ReplyDeleteWe will all suffer if we don’t understand and support the introduction of efficient, cost effective and high quality information systems at Qld Health.
I am hoping that there are a few talented, capable and dedicated CIO’s out there submitting their resumes.