Job Title: CHIEF MEDICAL INFORMATION OFFICER

Reports to: CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Job Summary

Responsible for supporting the development of clinical information systems that assist clinicians in the delivery of patient care in the conduct of research. Participates as a member of the IT Services Steering Committee in representing the needs and requirements of the physician community and serves as an advocate of management in promoting the use of information technology in the clinical setting. Works in partnership with Information Technology Services (ITS) Design and Implementation Teams to translate clinician requirements into specifications for new clinical and research systems.

Job Responsibilities

1. Chairs clinical advisory groups to provide broad-based input into the design of the clinical information system.
2. Leads and facilitates clinician advisory groups in the design of clinical systems to support excellence in patient care and research. Engages patient care providers with varying roles including physicians, nursing practitioners, nursing staff, ancillary department personnel, and medical records professionals to contribute to the development and use of the clinical information system. Develops empathy and understanding of physician needs and builds relationships with physicians to gain support of IT initiatives. Is highly responsive to users needs, including training, to assure wide spread acceptance and provider use of the clinical systems.
3. Reviews medical informatics trends, experiences and approaches, develops technical and application implementation strategies and assists in the development of strategic plans for clinical information systems.
4. Works in concert with Information Technology Services (ITS) to design and implement systems supporting patient care and research activities.
5. Leads design of clinical pathway models with physician, nursing and administrative leadership, and will assist in modification of these models to gain maximum efficacy and support for patient care and research protocols.
6. Leads development of clinical "rules" supporting patient care and protocol research as well as the design of clinical system features supporting protocol management and the use of the system to leverage the clinicians' time and maximize communication with affiliates and referring physicians.
7. Serves as member of ITS Steering Committee, Security Council, and Central Protocol Data Management (CPDM) Board.
8. Leads development and deployment of solutions that cluster information in disease and episodic categories for benchmarking, clinical severity, and variance analysis. Designs and evaluates collection of data for clinical purposes, including tracking and interpretation of outcomes.
9. Participates in clinical activities:

• Provides patient care in appropriate clinical setting.
• Reviews patient assessments and management plans.
• Participates in applicable clinical research.
• Has active medical practice in area of specialty.

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE

The Chief Medical Information Officer will be a licensed physician with recent medical practice required. Experience with medical informatics is highly desirable.

SPECIAL SKILLS

1. Possesses excellent interpersonal skills and can work effectively with a diversity of personalities Must be approachable, show respect for others and be able to present data with effective communication and presentation skills. Must be an effective consensus builder.
2. Possesses good grasp clinical work flow in both inpatient and outpatient settings, interest in clinical information systems and outcomes measurement.
3. Must have the ability to develop flexible, transferable models for pathways of care.
4. Is a strong leader with a mature sense of priorities and solid practical experience who can design and implement systems within the framework of technical boundaries.
5. Is politically savvy, has a high tolerance for ambiguity and can work successfully in a matrix management model.
6. Is a systems thinker with strong organizational skills who can pull all the pieces together and deliver on time and within budget.
7. Is a strong manager who is adaptable and has strong collaborative management style, a creative thinker with high energy and enthusiasm, and a team player who promotes the concepts of people working together versus individual performance.
8. Is a contemporary clinician who understands major trends in healthcare and managed care, and is familiar with point of care products and medical informatics trends and tools.

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© 1999 The Informatics Review

dfs 29 Oct. 1999