· What are the three most important responsibilities of your position?
· What are your day-to-day responsibilities?
· What challenges do you face in meeting your responsibilities?
· What do you feel are essential skills and qualities that a CIO must possess?
· What preparation and degrees does an individual need to be successful in your position?
· How did you decide to focus on a career in IT?
· How long have you been in your position and have the priorities of the position changed over time?
· What area interests you most: application, data or infrastructure ?
· What are the most important projects that you and your team are planning or working on now?
· How do you keep your staff current when technology is constantly changing?
· How do you motivate your staff in meeting the IT priorities?
Technology/Decision making/Implementation
- How does the strategic plan for IT fit into the organization’s overall strategic plan? Was IT involved in developing the organization’s strategic plan?
- What are your top three priority projects?
- How do you measure the value of IT performance in the system?
- What are your biggest challenges in moving toward a completely electronic record?
- How close is the organization to becoming a fully electronic clinical environment?
- What are your plans for future enhancements of current systems or implementation of new systems?
- What are the top three obstacles/hurdles in implementing a new technology in your institution?
- What approach do you take when implementing a new technology? Do you implement system-wide or in pilot areas?
- What unexpected issues have you encountered when implementing a new system?
- They say hindsight is 20/20.... is there anything you would have executed differently or not at all?
- How do you maintain an EHR over time? What needs to be accomplished during a “down time”?
Financial
- What percentage of the organization’s budget is dedicated for IT, what does it include (equipment, training), and is it sufficient?
- What percentage of your current IT spending is for maintenance versus growth and transformation activities?
- How do you go about making cost decisions related to technology?
- How large is your staff? How are they trained?
- Has the current economy had an effect on your department?
- Is your organization participating in Meaningful Use and why or why not? (Hospitals and ambulatory practices only)
- Will your organization be able to meet the Meaningful Use 2015 requirements?
Safety/Security
- What measures are taken to keep patient information safe, secure and intact? Who is responsible for this task?
- Have you seen an increase in requests for electronic evidence in recent years?
- How is disaster planning accomplished?
- What are the biggest security threats and HIPAA breaches you face and how do you handle them?
- How do you deactivate an employee’s access?
- How do you track unauthorized users?
- How do you dispose of outdated equipment?
Patient Focus
- Do your patients have electronic access to their medical records?
- From your perspective, what impact does an electronic health record have on patient care?
- Will technology be used for patient education?
- Will social media be used to reach out to patients? What is the appropriate use of social media in relation to healthcare?
Clinician Involvement in IT
- What is the role of the nursing administrator and frontline nurses in creating and implementing new technologies?
- How do you include clinicians, i.e. nurses, physicians and others, when making decisions about changes or upgrades to your current system?
- What expanded opportunities do you personally see for nursing in technology?
- How do you maintain contact and communication with clinical department heads?