Saint Peter’s Healthcare System’s Vice President/Chief Information Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer Jordan Tannenbaum, MD, MBA, MPH, PgC Healthcare Informatics, recently became a CHIME Certified Healthcare Chief Information Officer (CHCIO).
Launched in 2008 by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), the CHCIO program is the only certification designed exclusively for leaders in health information technology. It represents one of the highest professional achievements in the industry. Currently, more than 500 healthcare CIOs in 23 countries have earned the designation.
“Health care is undergoing a massive transformation,” CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell, CHCIO, said in the statement. “We are shifting to a value-based environment, improving coordination across the continuum and striving to reduce costs. Health IT is critical to achieving these goals. The CHCIO designation is a recognition that a CIO has the skills necessary to be a strategic leader in the organization.”
To achieve CHCIO status, candidates must have at least three years of experience in the position, participate in programs and events that continue their education as an IT leader and pass a rigorous examination. These qualifications ensure that the CIO is truly dedicated to ongoing education, an important characteristic in an industry where patients pay the price for becoming stagnant.
“The role of the healthcare CIO has moved toward being a strategic partner in healthcare delivery, focusing on patient engagement, telemedicine, data analysis, artificial intelligence and advanced communication technologies among many other initiatives,” Tannenbaum said in the statement. “The CIO is the conduit between understanding the complexity of technology and its application to the various clinical and business use cases in health care, always keeping costs, usability, maintenance and infrastructure as part of the equation. The CHCIO certification helps to ensure healthcare CIOs understand leadership, change management, IT functions, and other critical skills necessary to enable these varied critical job functions. I feel fortunate that Saint Peter’s encourages the CIO role and the IT department to grow and innovate as we partner in our mission of providing the highest quality, accessible health care to all.”