Inside CHIME: Board Chair Liz Johnson Reflects on Gains Made in 2017

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12.21.17
By Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC, Chief Information Officer, Acute Hospitals and Applied Clinical Informatics, Tenet Healthcare

The year is coming to a close, and with it the end of my tenure as your CHIME Board chair. It has been an honor, a privilege and an absolute blast to be your advocate and help shape programs that meet your needs now and in the future. Throughout the year, we stayed true to our roots as a membership organization that focuses on education and professional development. And when roots are strong, you grow.

By growth, I don’t mean simply getting bigger. We grew to our present membership of more than 2,500 CIOs in 51 countries because we continue to offer high quality programs that help make us better healthcare IT leaders. Policy makers in Washington, D.C., now recognize us as the experts in healthcare IT and value our professional opinions. Many healthcare C-suite executives have taken notice and see us as partners in efforts to improve the delivery of patient care.

Here are some specifics:

  • We offered more opportunities to enhance membership by providing virtual participation as well as in-person events. For instance, this year at the CHIME17 Fall CIO Forum we live streamed our new session, Leadership from the Edge. You can access the presentations here.
  • We increased our international involvement by providing educational programs in the U.K., Ireland, India and Australia. This gives us the chance to share and learn from colleagues around the globe. We also expanded nationally, for instance, by providing a track on digital leadership at the Georgia HIMSS conference in October.
  • We addressed gender issues through Women of CHIME, which raised awareness among our members and provided opportunities for our women CIOs to network and support each other.
  • We acquired Most Wired from the American Hospital Association in July with the goal to update, streamline and refresh this already valuable resource to make it even more relevant and useful for you.
  • Our spring and fall forums were great successes, with dynamic speakers, diverse programming and a combined attendance of more than 1,550 CHIME members and Foundation firm members. Our two boot camps were filled to capacity, with 141 members participating this year.
  • The CHIME Education Foundation awarded the most scholarships ever this year – 89 for a total of $262,440 – a lifeline for colleagues facing budget constraints who want to travel and attend boot camps and forums.
  • The three associations under CHIME are gaining momentum, with educational and networking resources for executives in health IT, security and applications. These groups are helping us build strong teams and develop leaders who potentially could become CIOs themselves.
  • Our public policy group continues to make strides in Washington, and our representation is growing. Our senior group of policy experts did a magnificent job ensuring that the CIO’s voice is heard in D.C. and educating policy makers about the impact of their health IT decisions before rules are finalized. With the guidance of our CIOs, we are able to state our position on issues that concern us at both at the agency and congressional level. Read the article by Leslie Krigstein and Mari Savickis in this issue of Inside CHIME for more details about the progress we made this year.
  • Thanks to your generosity, we raised and donated $32,400 to Direct Relief to assist hurricane victims.
  • We are working to put together an opioid task force. Our members will be a huge asset as we and others look for ways to end this national epidemic.
  • On the Foundation side, the 2017 CHIME Partner Education Summit gave Foundation firm representatives a chance to deepen their knowledge and better understand what CIOs and our organizations need and want.   

Most important is that each of you individually have had the ability through CHIME to grow professionally and personally. It is because of you that we achieved so much success this year, and it is you who motivates the board and CHIME to provide meaningful resources, networking and support. I have enjoyed every day as your CHIME Board chair. Thank you for this opportunity.

 

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