This week in health IT news, Tom Andriola, vice president and CIO for the University of California System and UC Health, told healthcare CIOs that IT is increasingly influencing their ability to effectively lead an organization in his recent “Managing the Changing Role of the Chief Information Officer: Clinical Transformation, Governance, Workforce Development,” keynote. We also learn about Mercy Technology Services’ new healthcare cloud and the push-pull of data security and user experience. Continue reading for more.

At Health IT Summit, UC Health’s Andriola Urges CIOs Forward on Leadership

In a recent keynote about challenges facing healthcare CIOs, Tom Andriola, vice president and CIO for the University of California System and UC Health, said there has never been a better time to be in the business of technology, “because IT is having more and more influence on the way we work. And, as IT leaders, we have to start thinking more broadly, because there are more and more questions we have a role to play in.” He emphasized that a key element in CIO success is being in the “right conversations at the right times, and to be ready to ask the right types of questions, to help our organizations engage in asking the questions about where we go next” in healthcare. Read the story here.

Mercy Technology Services Introduces New Healthcare Cloud

Mercy Technology Services (MTS) has launched a new healthcare cloud designed to meet the unique needs of a highly regulated hospital and healthcare market. Healthcare has shied away from the public cloud, despite the promise of efficiency, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. For healthcare providers, compliance gaps and security concerns, along with strict HIPAA patient privacy regulations have kept them away from the cloud. However, these same requirements are fueling the need for healthcare-designed cloud hosting environments. Mercy’s healthcare cloud is supported by MTS’s HIPAA, SSAE 16 and SOC2-compliant data centers and is part of the VMware Cloud Provider Program. Read the story here.

Creating Strong Healthcare Data Security, Positive User Experience

Balancing the end-user experience with the push towards stronger healthcare data security measures is ongoing. Healthcare data is extremely valuable, but protecting it shouldn’t degrade the user – and, as a result, the patient – experience. For example, a doctor directly interfacing with patients can’t be spending several minutes trying to log in to access charts. This must be done quickly, so that patient-doctor interaction can start immediately. The push-pull of security vs. experience leads to a situation in which, too often, one structure may supersede the other. To walk the fine line between security and user experience, healthcare organizations must consider working with mobile users, enabling healthcare workers who directly interface with patients, controlling contractors or temporary staff and managing data. Read the story here.

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