John Halamka, CIO of the Year

I found the talk that John D. Halamka gave on April 8th to be very interesting and informative. The talk focused around the life of a CIO and Dr. Halamka addressed the duties and demands of the job. He stated that the one constant of the profession is change. There is always change in the technological, organizational, and budgetary fields and turnover is very high as well. Additionally during his talk Dr. Halamka made the point that demand is always going to exceed to supply and in order to be effective in the business you need to learn how to deal with this pressure and stress.

Dr. Halamka then began to talk about his personal experience and explained that when he became the CIO he decided to transform the organization to be very web-centric. However he said despite these changes there are some things that have stayed the same during his time in the profession. He claimed that over the ten years vendors have always been of poor quality, budgets are always tight, and customers are always difficult to please. Additionally he explained that one of the hardest parts about the profession is the environment and the fact that capital is always limited at all levels and for all projects. Therefore this causes project priorities to be based on return on investment and causes them to be benchmark driven. Due to this environment Dr. Halamka claimed that governance is crucial to help CIO’s manage demands and handle priorities.

Dr. Halamka also discussed the fact that since there is limited capital after the governance certain projects and people have to be turned down. Dr. Halamka reviewed with us a good and effective way of having to do this. He claimed that in order to say no you need to select what you need to change and what you do not need to change. Then you have to identify the people who will lose in this decision and acknowledge their loss. Also he said that it is very important to over communicate. If everyone understands what is going on and has all the information people usually react better to negative news. Furthermore it is extremely important to be honest and consistent with all the parties involved. He also claimed that it is important to realize that consensus is not essential, that you must embrace conflict and focus on your detractors. Dr. Halamka also stressed the point that for any professional the last two minutes of the meeting are the most important. It is during this time that you can review everything that was discussed and the decisions that were made and ensure that everyone who is present at the meeting is on the same page. Finally his last piece of advice, and probably one of the most important, was that you cannot please everyone. You need to effectively do your job to the best of your ability and understand that not everyone is going to appreciate your hard work but you need to keep trying regardless. Overall I found the presentation to be extremely interesting. The talk was not exactly what I had been expecting however it presented me with a great deal of new information. The advice that was given was very helpful, the stories that were shared were both informative and interesting and the entire presentation gave a good insight into professional demands within the industry.

Dr. Halamka ... CIO of 2010

Last Week Dr. Halamka gave a talk to a group of students focused on the importance of information technology in the Healthcare sector of the economy. One of Dr. Halamka's major points was how this area is always growing with jobs. The recent healthcare bill and the economic stimulus package are set to double this industry in the next few years. Dr. Halamka seemed to be a very intelligent man, but was able to keep my attention for the entire presentation, which is rare. He holds more college degrees than I can count and has a doctoral degree along with being a medical doctor. He began his career in healthcare as an emergency medical physician. After learning more about technology and computers, he quickly transitioned to the upper management of the hospital. Dr. Halamka had been fascinated with technology as a kid, when he build a computer out of small microprocessors, and wrote basic programs that were the first steps of programs like Turbo Tax. Dr. Halamka is also on the leading edge of all emerging trends. He had a small RFID chip implanted in his arm during a trial on digital medical records. He also is on the cutting edge when it comes to practical business attire; his suit was made of Kevlar which makes it stain, wrinkle, and odor resistant.
Dr. Halamka is a very interesting man, who is well deserving of the CIO of the year award.

Johnny Halamka

Wow, this guy was very interesting. He was obviously very smart from a young age, from figuring out microprocessors to inventing an early form of turbo tax. He was just a smart guy in general. He is someone who wears many hats across the Northeast in the medical field. One thing I commend him for is being able to keep the audience interest.

Obviously a lot of what he talked about concerned the health care industry and how his job works. One thing I took away was that it was a lot more complicated than it looks or seems. It seems like he plays a lot of damage control whenever a key decision is made because, as he reiterated throughout his talk, you can't please everyone. Plus, he talked about many important breakthroughs that are coming in the healthcare IT industry. Which to invest in? It's a tough decision, and capital and man power is always limited. It seemed like he was always in a bind in deciding who to please at which time. From everything from e-prescribing to iPad use in the hospital. The iPad could be used for many things, from pulling up patient medical records to mining hospital databases. Another breakthrough could be in converting all paper medical records to electronic, internet accessible records. If there could be a way to make a universal database of medical records, all lag time with referrals and delivery times could be cut down significantly.

Also, it amazed me that he's still a doctor. He obviously had a lot of schooling, but he was also naturally smart, and had an inclination to learn from an early age. I think that his talk reinforces John McFadden's point of lifetime learning.

He made another point about addressing the most important, urgent issues first. There are always going to be issues to deal with, problems to address. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned. A lot of a top ranking person's duties are damage control; how to control the situation, then how to relieve the situation.

Another thing he showed us was the "top 10 ways to say no". The reason for knowing this is to be able to combat others when they don't get their way. This is very important in high ranking positions when decisions need to be made that say "yes" to the majority, and "no" to the minority. Then sometimes there is a backlash from the minority.

A huge point was the constant of change. In his industry, they are always behind the ball because the tech industry is changing so fast. In addition, new ways of using the technology in the healthcare industry come through everyday. John McFadden also noted the upcoming job of bioinfomatician. I'm sure that John Halamka would agree with McFadden's assessment.

All in all it was a very interesting talk and Halamka is definitely a smart guy, deserving the award of CIO of the year.

CIO of the Year, John Halamka

Dr. John D. Halamka brought up some very unexpected points during his talk for the CIO of the Year presentation. As he stated, he was negative about the job, but also very realistic. I was shocked to learn that the turnover rate for the Chief Information Officer is an average of two years, due to the complexity and stress of the position. The job requires a complex skill set and high tolerance. This tolerance comes in handy because of the two main points of the job that Dr. Halamka addressed.

The first is that demands always exceed supply. This means that there will always be things that you cannot do for people that they hold as high priorities. It is for this reason that he holds the ability to say “no” as a very important skill. He even spent time during the presentation to teach the attendees how to say “no” properly. I thought that these points were very important. Among them were identify those who will lose in the situation, over-communicate the decision to the entire network or organization, acknowledge the loss to everyone, realize that consensus is not essential, be honest and consistent, and realize that you cannot please everyone. This particular part of the job would be the most difficult to me, as I sometimes have a hard time saying no if I can sympathize with the person asking the question.

The second point of the job that Dr. Halamka addressed was the fact that the only constant in the job was change. The company is expecting the CIO to know about all knew technologies and services, and be able to implement them immediately so that they work correctly. He talked a lot about how, even though it is impossible, down time in systems (especially systems used in health care such as those he runs) is unacceptable. This is part of what makes the job so stressful. The position is fast-paced, busy, and challenging.

As a person, Dr. Halamka was very interesting. He explained that he began his interest in technology very young, and is now in charge of many different medical facilities, including Harvard Medical School and the Care Group hospital system. This means that he is in charge of the technology for 40,000 people. He came upon this position after two Boston-area hospitals merged and needed a CIO to peacefully integrate their medical data. In addition, he wears a Kevlar suit, apparently for the fun of it, and has implanted himself with an RFID chip. Dr. Halamka was an engaging speaker who was very honest about his job and an interesting presenter.

Halamaka, Sophisticated Clients, and E-Prescription

Dr. John Halamaka brought up many interesting topics during his lecture. One thing that I found to be related to our IS class was the fact the he emphasized that “the one constant is change.” Sound familiar? I thought so. Just as John McFadden told us that we need to be lifetime learners, Halamaka explained that the world is constantly changing. He specifically focused on technological, organizational and budgetary changes in the world today. He was able to paint a picture of what it was like to try to be constantly improving as well as maintaining a company’s system in this changing environment. He said that this task is similar to trying to fix the wings of an airplane while the plane is flying. Difficult? I think so. Halamaka also emphasized the change in clients. Clients are becoming more sophisticated and demanding as the years go by. They have become increasingly more difficult to please. However, while the customers are more difficult to please and demand higher quality service and products, Halamaka explained that vendors are decreasing in quality. Hence, it is necessary to meet the expectations of the clients while using what is available. One thing that has contributed to the sophistication and difficulty to please of the customers is the fact that everyone is connected through the Internet. Customers today can buy the same product from numerous locations. Whichever company has the best quality will win out and will receive the business. Specifically, Halamaka talked about how clients now expect to be able to access all their medical needs and information online. As we have discussed, today people are completely technologically centered. Why go to a doctor’s office if you can just click a button and all your medical needs are processed for you? Why trek to a hospital of you can just pre-order a refill of your prescription and pick it up at the local pharmacy store? The Internet has allowed for many to maintain their fast-paced lives. And how are people able to refill their prescriptions with a click of a button? Well, advanced IT has led to the development of e-prescription. E-prescription is the electronic-based way of prescription. E-prescription allows for there to be less human error when prescribing medication to patients. All of the patient’s records and prescriptions are stored in a database, which allows for easy access to a patient’s medical history. Also, e-prescription allows for pharmacies to refill prescriptions without the hassle of having to call the physicians all the time. E-prescription is a great way to satisfy the demand of the client because it is convenient and has become an automated process that effectively and efficiently gets the client his or her prescriptions and other medical needs.