IT vision is unchanged despite pandemic

For 19 years, Kristin Myers has led IT initiatives in numerous roles at Mount Sinai Well being Program in New York. Now, she will go on to travel IT transformation in her new part as Mount Sinai CIO.

In her earlier roles as director of IT and senior vice president for engineering, Myers led initiatives these types of as the Epic clinical and income cycle implementations and the changeover to ICD-10 coding, a procedure utilised by providers to classify and code diagnoses and methods.

Myers, who started her new part as Mount Sinai CIO earlier this thirty day period, claimed despite the problems brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, her vision for IT has not transformed, despite the fact that how she executes on that vision might. In this Q&A, Myers describes transitioning into her new part in the midst of a pandemic, as effectively as why culture is crucial.

What is it like taking on the part of Mount Sinai CIO in the middle of a pandemic?

Kristin Myers: It has not been straightforward to just take the new part all through this period, provided our ordinary operations were appreciably disrupted and the unexpected modify to main a distant workforce. The majority of IT, which include me, are still doing work remotely, but we were equipped to rapidly adapt to this new norm by leveraging diverse interaction platforms to continue to keep integrated and coordinated. In spite of these problems, the IT division was equipped to continue to keep centered and deliver the essential assistance for our people and wellness procedure. Remaining familiar with the IT division and obtaining tremendous assistance from IT leadership and teams definitely eased my changeover to CIO.

What do you see as the biggest chance for you in the realm of wellness IT relocating ahead?

Myers: Electronic transformation has generally been a strategic precedence, but COVID-19 has greater the urgency and chance to move towards a electronic enterprise. We will go on to establish and integrate electronic abilities across the firm and will also target our investments to improve client experience to make more powerful and for a longer time-expression relationships with our people and their people.

What about the biggest challenge?

Myers: As with a lot of other wellness programs, we will go on to facial area charge pressures and will have to have to reprioritize our investments to target on the most strategic initiatives.

Are your ambitions diverse than what they might’ve been had there not been a pandemic?

Myers: I have generally had a clear vision and strategy for IT, and it has not transformed a great deal due to COVID-19. Although the priorities and ambitions have remained the exact same, the timing and strategy of execution of particular initiatives have transformed due to COVID-19, a distant workforce and other factors.

What lesson have you uncovered from main earlier IT initiatives that you can implement to the Mount Sinai CIO part?

Myers: 1 of the essential lessons I have uncovered is that culture is the backbone of our firm and also the driving drive for our workers, our most significant asset within just the wellness procedure. I want to go on building a resilient, agile and clear culture within just the IT firm wherever workers are equipped to believe in their leadership and every single other and also be equipped to foresee and adapt to the altering landscape and uncertain instances. By the COVID-19 scenario, IT was equipped to arise more powerful and extra unified than ever.

Editor’s notice: Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.