The Role of the CMIO

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This page has been put up as a result of a discussion at AMIA's cis-wg mailing list.

Definition

CMIO stands for either "Chief Medical Informatics Officer" or "Chief Medical Information Officer".

This is a post title that is increasingly prevalent, however it seems that often the exact role of such a person is not clear either in the minds of the hiring organization or the person taking up the job. What is most damaging is when the hirer and hired have different views on this.

The informatics community sees the CMIO as a person with a clinical background, who speaks the language of clinicians. The CMIO oversees the selection, development and implementation of computerized patient record systems. The CMIO focusses on issues of quality, safety, usability, process improvement and seeks to ensure that clinicians are fully engaged in the entire process.

This article will allow the informatics community to put forward a case for what CMIOs should do, and what is needed to support them to perform their jobs effectively.

Sample job descriptions

What an effective CMIO needs

The portfolio of a CMIO is a complex and wide-ranging one, but often they are not given the resources nor authority to execute effectively. This section will attempt to flesh out what an effective CMIO needs (thanks to Larry Ozeran for the initial points from the cis-wg mailing list)

The CMIO must be in charge of

  • ongoing communication with all clinicians regarding the effectiveness of existing computerized processes
  • prospective discussion with all affected clinicians and any affected support staff in the selection and implementation of proposed computerized processes
  • managing needs and specifications for software
  • developing and maintaining information standards
  • identification of need, selection of staff, and responsibility for content of all training related to computerized clinical processes

The CMIO must have

  • adequate numbers of support staff as direct reports to manage all responsibilities
  • decision-making control over a budget adequate to support all responsibilities
  • the ability to ensure the needs and specifications are implemented properly, and in accordance to standards set by the CMIO's office

Cheungnt 22:27, 27 February 2007 (CST)