Cletis Earle, VP & CIO, Kaleida Health, Chapter 3

He’s been in the news recently for his advocacy efforts, but if you know Cletis Earle, you know it’s just one of the many passions that drives him. In addition to heading up CHIME’s diversity initiative along with Liz Johnson and Myra Davis, he’s set to begin a term as Board Chair in 2018. On top of that, Earle is one year into the CIO role at Kaleida Health, an organization that’s going through a period of rapid growth. Recently, he spoke with healthsystemCIO.com about the “adapt and adopt” approach he brought as the new CIO, why leaders need to not just think outside the box, but traditional healthcare when it comes to population health, and why he believes we’ve entered a “new day” with cyber warfare. Earle also shares his thoughts on how his team is looking to “tap into the social experience” with patients, and how the CIO role will continue to evolve.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Kaleida’s wayfinding app

* Working with a “forward-thinking” team

* “We have to make things simple & easier.”

* CIO as a marketer

* Lack of representation among women & minorities — “We need to change that.”

* First step in making a change: “Talk about it”

* Tapping into military experience



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Bold Statements

We have to make things simple and we have to make it easier for our customers, and have technology not be just that deterrent factor. Because it can be; it can be so disruptive people don’t want to use it. So there’s a fine line between putting something in place and making it accessible and easy to utilize.

The CIO is going to take on the role of a marketer. They need to be able to tell organizations what’s available, what’s accessible, how do I connect with you, and how do I provide the best service to you.

It’s very powerful having our female CIOs go into these school systems and say, ‘there are opportunities for people who look just like me and just like you. You don’t have to be an athlete, you don’t have to be a music star.’ There are other things to aspire to.

If everybody is thinking the same way — if everybody has the same model, then how are we going to become innovative? If you have people from different walks of life, different thought processes, we can bring in a significant level of change, and that’s what we need in our industry: change.

Gamble:  From the parent perspective, I think some of the initiatives you’re talking about like wayfinding tools and Uber-like solutions can make a big difference when you’re doing things like looking for parking, because it is very stressful.

Earle:  You just hit it right on the head. You said it’s stressful. We want to, where we can, take out the stress. Imagine having a parking spot reserved for you before you even come in. This app brings you to that location and you have a parking spot reserved; that’s where we’re talking about taking this solution. It’s exciting because, again, I’m working with a team of executives here that are really forward-thinking. They realize we have to make things simple and we have to make it easier for our customers, and have technology not be just that deterrent factor. Because it can be; it can be so disruptive people don’t want to use it. So there’s a fine line between putting something in place and making it accessible and easy to utilize. That’s the kind of wire act that we continuously try to tap into.

Gamble:  And with a lot of the things you’re talking,