Dan Howard, Site CIO, Loma Linda University Health, Chapter 3

As site CIO at Loma Linda University Health, Dan Howard’s goal is to strike the right balance between helping facilities meet their individual needs while ensuring that they align with the health system’s overall strategy: kind of like the old bumper sticker saying, ‘Think locally, act globally.’ Not an easy job, but one he hopes to accomplish, particularly as the industry transitions toward a value-based reimbursement model. In this interview, Howard talks about how Epic CareConnect is helping to position the organization for population health, why hospitals sometimes need to act more like a vendor, and how payer incentives are changing the game. Howard also talks about how he’s able to leverage his experience in project management, and the question CIOs should constantly be asking.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Promotion to site CIO — “I like to keep things fresh.”

* Getting “a foot back in the door” with project management

* “Quick wins” to build trust

* Open-door policy

* Staff engagement: “Are you doing what you want to do?”

* Transformational leadership program

* The “double-edged sword” with value-based reimbursements



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Bold Statements

It took a little while to gain trust. When I showed up here, there were a lot of things that kind of came in sideways and on fire, so I had the opportunity to get some very quick wins in my win column, and that helped build the trust pretty quickly.

I have had situations in the past where individuals were not happy with their role, or they liked it but wanted a larger role in some of the strategic projects. And I think giving people the chance to voice what they’d like to do, being transparent, letting them know ‘this is what I can do for you’ — that goes a long way.

When I’m looking to hire somebody, I honestly will look for a passionate attitude over skills because I always feel you can teach someone the skills, but someone who has that passion and attitude, that is much more important in my book.

As we all move toward value-based reimbursements, it’s sometimes a little bit difficult to have those conversations, because you’re going to have to make a significant investment in doing so. So it is definitely a double-edged sword in terms of managing the expectations from a financial perspective also.

Gamble:  You’ve been in your current position for a few years now?

Howard:  Yes, I’ve been out here a little over three years.

Gamble:  And had the position of site CIO already been created at that point?

Howard:  For San Gorgonio, there was already a CIO that was here at the organization, and that individual had left. And so it was probably, by happenstance or dumb luck that I got sent out here. I say that in jest, because Mark [Zirkelbach] has always come to me and said, ‘Hey Dan, I have an opportunity for you.’ Sometimes they’re opportunities disguised as problems, which is fine. That’s my personality — I like to keep things fresh and makes life easy for me.

Gamble:  Right. Was it an adjustment to take on the site CIO role?

Howard:  Yes and no. My previous organization I came from was a little bit larger in terms of team size and budgeting. So when I came back to Loma Linda, I was out of healthcare for a while — at least acute healthcare. And so I took that project manager role thinking, okay, I’ll just get my foot back in the door and I’ll get back up into management. And so in terms of managing team sizes and budgets, no,