Don Reichert, VP & CIO, The MetroHealth System, Chapter 3

When Don Reichert came to MetroHealth six years ago, he had three goals: achieve Stage 6, then Stage 7 recognition, and win a HIMSS Davies Award. Not bad for a safety-net hospital that neighbors two very prestigious systems, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. But with the support of the executive team and buy-in from the staff, the dream became a reality. In this interview, Reichert talks about MetroHealth’s multi-year journey from best-of-breed to a core vendor strategy; how he’s been able to lead major change at two different organizations; and how taking analytics to the next level is similar to implementing an EHR. He also shares his thoughts on vendor management — something CIOs aren’t doing as effectively as they can, and the balance leaders walk of taking risks without alienating senior executives.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Competing with “the big boys.”

* Vendor management — “Both parties must be open & transparent.”

* IT as a facilitator

* Regular calls with Judy Faulkner — “She listens. This is her baby.”

* Stage 7 milestone at NorthShore

* Coming to MetroHealth — “There was some good talent here.”

* Earning the exec team’s trust



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Bold Statements

We’re up there with all the big boys. In some cases, we’re ahead of the big boys. It’s just how you manage the process and how you go about selling it to the organization, and then ultimately, delivering on your promise.

It’s important that you have a good working relationship with the core vendors that you select, and that both parties are open and transparent. Because there’s going to be good days, and there’s going to be bad days. At the end of the day, you need to make sure that your egos are checked and you’re working toward the common goal.

They didn’t want to be on the cutting edge, but they wanted to be on the knife. To me, working for organizations like that are game changers. You’re willing to take a little risk. If you have good planning and good processes, things will work out, and you will do well.

There was some good talent here. It was also evaluating people that you recognize had more talent than the position that they were in. And you have the opportunity to grow them and get them to the right position on the bus. That was the key.

You have to take risks, but you also have to communicate those risks to your senior execs. That’s the key. How much risk as an organization can we tolerate? It’s a joint decision. I’m making a recommendation.

Gamble:  It’s interesting because everything that you have to do to achieve Stage 6 and 7 are things that you want to do anyway as an organization. So it’s not just about getting this designation, but it seems like it really does serve as a really useful benchmark in telling you what you need to do to be a top organization.

Reichert:  Absolutely. You look at the Davies Award, I think there are only 52 people in the world that have received that award. You look at HIMSS Stage 7, and just in the United States, I think it’s around 4 percent of the hospitals are Stage 7. That number is somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 facilities, and you’re in the top 4 percent of the country. Like I said, we’re a safety net hospital. We don’t have a billion dollars in the bank like people like the Clinic or Johns Hopkins or Mayo. If you put your mind to it, if you make the right decisions through the process and you have the commitment, you can afford the best product. Epic and Cerner are the top two products out there in the ma...