Health IT Influencers: Bill Spooner, Former Sharp Healthcare CIO, Chapter 2

When Bill Spooner stepped down as CIO at Sharp Healthcare in 2014 after spending 35 years with the organization, he had mixed feelings. Although he was ready for a change from the frenzied pace of the CIO role, he hesitated to leave because “there were so many exciting things going in healthcare.”

Fortunately, Spooner found a way to remain involved in the industry — and pass on some of the wisdom he gained from his tenure — through his work as an advisor with Next Wave Health Advisors, and as an active participant with CHIME’s advocacy initiatives. In this interview, he offers insights on a number of pertinent issues, including why workflow is still a significant challenge for many organizations, the factor that most slows down the optimization process, and the surprising area in which healthcare is still far behind. Spooner also reflects on his own career, where we stand in terms of interoperability, and why perspective can be the best gift for leaders.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2



* The slow evolution of patient care models – “I thought we’d be farther along.”

* Emergence of CDOs

* Recognizing the CIO’s value

* “They’re part of the decision process.”

* Chief Experience Officer’s role in increasing engagement

* “I saw what it did for us at Sharp.”

* IT’s unsung role in patient care – “They keep the system running.”



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Bold Statements

Most organizations recognize that the CIO needs to be at the table. They may not be involved in some of the strategic decisions, but for the most part, they’re there. They’re not coming in and taking orders and leaving. They’re part of the decision-making process.

The role of the Chief Experience Officer is probably separate from all of those, because it’s about getting the whole organizations to take a much different view of the patients they’re serving.

Clinicians may say that patient scores don’t reflect quality of care that’s being given, but I think satisfaction is what probably drives the tolerance for some of the variations that happen in care.

Communicating everything that contributes to patient care is an important message for clinicians and IT. In many organizations, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other care providers see that the work that they’re doing is a larger contribution than it was when they were only taking care of one patient.

Spooner:  The biggest thing that has really exploded in the four years since I left Sharp is cybersecurity. I think I may have gotten out at the right time. It’s fascinating the changes we’ve seen and the sophistication — both of the hacking methods and the methods of defense that are coming into place with the NIST framework. I’m enjoying staying up to speed through those avenues.

 

Gamble:  I’m sure. So, when you’re in the advisor capacity doing IT assessments, I can imagine it’s really interesting doing that from the perspective you have now. I’m sure you’re able to draw a lot from your own experience.

Spooner:  What has been really interesting to me, and I guess I didn’t really appreciate it having been in one organization for such a long time, is looking at organizations and seeing the variety of philosophies with patient care models. When I left Sharp, I thought the rest of the country would be farther along in terms of patient-centered medical homes and clinically integrated networks. I’ve seen such a variety from area to area, including one organization that will remain unnamed, where the CEO said, ‘We’ll never have managed care in my town.’ I thought, ‘okay, good luck.’