Lt. Col. Chani Cordero, CIO, Education & Training Directorate, Defense Health Agency, Chapter 2

When you’re a military-based health IT leader, one of the biggest challenges is to identify initiatives that align with the overall organizational strategy — and can be completed within a specific timeframe. Not an easy feat, but any means. For Lt. Col. Chani Cordero, who spent three years as CIO with the US Army’s Information Management Division and Medical Education Training Campus, that project involved a concept that hasn’t yet made its mark in healthcare: gamification.

That could soon change, says Cordero, who believes gaming has enormous potential as both a learning tool for medical students and a motivating factor in patient engagement. In this interview, she talks about how she incorporated gamification into her strategy and how it can be so beneficial. Cordero also discusses the military’s ultimate goal of standardizing IT systems, why it’s critical to bring naysayers into discussions, and what she has learned in her time with the Army. [**Please note that the opinions expressed by Lt. Col opinions are her own, and are not endorsed by the Defense Health Agency or the U.S. Army.]



Chapter 1

Chapter 2



* Retaining top talent: “My predecessor picked good people.”

* A culture that “allows for personal growth”

* Monthly “all-hands” meetings

* Online polls to encourage feedback

* Advisory boards to educating leadership on IT initiatives

* Welcoming naysayers — “That’s how we get better ideas.”

* Vendor partnerships



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Bold Statements

I like to believe that the culture of our organization allows our personnel to grow through training. We’re always looking at how we can help staff meet their personal goals and give them to the tools to do that

IT people are typically introverts who may not want to raise their hands and speak publicly, and so we’re using online polling to get their feedback.

If I have a particular customer who’s frustrated as to why we can’t bring in a particular piece of technology, I invite them to be a member of our organization so they can turn that negative energy into something positive.

In my relationships with various vendors, I’ve found that even if they can’t necessarily help us, we can still learn from the interaction.

Gamble:  What size is your IT staff, approximately?

Cordero:  I have about 80 personnel in my staff. It’s a mixture of military, federal civilians and federal contractors. It’s very similar to what a health CIO would have. I have a customer support call management center. I have a copy and print services. I have mail distributions. We do record management.

One thing that’s a little different is we have a fully functional multimedia department. Within that department, we have a full studio where we can film training videos. I have graphic artists and illustrators on my staff. They’re the fun arm of the branch.

 

Gamble:  I know that for some organizations, recruiting and holding on to staff can be a challenge. Is that something you’ve run into?

Cordero:  I’ve been really fortunate in my position here because my staff is relatively stable. Some of it I definitely credit to my predecessor because he chose and interviewed very good talent. I like to believe that the culture of our organization allows our personnel to grow through training. We’re always looking at how we can help staff meet their personal goals and give them to the tools to do that, which can lead to satisfaction.

Our pay is competitive. Many people don’t realize that federal employment jobs are pretty competitive for the p...