Podcast Q&A with CMIO Dirk Stanley, Part 1: “Good Ideas Can Go Wrong.”

One of the most important components of the CMIO role is to act as a bridge between two worlds — clinical and IT — that can seem worlds apart, at times. It requires a willingness and ability to “listen to what people in IT are saying and translate it into clinical speak, and then translate clinical speak into IT language.”

It’s the type of skill that doesn’t come naturally for most people. It did, however, for Dirk Stanley, MD, who grew up in a bilingual household, with an American father (who was a former military interpreter) and a German mother. “I learned how to translate from one culture to the other.”

He also learned that it’s not just about getting about the words right; it’s about getting the message right.

Recently, Stanley spoke with Kate Gamble about his key objectives as CMIO at UConn Health, how he has incorporated the concept of Blueprints Before Build into the strategy, and what he believes are the keys to securing buy-in from end users. He also discussed his early career frustrations as someone who was interested in both clinical and IT — but felt like an outsider in both worlds, and why he chose to start a blog.

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Key Takeaways:



* The concept behind Stanley’s philosophy, Blueprints Before Build, is to simplify the process so that “when the workflow rolls out, everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to do.”

* One of the key components in securing buy-in is to meet with clinical informaticists on the front end and asking what they want it to look like, said Stanley.

* EHR optimization can’t happen without a good project management team. “You need people who understand how to manage all of the deliverables and stakeholders.”

* When it comes to migrating to a different system, “just getting operational is a phenomenal amount of work,” and requires collaboration with leaders across the organization.





Q&A with Dirk Stanley, MD, Part 1

Gamble:  Hi Dirk, thanks so much for taking the time to speak. Let’s start with the high-level overview of UConn Health.

Stanley:  UConn Health is an academic research and clinical institution that is a foundational part of the State University of Connecticut. We provide clinical, academic and research expertise for a large number of projects in the state of Connecticut. We provide a lot of specialty services, as well as a lot of the routine, bread-and-butter medicine. We provide the gamut of different functions in the state of Connecticut. That’s what we do.

 

#BlueprintsBeforeBuild

Gamble:  Let’s talk about what you’re focused on now. What are your key priorities?

Stanley:  As CMIO, my focus is on the physicians, nurses, pharmacists — all of those on the frontline, making sure they have the tools and the support they need to deliver great patient care through our toolboxes.

One thing I strongly believe in is making blueprints before you build; I even created the Twitter hashtag, #BlueprintsBeforeBuild. The premise is, before you start any configuration, you have to know what problem you’re trying to solve, who are the people involved in the workflow, and in what sequences doctors, nurses and pharmacists are interacting with each other. You have to go through that rigorous analysis before you start your build.

The other thing blueprints do is allow you to create a tabletop walkthrough of what the future state workflow is going to be, and make sure you have alignment. It’s like that concept of trying to get all if the cats marching in the same direction; there’s nothing better than hav...