Podcast Q&A with CMIO Dirk Stanley, Part 2: “It’s Important to Engage with All Stakeholders.”

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



* A core component of the CMIO role is the ability to “hear what the IT people are saying and translate it into clinical speak, and then translate clinical speak into IT language.”

* Another is to listen to the concerns providers might have, and if necessary, readjust blueprints before going forward with a plan.

* When the need for clinical informaticists become clear after the passage of Meaningful Use, it felt like “the clouds opened up” to Stanley. “I had finally found a place where I fit.”

* The reason he started writing a blog? To provide a training pathway for physicians and “take the mystery out of things like how to build a workflow.”





Q&A with Dirk Stanley, MD, Part 2 [To view Part 1, click here]

Gamble:  When you look at the CMIO role, it clearly has evolved. I want to get your thoughts on the direction it has taken, and where it will go in the future.

Stanley:  I’ll give you a general observation. When you’re a doctor who works in IT, the IT people look at you and say, ‘You’re a doctor; you’re not really an IT person. You don’t really understand what we’re talking about.’ And the clinical people say, ‘You’re an IT person; you don’t really understand the clinical stuff we’re talking about.’ The first part is accepting that you’re in this world between clinical and IT, and your job, at least half of it, is to be a translator between those two worlds. You need to be able to hear what the IT people are saying and translate it into clinical speak, and then you need to be able to translate the clinical speak into IT language.

 

Growing up in a translator role

That came naturally to me, since I grew up in a bilingual household. My father, who was a military interpreter before he became a language teacher, married a woman from Germany. And so, I learned how to translate from one culture to the other. When my wife and I go to Germany to visit my relatives, I’m the translator (she doesn’t speak German and they don’t speak English. I’ve always been in that role.

I follow the same set of standards and rigor that professional translators do, which is to make sure you’re translating as effectively as possible. I also have the awareness that certain things can’t be...