Q&A with CIO Debbie Cancilla, Part 2: “We Can Make This Easier on People.”

“The most exciting part of healthcare right now is the disruptors who are entering the market.” It’s not exactly a shocking sentiment; for quite some time, analysts have predicted that companies like Google and Apple could shake things up considerably. In this case, however, the statement was made by Debbie Cancilla, a CIO with 25 years of healthcare experience. She believes that by underestimating these disruptors, the industry could miss out on tremendous partnership opportunities, particularly when it comes to improving the consumer experience. On the other hand, those who are willing to keep an open mind can help move their organizations in the right direction.

Recently, healthsystemCIO spoke with Cancilla, who was named CIO at NJ-based Atlantic Health in 2017, about the Epic task her team faces, why she was hesitant to take on another major EHR rollout – but eventually accepted the challenge, and why culture really is king. Cancilla also talks about what she considers to be the most valuable leadership qualities, and what excites her most about the future of healthcare.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2



* Working w/ NJ’s Healthcare Transformation Consortium to bring “pockets of information” together

* Eye on the “disruptors” — “They can look at things in a different way.”

* Her approach as new CIO

* Passion for “recreating IT department teams”

* Most valuable leadership qualities

* Succession planning: “I can’t imagine leaving an organization in a state of chaos.”

* Technology’s role in enabling efficiencies – “We can make this so much easier on people.”



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Bold Statements

That’s what everyone is trying to figure out: how do we get it all? How do we normalize that information? How do we create this nice record of care for the patients so we can see where there are gaps, and figure out what needs to be done going forward?

They aren’t burdened with the fact that healthcare is steeped in tradition. They can look at things in a different way, and it’s going to challenge us on a day-to-day basis to retain our book of business; to make sure we continue to be the best that we can be.

One of the attributes I look for is the ability to manage risk and deal with fear. If you’re willing to step into the unknown and figure out how to work through it, to me that’s a winning quality.

I’m excited about people understanding how technology can help enable and create efficiencies within healthcare systems. I’m excited about the fact that, when used right, technology can really help support the patient experience. We can make this so much easier on people. There are so many opportunities for improvement.

Gamble:  The Healthcare Transformation Consortium is really interesting, especially when you look at some of the organizations involved, like CentraState and Hunterdon Healthcare, which are independent. It’s great to see some of these different-sized organizations working together to move toward the ultimate goal of reducing costs.

Cancilla:  When you think about healthcare from a big picture perspective, it’s been little silos of information. You might go to a retail pharmacy and get a script filled, or maybe you go to CVS Minute Clinic, or your insurance has a nurse advice line you call because you’re not sure what level of care you need, or what you should be doing. So you have that transaction. Then you might see a primary care doctor, or have an inpatient or an emergency department visit. There’s all these little venues and pockets of healthcare information that need to come together into one picture for us to help ...