Q&A with CIO Mathew Gaug, Part 2: “There’s a Lot to Do, but It’s Good Work.”

For many people, the key to a successful balance in life is in keeping work and family separate; ensuring the two worlds never collide. Some, however, have a completely different – and perhaps, more realistic – approach. Mathew Gaug, CIO at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, views his team as family, often applying the same conflict resolution and communication strategies as he does in his own home. “We’re together for the majority of the week, and so there are going to be struggles,” he said in a recent interview. “The ability to work through that, to talk through it, and to be open and honest with each other really helps drive that commitment and engagement.”

Gaug, who started with Memorial this past summer, talked about his initial priorities as CIO (which included selling the organization on an integrated EHR platform and choosing a vendor), how his team is involving multiple stakeholders in major decisions, and the keys to growing an IT department at an appropriate rate. He also discussed the importance of effective vendor management, his open-door leadership philosophy, and how his family is adjusting to life in Indiana.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2



* Involving multiple stakeholders in system selection: “Let’s talk about how we use an integrated EHR.”

* Learning vendor management at Akron General (Cleveland Clinic) – “It takes a certain skill set to negotiate.”

* Cross-training to develop skills

* Open-door leadership

* “I’m not going to micromanage. I’m here to encourage & take down any obstacles.”

* Adjusting to a new organization & home

* “The people in this organization understand the value of IT.”



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Bold Statements

It was bringing everybody in and saying, ‘let’s talk about how we use an integrated EHR and what we need to see to really make a decision.’ You can’t do that without bringing stakeholders in from the very beginning.

The ability to partner with vendors takes a certain skill set to actually negotiate and understand what they’re willing to do and what we’re willing to do, and what we can accept and what they can accept. It’s a give and take. And I think that understanding is critical to succeed in healthcare IT.

I’m not going to micromanage. I’m not going to tell anybody how to do their job. I’m just here to offer encouragement, and to take down any obstacles.

There are going to be struggles. There’s going to be conflict, but the ability to work through that — to talk through it and to be open and honest with each other — really helps drive that commitment.

IT is a very central part of that where they have a voice and they’re heard. The people in this organization understand the value of IT, and IT understands their value in treating the patient. And that dichotomy really helps when it comes to the mission.

Gamble:  It’s a big priority, probably more now than ever before, to ensure that technology isn’t creating an added burden. But I’m sure it’s a very tricky issue.

Gaug:  It absolutely is, especially from a technology standpoint. This isn’t just an IT issue. This is an organizational, cross-country issue where we’re dealing with multiple generations that want technology delivered in different ways. And so we have to find a unified way to have it different for all of them and yet the same, and that is a hard thing to do.

 

Gamble:  I would guess it really comes into play having user groups or things like the 90-day team and making sure the opportunities are there for participation.

Gaug:  Absolutely. And not just opening that up in general,