Russell Branzell, President & CEO, CHIME, Chapter 1

Forget everything you ever learned about plagiarism. Not only is it no longer being condemned; it’s being encouraged by Russell Branzell, president and CEO of CHIME, who believes sharing and stealing ideas “as quickly as we can” is essential to the survival of CIOs. In this interview, Branzell speaks candidly about a number of topics affecting CIOs, including the midpoint of Meaningful Use, which he believes is the perfect opportunity to look at the program in its entirety. He also talks about the work CHIME is doing to make sure its offerings meet the evolving needs of its membership; what the CIO 3.0 might look like; his thoughts on the direction of the industry; and what CIOs will be buzzing about at HIMSS15.

Chapter 1



* Modified MU requirements — “It’s a recognition of where we are in the process.”

* Reaching the halfway point

* “Occasionally you need to make small course corrections to stay on track.”

* Need for ‘enforceable’ standards — “It’s a cornerstone”

* ONC’s leadership exodus

* Hiring of CIO Mike McCoy — “We’re excited about having people who lived in the trenches.”



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Bold Statements

It’s not that we’re against the system. We’re absolutely for MU. We still think that’s the right direction. We still think the adoption of EHRs and the outcomes that should come from that is absolutely the right direction, but occasionally you need to make small course corrections to stay on track.

It’s time to actually realize we have another half of this journey to go. And I think that’s exactly where we are in MU. Yes, we’ve seen positive outcomes. Yes, lives have been saved. Yes, many hospitals have changed their processes. We have a lot more work to do though.

We don’t have that today, and it’s really a cornerstone problem in that if you don’t set the cornerstone right, everything else seems to be misaligned.

It doesn’t matter at this point as to the individuals, but rather, conceptually, do they have an entire leadership team dedicated to driving us forward?

Gamble:  Hi Russ, thank you as always for taking the time to speak with us.  I really appreciate it and it’s good for our readers to get your perspective.

Branzell:  Thank you very much for having us today.

Gamble:  Sure thing. I wanted to start by talking about the announcement from CMS in January about modifying the Meaningful Use requirements. Basically what that means for CIOs, but then also all the people who have put all the hard work into this.

Branzell:  Absolutely. I think this announcement that’s occurred and the perspective of a new reporting rule that will come out, NPRM, is a recognition of where we’re at in the process. We’re at midstream through the Meaningful Use journey. If you cut the stages, we’re right in the middle of stage 2, and it was time for a review or a reality check to the entire process. There were definitely some issues relative to reporting, and the requirement for 365 for this year really would’ve placed the burden on everything from the software vendors to the CIOs to the caregivers through the entire continuum, including not only the hospitals, but the physicians as well. And so that recognition that some flexibility in the reporting was needed to ensure the momentum stayed where it was, if not ramped up, for Meaningful Use stage 2, was very appropriate. We’re appreciative of ONC and CMS listening to the industry, in particular for our members who are trying to implement and modify these systems to be able to meet not only Meaningful Use, but the triple aim, so I think we’re very fortunate there.

I think where we really are overall in this midpoint is an opportunity to look at the entire program in its totality. And this is really a CMS/ONC decision,