Stephanie Lahr, MD, CIO & CMIO, Regional Health, Chapter 3

If an organization wants to ensure a successful EHR rollout, there are many components that are important, but one that is absolutely essential. The people who will use the technology must be “intimately involved in developing the strategy and testing the workflows.”

It may sound simple, but in reality, “It’s very easy not to do that,” said Stephanie Lahr, MD, CIO and CMIO at Regional Health. As a physician, she knows firsthand how difficult it can be to dedicate the time needed to sit down with everyone from OR surgeons to the front-desk staff and utilize their input in creating a roadmap. But it absolutely has to happen.

Recently, healthsystemCIO spoke with Lahr about her organization’s transformation – including why they chose to do a big bang, what it took to lay the foundation, and why they contracted with a third party. She also discusses the importance of having a “physician-driven governing body with a technology focus,” her team’s vision for the future, and how she is able to balance dual leadership roles.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Combined CIO/CMIO role – “I’m able to do it because of the team here.”

* Finding the right balance as a leader

* Mentors & sounding boards through CHIME Boot Camp

* Physician advisory committees – “That’s where we hash out the questions.”

* The next phase of data

* AI & machine learning as more than “cool new technologies”

* Standardizing communication – “We have more tools than we know what to do with.”



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Bold Statements

That probably is the hardest part about the combined role — finding that balance between leading and managing a large division, while also having time to use the informatics knowledge I’ve gained over time to figure out where there are process improvement opportunities.

Whether they realize it or not, they all have some informatics and technology expertise that a lot of their physician colleagues don’t have, and they’re able to represent that back to the areas in which they work, and bring forward those concerns.

I absolutely think they’re going to have relevance in healthcare. It’s just trying to figure out where they will fit best, and how to use them to really improve things, as opposed to using them because they’re new, cool technologies.

We have to be able to bring it together and figure out what’s the right way, at the right time, for one person to communicate with another and have an overarching approach that weaves things together in the same way we’ve done with the EHR. It all has to be connected so that we’re not so disjointed.

Gamble:  I would imagine it’s a challenge to manage both roles. In certain scenarios there’s overlap, but in other areas, I’m sure it’s a tough, and it makes it critical to have a good team.

Lahr:  Absolutely. I would say the only reason I’m able to do the combined role of CIO and CMIO is because of the fabulous team of leaders, as well as the other caregivers on my team. The IT division is a wonderful group of people, and the directors that I have working for me do an amazing job and really are experts in each of those areas. We’re able to problem-solve and manage things together.

When I arrived here, I started a process of cultivating additional physicians to work in informatics and IT. I now have an associate medical information officer who spends two-thirds of her time with us, soon to be three-quarters.