The health IT landscape looked very different in 1994: Most hospitals used paper charts and records, the ONC didn't exist, neither physicians nor patients had smartphones and HIPAA wouldn't be enacted for another two years.
The following six CIOs, all of whom have held their current position for at least 20 years, have led their departments through two decades of tremendous change.
Gary Barnes. CIO of Medical Center Health System (Odessa, Texas). Mr. Barnes has served as CIO of Medical Center Health System, which includes the 402-bed Medical Center Hospital, since July 1985. Mr. Barnes received the 2013 Outstanding Service Award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.
Harry Lukens. Senior Vice President and CIO of Lehigh Valley Health Network (Allentown, Pa.). Since April 1994, Mr. Lukens has been responsible for information services and telecommunications at Lehigh Valley Health Network. He is currently responsible for a multimillion dollar IT budget and more than 300 employees. Under his leadership, Lehigh Valley has been named a "Most Wired" hospital by the American Hospital Association 12 times.
Pamela McNutt. Senior Vice President and CIO of Methodist Health System (Dallas). Ms. McNutt assumed her current role as CIO in April 1993. One of her most notable accomplishments is a five-year project standardizing the organization's clinical and billing IT systems. She has served on the board of CHIME and as a director of HIMSS.
Stephanie Reel. Vice President for Information Services for Johns Hopkins Medicine, Vice Provost for IT and CIO for Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore). Ms. Reel has been vice president for information services at John Hopkins Medicine since 1994, where she oversees the implementation and optimization of all IT systems within the health system. In 1999, her role was expanded and she became head of IT for the entire university as well.
David Weiss. Senior Vice President and CIO of BJC Healthcare (St. Louis). Mr. Weiss became CIO of BJC HealthCare in 1990. As CIO, he oversees a $150 million annual budget and an IT staff of 700 professionals. He also currently serves as vice chair of the board of directors of the Missouri Health Information Organization, an information exchange organization.
Tim Zoph. Senior Vice President of Administration and CIO of Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Mr. Zoph has been CIO of Northwestern since January 1994. During his tenure, Northwestern Memorial has been named a "Most Wired" hospital 12 times. In 2003, he received the John E. Gall Healthcare CIO of the Year award from CHIME.
More articles on CIOs:
Mohawk Valley Health System names John Lynch CIO
ICD-10 is certainly no quick fix for EHR vendors' interoperability woes, but it is a step in the right direction
Dimensions Healthcare System appoints David Peterson CIO