A CIO discusses how automation will benefit patients and employees.
Mark Combs is the associate chief information officer at Morgantown, W.Va.-based Mon Health System.
Mr. Combs will serve on the panel "Telehealth for Rural Hospitals: How to Bridge the Tech Divide" at Becker's 7th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place Oct. 4-7 in Chicago.
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Question: What are you most excited about right now?
Mark Combs: Our ability as technologists is to transform the healthcare landscape into one that works for the patient — providing more access to better healthcare in a way that meets the patient where they are!
Q: What challenges do you anticipate over the next two years?
MC: I've been in the business for a long time now and I think the challenges stay the same — lower reimbursement pushes healthcare organizations to work with smaller and smaller margins. We're seeing a shift in payer mixes from private pay to more government pay, which thins our margins and has a trickle-down effect on what we can afford when advancing our technology.
Q: Where are the best opportunities for disruption in healthcare today?
MC: I would have given this same answer probably 10 years ago, and that's automation. The more we can automate the routine tasks, lower costs and create "better, faster service" [the more it] will benefit the patient in the end analysis.
Q: How is your role as CIO evolving? How are IT teams changing?
MC: The CIO is a strategic partner to operations. The day of the "ticket taker" is long gone. IT teams are more operationally focused. Analysts are migrating from technology schools to nursing and operational roles. We can't create meaningful change if we don't understand the business.