Ed Marx serves as Chief Information Officer for Cleveland Clinic.
On April 3rd, Ed will speak at Becker's Hospital Review 10th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place April 1-4, 2019 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Ed's session, click here.
Question: What do innovators/entrepreneurs from outside healthcare need to better understand about hospital and health system leaders?
Ed Marx: Our number one priority is patient safety and quality of care. That is what differentiates health care from other industries. The stakes are higher so we tend to be a little more conservative and risk adverse. Health care is largely populated by scientists, educators, researchers and clinicians all who demand data driven evidence before making decisions that impact lives or spend finite resources.
Q: Tell us about the last meaningful interaction you had with a patient.
EM: I received a LinkedIn message from a CIO. He shared that he was in our hospital where he had taken his daughter as a last resort for medical care. He and his wife had taken her to several health systems around his city but none of them were able to heal her let along provide a diagnosis. So they knew about the Cleveland Clinic, loaded their daughter in the car and drove overnight to get here. He had watched the amazing empathetic medical care of his daughter and she was on her way to recovery. He was amazed by the clinicians and the technology. He was reaching out to share the experience with me and asked to meet. I canceled my evening plans and met with him and his daughter, his family and the clinicians. After we wrapped our visit he followed me out and said he would give up his job as CIO and was willing to relocate to join our team. That was pretty cool. We serve in a great place.
Q: Can you share some praise with us about people you work with? What does greatness look like to you when it comes to your team?
EM: How much space do we have? I consider myself the luckiest CIO in the world. Not only do I serve in a noble profession of health care but I can’t to brush up against some of the most gifted and compassionette people in the world. Truly! I am surrounded by the best in education and research. I am surrounded by the best clinicians and the best executive team. I am humbled to serve with my IT teams. Greatness is a combination of many things to include empathy, passion, service orientation, energy, accountability, transparency and wisdom.