Job Description of a Healthcare CIO
A health care chief information officer, or CIO, is a manager of information services for a company in the broad field of health care. The health care industry is the largest single employer in the United States, and employers run the gamut from practitioners of family medicine or dentistry to large, urban hospitals and residential care facilities. The services of a health care CIO are most likely to be required in larger organizations.
Other People Are Reading
-
Responsibilities
-
Healthcare CIOs face a daunting challenge, because few industries generate the volume of critical data that is seen in health care. Although knowledge of health care is certainly a bonus, the primary responsibilities of a CIO are the planning, coordination and facilitation of information services for the company that employs him, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. CIOs must work hand-in-hand with the company's top managers to develop an understanding for the company's information requirements and to develop an information-handling system to meet those needs. They are ultimately responsible for the smooth operation of the company's computer network, which must securely store vital data but also make it readily available to those who are cleared to access it. They usually also are responsible for managing the personnel within the company's information technology (IT) or information services department.
-
Workplace
-
Health care CIOs work for a variety of companies in the health care field. However, the need for their services is generally limited to the larger operations and not the smaller offices of medical practitioners. Although they must interact with all levels of management to find out what information services best meet those managers' needs, CIOs generally are housed in the IT departments of their companies.
Educational Requirements
-
Most health care companies require candidates for CIO positions to hold an advanced degree, although there may be some smaller companies willing to hire those with only a bachelor's degree, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. A growing number of universities offer information systems management degrees, which cover the basic areas of expertise required of a CIO. Alternatively, an MBA "with technology as a core component" is a good educational background for a CIO, the handbook says. Most health care employers prefer candidates who've had some experience in the health care industry.
Job Outlook
-
The prospects for health care CIOs are extremely bright, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. As of 2006, there were about 264,000 people employed as computer and information systems managers in all industries. This figure is expected to grow to 307,000 by 2016, an impressive growth rate of 16 percent. Given the robust growth trend in the health care industry, job openings for healthcare CIOs are likely to outpace the overall rise in jobs for all computer and information systems managers.
Earnings
-
The Occupational Outlook Handbook reports that median annual earnings for computer and information systems managers were $101,580 as of May 2006. The handbook also reports that the annual salary range for chief technology officers (comparable to CIOs) was from $101,000 to $157,750, according to the Robert Half Technology 2007 Salary Guide.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit "Welcome To The World, Violet!" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Joe Shlabotnik (Peter Dutton) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
