RANK: #7 (MEDIUM HOSPITALS)
At Pikeville Medical Center, the IT team is not just a department that happens to be in a hospital. It's part of the care team, said IT/IS Director Rusty Shanklin. The department includes nurses and other employees with clinical backgrounds who understand the needs of hospital caregivers.

"Because we understand our customers, our customers try to understand us," Shanklin said. "When I walk through the halls, I feel like a respected member of the Pikeville team. I'm not just the mean old IT department that says, 'We can't do that.'" At Pikeville, IT staffers understand they play a critical role in providing quality regional healthcare. "My programmers know that the decisions they make in developing software and building reports, affects outcomes.

My techs know that if they don't have the carts to the nurses, that affects outcomes."  In a rural community where patients often include family and friends, that's a powerful motivator, Shanklin said.

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