Healthcare chief information officers across the country are taking a more strategic role at their institutions than they ever have before, according to industry experts.

“Over time the role has changed dramatically,” said Joanne Sunquist, CIO at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, and chairwoman of the board of trustees for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, known as CHIME.

Sunquist said that typically healthcare CIOs have come up through the tech ranks, but increasingly, employers are giving leadership qualities more weight.

Also, “more and more they are looking for CIOs with a clinical background,” said Sunquist, who has a master’s degree in nursing administration and started her healthcare career as a nurse.

It’s as if modern day CIOs are being asked to get in touch with their inner executive.
“It’s much more about the leadership,” Sunquist said.

Sunquist added that the membership of CHIME has changed over the years to reflect more diversity both in gender and type of experience.