The Year of Governance

If my epitaph had to be written tomorrow, what pithy quote would I select from my blog?

Possibilities include:
"For everything there is a process" 
"The happiest stage of life is wherever I am today" 
"The nice guy can finish first"

However, for 2011, I'd suggest "Governance is the solution to all your problems".  

I've committed to make 2011 the year of Governance.

At Harvard Medical School, we're expanding our Governance Committees to ensure administration, education, and research stakeholders have governance committees which roll up to an executive governance committee of the individual committee chairs.   Together, these committees will set the departmental and overall IT priorities for the school.

At BIDMC, we've created a new overall IT Governance Committee in addition to the existing subcommittees that prioritize departmentally focused efforts:

*Laboratory Information Systems chaired by the SVP/VP overseeing the lab
*Radiology Information Systems chaired by the the SVP/VP overseeing radiology
*Enterprise Image Management chaired by the CIO
*Emergency Department Information Systems chaired by the SVP overseeing Ambulatory & Emergency Services
*Critical Care Information Systems chaired by the Director Trauma, Anesthesia and Critical Care
*Peri-operative Information Systems chaired by the Director of Perioperative Service
*Inpatient Clinical Applications (includes Provider Order Entry) co-chaired by Chief Nursing Officer and VP for Clinical Systems
*Ambulatory (WebOM) users group chaired by the SVP overseeing Ambulatory & Emergency Services
*Health Information Management Information Systems chaired by the Director of the Hospital Medicine Program
*Community Information Systems chaired by the Executive Director of the Physician's Organization
*Decision Support Steering Committee chaired by the Director of Business Planning & Decision Support and the Vice Chair of General Medicine
*Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Information Systems chaired by the Director of Business Services and the Controller
*Human Resources Information Systems chaired by the SVP of Human Resources

The role of the overall IT Governance Committee includes:
*Communication about prioritization and resource decisions.
*Articulating, prioritizing, and monitoring the overall vision for  IT at BIDMC.  
*Achieving the right balance between built and bought systems including adequate staffing for maintenance to ensure high customer satisfaction.

Why is governance so important for BIDMC in 2011?

*2011 is the most stressful time in the entire history of healthcare IT in the US.   Certification and Meaningful Use requires significant application, infrastructure, and change management efforts.
*2011 is the time to begin planning for healthcare reform and the new world of accountable care organizations and the electronic systems we'll need for the future.
*2011 is a time of many new regulatory/compliance mandates including planning for ICD-10, new data protection regulations, and increasing oversight from the Joint Commission/CMS/FDA etc.

My first overall IT Governance Committee is November 10.   To support it, I'm creating a new IT Governance website.   I'll be sure to share the outcome of the meeting and all my presentation materials in November.