Indranil "Neal" Ganguly, vice president and CIO at CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold, N.J., says he and his colleagues in healthcare IT have an opportunity to make a real difference. CIOs and their teams have a strong grasp of what benefits technology can bring to the medical field, he says, and they should help shape healthcare policy. Ganguly is helping to do just that, serving in leadership roles with various trade associations. The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) last fall recognized his contributions by presenting him with its State Advocacy Award.
"As the healthcare industry enters a period of great change, it is more important than ever for CIOs to get engaged in the public policy process," he says. Here he shares more of his thoughts.
What has been the biggest change regarding the role of technology in healthcare during your 12-year tenure as CIO? That technology has been really ingrained in healthcare operations. When I first got here, when there was a network issue, it was an inconvenience. It was a hassle, but everything was manageable. Today it's mission-critical; the technology has become a key driver in supporting the care-delivery process.
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