| | October 20158UTLOOK Healthcare Tech OpinionIn myIt's that time of year again. The summer is already a distant memory, even though it just ended. The kids are back at school, and the schedules change up again. The hospital parking lot is full with everyone back at work. The new routine starts to fall into place.As my family was sitting down to dinner the other night, and yes, I am one of those mom's that require a family dinner at least twice a week the same way I require a daily touch-base staff meeting to keep us all on the same page, my 12-year-old son declared that he loved the new technology at school. I asked him what new technology he meant and he listed of a bunch of popular tablet names, computer manufacturers, and some software packages. It was nice to know where my fundraising money had gone! I asked him what these devices did for him in class. He didn't know, but thought it was cool to have them. Inside I chuckled since that is the same reason I get when users want and ask for the latest and greatest device being advertised. They don't know how it will work with the systems they have to use every day, but it will look current and cool. That got me back to thinking about the definition of technology. At Burke Rehabilitation Hospital we recently changed the name of our division from Information Services to Information Technology at the hospital. Although we are still a department serving the needs of the users, we want to focus more on the technology of the hospital. Technology to me has always meant the sum total of available knowledge and skills, as well as the methods, theory, and governance, available to an industry to help improve it. To me, it has not meant just the devices and their upkeep. It's the science and reasoning behind the device. We have to change the way technology is looked at in the industry. It is not just the device that is needed to help the staff do their jobs in the hospital and stay compliant and efficient. The technology department in any hospital these days is no longer the group that just takes care of the daily break/fix to keep everyone running smoothly. Time is so important that it becomes easier to swap out the printer, monitor, desktop, phone, mouse, or scanner to get the user By Cathy Dwyer, Senior Administrator, Chief Information Officer, Burke Rehabilitation HospitalThe Evolving Role of CIO
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