Dell has become the latest foundation sponsor of the Health CIO Network, which was launched at EHI Live last year to bring together NHS IT directors and other healthcare information leaders.
The company joins Nuance and Cisco as a sponsor of the network, which aims to give health CIOs greater professional recognition, a bigger voice in health information policy, and a forum for discussing leadership and best practice.
Gary Birks, director of healthcare and life sciences at Dell, said: ““The Health CIO community is a critical audience for us.”
“Health CIOs are valued customers and we are constantly looking for new ways to engage with them. We want to make sure that we are responding to the critical business issues they face through innovative technology solutions that effectively support clinical delivery, be that to help them reduce overhead, be more productive or future proof their organisations.”
“Our sponsorship of the Health CIO Network is one way that we can ensure that we are having a meaningful dialogue with the Health CIO community, and we look forward to working with its members to explore how we can enable organisations through technology.”
The Health CIO Network is being developed as a network of networks, as well as something that individuals can join. It is holding both regional and national events, including the first Health CIO summer school at Oxford next month, and the second Health CIO conference in Birmingham in November.
As sponsors, Dell will have a presence at events, and a role on the Health CIO Network advisory panel, which is led by Daniel Ray, the director of informatics at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
EHI editor John Hoeksma said: “We are delighted that Dell has decided to become a foundation sponsor of the Health CIO Network. Since it was launched at EHI Live 2013 last November, the network has gone from strength to strength.
“We now have a very able chair and vice-chair who will help to shape events and activities. Dell’s involvement will help to support these activities, and enable the network to fulfil its remit to bring together NHS information leaders and accelerate the exchange of ideas and best practice.”
Read a profile of Daniel Ray in this week’s Insight section. For more information about the Health CIO Network, visit its dedicated pages on the EHI website.