To carry out any role professionally requires some continuing education and training. Being a chief clinical information officer is no exception. As we have seen, being a CCIO requires multiple skills and there are multiple ways in which you can build on each of these.
Pick the brains of others
- Your IT colleagues will be able to share knowledge about the IT infrastructure, systems and lifecycle within your organisation. You don’t need to be an IT expert to be a CCIO, of course; but all of this will be useful knowledge. Seek out your trust’s IT strategy and read it through carefully. That assumes one exists, though – you may find that one of your first tasks as a CCIO is to help write it!
- Your organisation’s Caldicott Guardian will be able to further your knowledge about information governance; a key concern for any CCIO.
- The EHI CCIO Leaders Network is a way to connect with existing CCIOs, who are very willing to help with any specific issues you may have or to help you build your knowledge of a particular area.
The annual summer school and the regional events are a good source of information, and a chance to talk to your colleagues. The events are invaluable for continuing professional development and can be added to your appraisal documentation.
Reading
This handbook gives a good insight into the work of CCIOs in the UK. There are some American guides which may be of interest, notably ‘The CMIO Survival Guide: A Handbook for Chief Medical Information Officers and Those Who Hire Them’, edited by William Bria and Richard L. Rydell.
Traditional management books are numerous but of varying quality. ‘Redefining Health Care’ by Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg is a seminal work that has influenced health policy in the UK, and is well worth a read to better understand how to improve efficiency through process redesign.
‘The Innovator’s Prescription’ by Clayton Christensen is another highly influential work and gives some fascinating insights into disruptive innovation, many – though not all – enabled by new technology.
The writings of W. Edwards Deming, the father of the “Lean” manufacturing principles, are an enlightening read, particularly when trying to persuade others that change is required. The basic principles of statistical process control are explained, even for the mathematically challenged!
Don’t forget the wide variety of ‘consumer’ IT advances. Most of the major newspapers have a section looking at technology in its wider sense. This can be a useful indicator of what’s on the horizon in terms of mobile devices, IT wearables, and what your patients may be looking at.
Formal training
Many universities now run masters courses in health informatics, as well as postgraduate certificates and diplomas for those unable to complete the full masters programme. Bear in mind, however, that funding for these courses is typically difficult to obtain: most NHS employers will expect you to self-fund.
At least one university is actively considering setting up short courses which will be useful for those of us who would like a limited period of training away from the workplace, backed up by private reading and study.
The larger health IT suppliers often have annual meetings for their users, which can be used for your individual CPD.
Other organisations
If you are a medic, you might consider joining the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. Membership gives you access to an online library of management resources, including titles which regularly cover healthcare IT, such as the ‘Harvard Business Review’.
The Royal College of Physicians of London has a health informatics unit, the website of which offers a variety of useful information. The College is currently setting up a Faculty of Health Informatics for all clinicians, which will ensure a large library of resources and continuing development of standards for our field.
