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Position Description – Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Children’s Hospital & Research Center in Oakland

Our highly prestigious client, located in Oakland, California, is the oldest, largest, busiest and most comprehensive Pediatric Medical Center between Los Angeles and Seattle. The hospital is a free-standing facility.

Founded in 1912, the hospital serves as both the “safety net" for children in the East Bay and as a regional pediatric medical center. The hospital has the largest pediatric intensive care unit in Northern California, the only pediatric emergency department and the only designated pediatric trauma center between Los Angeles and Seattle. The 47-bed intensive care nursery is the state-designated regional referral center for high-risk newborns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The hospital employs over 2000 people, and is one of the county’s largest employers.

The hospital has 141 hospital-based physicians in 31 subspecialties. As a teaching hospital, the medical center trains 70 students over a three-year pediatric residency program, which is one of the most selective in the country.

Our client also operates a Research Institute ranked as one of the top 10 pediatric research centers nationally, in terms of National Institutes of Health external awards, with more than $22MM a year in outside funding. The hospital operates the nation's first and only NIH-funded related cord blood program.

The Outpatient Center is the only freestanding pediatric outpatient center in Northern California. The hospital works closely with community physicians to bring pediatric expertise to outlying areas through satellite offices in Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, Santa Rosa and Fremont. The hospital has two Foundations that offset the cost of this specialized services and programs.

Management

The style of management and the organizational culture of excellence are deeply rooted in teamwork and mutual support. The commitment of the management team to the mission, which is “Kids”, is outstanding and highly effective in keeping the management and staff focused on the big picture. To complement the management team an individual must be able to blend their individual success into that of the entire team and share in the commitment and the satisfaction of taking care of very sick kids.

Organization Description

Our client’s annual revenue is nearly $150 MM, it controls assets of nearly $180MM and operates on a net margin of 2.8%, with a credit rating of A1. The balance sheet and other operating ratios indicate that it is in an excellent financial position. The organization recently secured a $60MM Bond Issue. The organization’s income is a combination of standard medical reimbursement by the State and Federal Government, private payors, grants and donations. The hospital is also supported by two Foundations.

Position Description

The Chief Information Officer will be a key driving force to ensure that the Hospital Information Systems of the facility remain cutting-edge. A large part of our client’s success will be based on continuing to provide a high level of healthcare services to children, persevering it’s excellent relationship with key physicians and cementing it’s alliances with other healthcare systems, providers and payors in Northern California. Effective use of IT solutions is one of the key underpinnings of such relationships.

Many benefits of new technologies are not yet proven in the market place, causing frustration with the many constituencies in healthcare service delivery. In many cases these frustrations arise from a lack of commitment from senior management in funding, a lack of understanding of the power and need of more sophisticated tools, the allocation of operational resources and the high cost associated with this process.

The level of commitment from the senior management in funding and operational attention of the Hospital Information Systems function is extraordinary, the hospital currently spends more of the capital budget on IT then it does on medical equipment and other related capital assets. Understanding of the power of a “best of class” Hospital Information Systems function is understood and completely supported by the management team, physicians and staff.

The successful candidate has the unique opportunity to continue to develop a high profile Hospital Information Systems function, that will be used by a broad number of stakeholders in the specialized care of children, both in and outside of our client’s facility. The Chief Information Officer will be a person who has the ability to operate the day-to-day operations of the department, while leading the strategic planning and deployment process of new IT tools. This will enable greater productivity, higher levels of clinical care, ease of operation and management of medical records and information.

The right person will be an excellent communicator, who knows when to talk and when to listen. He or she must have the ability to talk to people at there own level of technical expertise. By understanding the needs of the users, the right person will evaluate the feedback, prioritize it, develop a plan of action and clearly articulate the plan to senior management and the cluster group and other key stakeholders.

The Chief Information Officer will lead the organization in IT planning and system deployment. To that end, he or she must be knowledgeable and savvy in current and future hardware and software products for the healthcare industry and be a keen and practical evaluator of such new technologies.

Responsibilities

Coordinates and provides leadership in the formulation, evolution and execution of the facility’s long-range information systems.
Responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Hospital Information Systems and support service functions and the departments 21 employees.
Provides leadership and consultation to the management team in identifying, acquiring and implementing appropriate information systems and technology.
Consults and educates management and users regarding information technology and applications with the appropriate level of technical jargon so that management and users clearly understand and feel comfortable with the process and share common expectations.
Works with other members of the management team to align information systems with the business and patient care needs and goals of the organization.
Acts as a consultant and educator for the management team, physicians and other stakeholders of the organization.
Develops and directs response to any emergency or disaster that compromises the ability of the information systems of the organization to support patient care, patient information or business activities.
Manages the information systems department and telecommunications support service assuring that they are adequately staffed with competent individuals who are current in their expertise and competency and performing to the expectation of the organization.

Experience and Education

A minimum of 10 years experience in healthcare related information systems, at least five of which are in management is required. A Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems or related field is also required, a Master’s degree is highly preferred.

Personal Characteristics

As the Company is poised to move to a higher level, it is imperative that he/she be first and foremost a team player. He/she will, as to both written and oral skills, be a superb communicator, and have the style of a diplomat, i.e., able to get along well with everyone and to negotiate agreements where each party benefits. It is imperative that he/she be skilled in bringing together the research and development functions in a spirit of harmony and a single-minded purpose.

He/she will be a person who possesses a strong work ethic, rejects setbacks, and values accomplishments highly. An action-oriented personality that deals with specifics within a broad conceptual framework will be most effective in this position. He/she will have an appropriate sense of urgency that allows him/her to react to situations quickly and decisively. A nonpolitical "speak your mind" approach will work most effectively within the Company's culture. Board and industry presentations are an aspect of the position and for that reason he/she should project the appropriate image.

Opportunity

The hospital offers an exceptional opportunity for a proven healthcare information systems manager to build a ?best-in-class? Hospital Information Systems department. As the majority of healthcare providers are finding it difficult, at best, to keep pace with the growing clinical, administrational and payor information demands, the need to easily and productively communicate and interface with people, patients, departments, and functions, both inside and outside their own organizations is vital.

As a nationally respected Pediatric Center, the hospital will continue to serve as a key referring location for Northern California Pediatric Care, therefore leading-edge information technology is especially critical and essential to our client’s future.

The solid fiscal and strategic commitment of senior management to remain a user friendly, proactive and state-of-the-art facility, recognizes the need to stay ahead of it’s referring sources and lead the transition to dynamic interfacing with internal departments, hospitals and hospital systems, physician groups and payor systems.

Compensation

The compensation plan is based on a competitive base salary commensurate with the experience and the demonstrated accomplishments of the successful candidate, and will reflect the opportunity at the Company. The organization has an excellent employee benefits package, consisting of medical coverage, a dental plan, life insurance, and a 401k program.