John Halamka MD

The Changing Role of the CIO

By John Halamka MD – Over my 8 years of blogging (since 10/21/07) I’ve written many posts about IT leadership, career development and re-inventing yourself (something to do every 5-10) years. As a CIO for nearly 20 years, I’ve seen the nature of the role undergo remarkable evolution.

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The September 2015 HIT Standards Committee

By John Halamka MD – The September 2015 HIT Standards Committee was notable for the naming of new members and for the incorporation of the NwHIN Power Team (Dixie Baker) Standards Maturity model in all of ONC’s planning. Ten members of the committee reached their term limit in June.




The August 2015 HIT Standards Committee

By John Halamka MD – The August 2015 HIT Standards Committee marked the beginning of an important transition. As work on Meaningful Use winds down, it is being replaced with work on Obama’s signature precision medicine initiative and planning for the 2016 Interoperability Standards Advisory.


Gathering Together Stakeholders for FY16 Strategic Planning

By John Halamka MD – As we gather together stakeholders for strategic planning of next year’s priorities, what are we hearing and what we have learned? With these observations, what are we planning to do in FY16? Over the next month, we will present a 5 page list of “bottom up” stakeholder enumerated high priority projects, categorized as core, advanced, and innovative.


The Security of Medical Devices

By John Halamka MD – Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised hospitals not to use Hospira’s Symbiq infusion system, concluding that a security vulnerability enables hackers to take remote control of the system. The agency issued the advisory some 10 days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned of the vulnerability in the pump.



Trajectory not Position

By John Halamka MD – At the moment in our society, there tends to be a general proclivity to be a criticizer rather than a doer, to tear down rather than build up, and to have hearings instead of taking individual action. Everyone talks about what has not been done instead of examining the progress made.