Key 01: Defining Value
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein
Multiple industries are feeling the strain of rising expenses and razor-thin margins. Most IT departments manage a constant tension between running, transforming, and growing the business. In healthcare, these three objectives converge directly on IT. "Keeping the lights on" actually means delivering safe patient care. Transformation means expanding services to meet community needs. Growth—whether through new service lines or acquisitions – relies entirely on your technology infrastructure.
Yet, in executive discussions, IT’s contribution to the core mission is often missing from the script. This isn’t an oversight by the rest of the C-suite. It’s a failure of IT leaders to understand and articulate their true value to clinicians and patients.
What is the value of you, your team, and your tech stack? How do you define it objectively? The answer is simple: start with the patient.
Federal guidelines define the core tenets we are beholden to: improved quality, reduced harm, operational efficiency, and accessible care. But these concepts can easily become ambiguous technical checklists. To find true alignment, IT leaders must become ardent partners with clinical operations. We have to converge our efforts with the colleagues serving at the bedside.
This isn’t easy. Even with my background in clinical operations, I’ll admit I don’t spend nearly as much time as I should with frontline clinicians. But closing that gap requires standing at the real endpoints of your enterprise: the patient and the caregiver. The true north star for IT is the delivery of safe care through simple, frictionless workflows. Ask yourself, “Is there one click too many?” or “How can I make the launchpad for care delivery more accessible?”
The takeaway is clear. Defining technical value starts with people, not uptime or SLAs. You have to proactively understand how the front-line measures success, because your department's success is directly tied to the primary outcome of your enterprise. For me, that outcome is the accessibility and advancement of personal wellness.
Align yourself, your team, and your mission accordingly.
