The CxIO team: Emer O’Shea, Emma Cooney, Markus Hesseling and Moninne Howlett.
"From the need for clinical care and IT systems to meet, the area of Clinical Informatics was born" health and the delivery of health and social care. However, if Clinical Informatics was meant to be the bridge that linked healthcare and IT, as a term it serves to only further alienate one from the other. Thus the more human-centric term “digital health” was developed, defined as the use of information and communications technologies in medicine and other health professions to manage illnesses and health risks and promote wellness. While fundamentally similar in meaning to Clinical Informatics, the term “digital health” is more accessible to the wider healthcare workforce. Digital health articulates that healthcare remains at the centre, while bringing it into the digital age. The CxIO Team
With the move to the new Children’s Hospital, Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) is embarking on a journey to become one of the world’s leading digital paediatric hospitals. To lead this journey, a Digital Health Department is being formed, within which is situated the CxIO team, comprising clinical information officers from different disciplines: a chief medical information officer (CMIO), a chief nursing information officer (CNIO), a chief health and social care professionals information officer (CHIO), and a chief pharmacy information officer (CPIO). These clinical information officers work alongside technical IT staff, serving as clinical representatives. As such, the CxIO team members are digital health leaders for clinical staff, bringing insights of clinical work to the IT team. They have first-hand experience of the reality of delivering clinical care, and through this they bring a focus and an understanding of the end-user needs. They understand the challenges of working clinically, and know what matters to staff and patients alike. Importantly, they are also seen as allies for clinical colleagues, and can help with engagement along the digital health journey.
" They have first-hand experience of the reality of delivering clinical care, and through this they bring a focus and an understanding of the end-user needs"
The journey ahead
The CHI CxIO team is tasked with driving forward new digital technologies and ways of working to benefit clinical teams and patients. As part of this, the priority areas for the CxIO team include: • The design and implementation of the clinical systems for the new hospital • Engaging with children, young people, carers, and staff to understand their wants and needs • Promoting and establishing digital research and innovation in CHI • Building digital skills and capabilities in the workforce As a new team, working in the developing area of digital health, the exact path that lies ahead is uncertain. The journey will no doubt be challenging, but it will certainly be an exciting venture. The digital hospital is just the beginning from which true digital innovation and transformation can grow, and the CxIO team intends to position themselves at the forefront of this journey. Meantime, as the route is being determined, the vision of the CxIO remains clear and simple: to use digital technologies and digital ways of working to improve health, experience, and access for children, young people, and their carers. Ultimately, this is what digital health means: using technology for better outcomes and experiences for the patients we care for.
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