How can you stay current on a changing financial landscape shaped by incentive payments for hospitals and physicians and also keep C-suite leaders decision-makers informed?

There is no single answer to this question. The combination of trade journals, e-mail blasts, webinars, podcasts, local seminar attendance and national conference participation is a good start. So would be, the need to educate your Governing Body and senior leadership teams. This is the time for CIO’s to stand up and be heard! Incentive payments are forthcoming for those organizations positioned to take advantage of their years of hard work and effort to build infrastructure into their facilities. For those that have not kept up, they may find themselves unable to reap the benefits—whether it be lack of funding, scarce technical staffing, access to system upgrades or just long lines of other facilities already in queue with vendors for upgrades and installation projects. If you’ve been stuck in second gear in a late model car, you may find that the accelerator may stick, your engine may sputter, or worse, seize, as you are asked to go full throttle to meet the deadlines for ARRA and HITECH. Get on the agenda and make a difference for your patients and community NOW.