The digital transformation is underway, and, surprisingly, the healthcare industry is leading the charge. With recent government mandates and incentives in place that center on the digitization of health records, among other issues, healthcare is taking advantage of the digital architecture unlike any other industry. With an influx of new technology comes the dilemma of how to serve that technology. “We’re trying to change paradigm and think of IT as a service,” said Jay Yellott, VP of IT for Baylor, Scott & White Health. “It’s a cultural shift for both our IT employees and the doctors and other customers that we’re servicing,” he stated.

A healthcare IT problem takes top priority, and Yellott pointed out the importance. “Our customers are highly educated and compensated, and they want what they want regardless of standardization. We need to make them happy while staying on the right side of safety and compliance,” Yellott said.

Although there have been radical developments in patient care, until recently, providers documented that care via large quantities of paper according to Baylor, Scott & White Health CIO Matthew Chambers. By moving to a cloud model, healthcare service can not only give providers and patients more immediate access to data, but also control costs. “With a cloud model, you find more predictability,” said Chambers.

New challenges come with the cloud. “A lot of what we’re being asked to support is outside of our normal environment, such as charting—transcribing medical records–from home,” said Yellott.

To successfully implement an IT program in the healthcare industry, the CIO must have a “seat at the table,” said Chambers. “The CIO needs to be [with leadership] to influence the conversation. You also have to cover your ‘table stakes,’” he said, pulling a reference from Knowledge 15’s Las Vegas locale. “You can’t talk about strategic transformation if your systems aren’t up; if you’re not managing the issues. You have to be very transparent and come to them with thought leadership. CIOs need to be able to go to the leader in marketing, or finance, and ask if they would see a benefit in an IT program,” Chambers explained.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more Knowledge15 coverage from theCUBE and SiliconANGLE.

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