I am a new CIO. Please read.

[shannanl]

Here is the scoop. I work in a 2 person I.T. Department of a small rural hospital. The CIO (my boss) was recently fired. I was moved into that position but told that I would make slightly less than he was and I could not hire any help. It is a full time job for 2 people to maintain the network and ensure complaince with HIPAA etc. I also will be managing a data processing department with two employees in it. I was quite upset to hear that I could not replace my old job. They just said "well he was doing nothing and you were doing all the work anyway". The people that make these decisions unfortunatly know nothing about managing a network. I have already typed up my resignation and am supposed to meet with the CFO next Tuesday for a meeting. I am going to talk to him and if he still will not authorize the position I am going to resign. Some of you may be CIO's or in a leadership position. What can I do to show them just how critical the I.T. department is to the day to day operation of this hospital. We do all of our billing, etc. on the computers. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Shannan

 

[Dollie]

I have no suggestions because I'm not technically the CIO, BUT, there is no way I would ever ever consider resigning from a job until I had secured another (better) position!

 

[shannanl]

I am torn. On one hand what they are doing is taking advantage of me. They gave me a little raise and dumped two peoples jobs on me. The CIO of a hospital is a very demanding job if it is done correctly. Personally I don't want to get my rear in a sling for not getting something done because I did not have the time to do it. You know how that goes. On the other hand, if I stick it out I will always have that CIO on my resume.

 

[CajunCenturion]

The first question is, "What have you decided to do with respect the the HIS and your thoughts about providing that same service to the Hospital as a contractor?" At one point, you seem to be entertaining the notion of working with this rural hospital in a somewhat different capacity. How has the landscape changed?

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[BettyGay]

Shannon, I have seen this happen before. My last boss was put into the same position. She worked alot of overtime and continued building her case for help. I really think they were testing her and if you quit you certainly won't pass the test. However, if there are other reason's you can't through yourself into it then quit. I personally couldn't because I refuse to work overtime and be away from my family that much, I just feel that there are alot more important things in my life right now than my career.

 

[shannanl]

Cajun, you are correct. I am also a VB programmer and I wrote an order entry program that the hospital uses to enter all the patients charges and schedule procedures, etc. I was interested in expanding that to an actual HIS program. I was hoping to get back on that IF if I received a replacement for my position. As it stands now, there is no way I can devote the time to tackle that massive project. So that is off the shelf now. My main gripe is that I can easily show where my old position has not cost the hospital any money. Two of many examples are (1) I eliminated over 12,000 from our annual HIS support package by performing the work myself and (2) I replaced our internet service from a fractional T-1 to a cable and saved over 10,000 per year and we have a much faster connection to the internet. I have written about a dozen programs that we use in the hospital, a point of sale program for the hospital cafeteria with touch screen monitor, an accounting program that keeps track of outstanding private pay (non insurarance or after insurance pays their part) debts and generates monthly statements that are mailed to the patients, a maintenance program that users can send maintenance requests to the maint. department and receive feedback and check the status of their workorders, etc. etc. All this was written for a fraction of what we could have purchased these for. I have built, from scratch three servers and replaced aging NT servers and saved about 1/3 of what it would have cost to purchase the servers. Every week we sit in meetings and they tell everybody how much the order entry program is saving the hospital because I have medical necessity checking built in so that procedures that insurance companies will not pay for are not performed unless necessary. One of the doctors made a comment that one of the local universities is always graduating computer students and he could get one in here for a fraction of what they are paying me (which is not that much for a CIO job). I don't think they understand what is involved in maintaining a hospital computer network. I guess its ignorant bliss for them.

 

[svanels]

Congratulations you have been promoted to management, you moved up higher in the food chain.
Maybe you can train your new subordinates to do some of your work.
You have been spotted and now you are closer to the people that make the decisions and have the money.
It would be different if there were 2 identical positions, and one of them was eliminated.
They just said "well he was doing nothing and you were doing all the work anyway" It seems to me that your old boss could not prove his value.
I am not a CIO but in my position if I was reporting to my boss :
John did this, John achieved that, John is very good

and when I got my directives, I responded:
John will fix it, John can do that

and when there were problems:
I will ask John

The boss would tell me after some time: I will ask John myself, I don't need a parrot.

Looks like you are John....
Is that the case?

Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr

 

[shannanl]

Yes that is pretty much it except that he was not doing all of his job and that is the stuff I will have to pick up because I am not going to half do his job like he was. I received a little talk from the CEO yesterday and they told me that everyone was behind me. They said to not let it bother me that they knew that 1 person in this job was not enough and to hold on just a little. Of course, words are nothing without action so I will see what happens.

Shannan

 

[dkediger]

After thinking about this one for a while, here's my take:

If you're comfortable with management, try to work with the situation as the title/experience will certainly be valuable. Lookout for falling into the "live to work" trap though.

I would need to make sure there is a **very** well defined position description and performance measurements. Get out on the table exactly what wasn't being performed with the previous CIO. If there are big discrepancies between the position description and the reasons for dismisal, be wary, as there are unwritten expectations/organizational problems that will come out to bite you.

It would also be helpful to get a formal, written offer of the position and why they are promoting you in your hands. At least make good notes now of any conversations you've had with management along these lines.

Try to outline, with management, some immediate progress/improvements that need to be addressed. Set progress steps and an intermediate evaluation to discuss these - like in 3 or 6 months. Make it known that your desire for appropriate compensation for succesful performance will be discussed as well. Keep in mind that they are now down/saving more than 1 FTE if you are making less than the previous person.

Are you hourly or salary? If hourly, set an upper limit yourself on hours you will work in a week - be reasonable and flexibile - and let management know. If salary, be sure to get expected hours of presence and comp time flexibility nailed down.

Are the 2 positions in the DP department you will be overseeing IT techs or are they more medical records coders? There could be two tracks to take here - if they are simply records coders, try to move them to someone else's department so you don't have that oversight burden. If they are more IT techs, see if you can identify one to become a "senior" tech and operate more as an assistant to you and try to cover their former responsibilities with contract or part time help.

At the least, see about the possibility of contract work for the more mundane aspects of your environment.

 

[langleymass]

It sounds like if you leave, you will leave with them no IT department whatsoever. If they undervalue IT this much, they get what they deserve. Either way, it definitely sounds like you should be getting out of there. By their deeds, you shall know them. It sounds like they just want to cut costs.

Try taking a couple sick days, and make sure they are busy days. Maybe that will force them to realize that you are important.

There are problems with finding while you have a job. The main problem is that you have less time to look for a job. You also may be so stressed out that you will not interview well. If a job is destroying your mental health, you will need to get your mental health back before you find a better job.

Taking time off from your job to interview somewhere else is a bad idea, in my experience. But if it's some HR moron scheduling the interviews, you will probably have no choice. A good manager will appreciate your integrity if you don't want to take time off to interview. If I had employees, I wouldn't want them taking time off to interview.

There is the old cliche: "Never burn a bridge." Unfortunately, this sounds like a case in which the employer has already burned it.

 

[svanels]

Looks like this is definite a promotion, they have recognized the value you added to the company.
Give it a try, one of the things to learn is to let other people do the work (at least you will be boss of two), and be acountable for what they do (or not did).
If you are acostumed working only with equipment and technology, dealing with people looks scary but it can be very rewarding.

Good luck.

Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr

 

[chiph]

I don't know if this promotion is a good thing. The "C" in CIO stands for Chief, and the OP's experience level & discomfort with dealing with other upper management says to me that he won't be in the position long.

I strongly suspect they've put him in the job as a placeholder until they can find someone more experienced, at which time he will be let go (since it generates bad vibes to demote someone & have them stay in the organization).

My advice would be to accept, but then immediately start looking.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
Click here to learn Ways to help with Tsunami Relief
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[ChrisHunt]

I'm not a CIO either (well, actually I suppose I am, but I'm the only employee in my company!), but here's my take:

Now you're in charge of a department, you're in charge of fighting it's corner in the organisation's priorities. If they've decided to cut the number of IT personnel by 33%, you need to come up with a plan of how you can reduce the services provided by the department to fit the resources made available to it. Make your that your proposed cuts are as painful as possible to your superiors (try to think up some spurious reason to slow down their internet access, for example). Similarly you need to inconvenience them due to your overworked status (it will happen naturally anyway) - refuse to go to meetings when they need you, or drop out at the last minuite, because you're only a part-time manager. If you've only got 10% of your time to spend on being a CIO, any CIO-work will take 10 times longer. Such is the game of politics.

But can you meet them halfway? You sound like the kind of person that's going to want to keep a hands-on role, cutting code and so forth. Do they have part-time workers in the US? Maybe you can take on somebody on that basis? Only suggest it if you think you can make it work, though.

But don't resign. At least, not yet. It won't look good on your resume if you took on the post and then quickly resigned. Give it 6-12 months at least to see if you can make things work. It may help to be conspicuously looking for other jobs though.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[shannanl]

I appreciate all the posts. You guys have some good suggestions. I am supposed to meet with the CFO tomorrow and try to convince him that they should not eliminate the position.

I will let you guys know how that goes.

Thanks again,

Shannan

 

[leztek]

Shannan...

Wow... sounds a lot like my position.

I recently told them they I cannot work any more OT without compensation, either money or comp time.

I've been with the company for 10 years, always put in the extra time for the best interest of the company. I recently found out what someone in my position should make in my area. I'm about 15 percent under paid.

Shanne, let me know how you make out.

JLez

 

[shannanl]

Well guys, the good news is that I guess I finally whinned enough. They let me hire someone today. I typed up some information showing them how much that position has saved the company by cutting several tens of thousands of dollars from service contracts, etc. They saw the light!!

Thanks for all the posts. As usual you guys are great help.

Thanks,

Shannan

 

[svanels]

Congratulations

Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr

 

[shannanl]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I think this will be a good assignment. At least I can now add "CIO" to my resume. ha ha

Thanks again for all of your help.


Shannan