What's in the foundation of a strong CFO-CIO dynamic?
When the CFO and CIO can work together without friction, health systems reap the benefits of financially sound innovation.
Numerous issues prevail in today’s healthcare climate, from high costs due to inflation and labor expenses, to physician and nurse burnout due to outdated technology. There are countless challenges that call for CFO and CIO collaboration, but what do both parties need to understand for the relationship to be successful?
The HFMA conference this year highlighted the importance of this collaboration. One CFO described the dynamic as “putting the innovation where it makes sense.”
Andy Adams of Nordic Consulting moderated this discussion at HFMA and notes the value for a health system when a good CFO-CIO relationship is nurtured. “A tightly connected CFO-CIO duo can drive the innovation agenda and work together to manage, evaluate and stage projects and investments across all aspects of healthcare delivery,” Adams summarized in a LinkedIn post.
When both parties focus on understanding the initiative purpose and expected outcomes, they can ensure they are working from the same playbook.
A good CFO-CIO collaboration needs:
- Balanced reporting structure steeped in trust.
- CIOs must have an understanding of finance, as well as how to examine value versus cost.
- CFOs must understand the value of IT: Great CFOs know how to communicate the IT value story.
- Shared language: Ensure common business definitions over common data definitions when diving into analytics.
Create an investment model to represent the impact of digital transformation—agree on cost, value, and acceptable risk level.
Marie DeFreitas is the finance editor for HealthLeaders.