QUESTION OF THE MONTH
I’m over 40 and in my second phase of my career - I used to be a nurse on the front lines and now wanting to join the healthcare IT side of things What are your thoughts and do I qualify as an Emerging Professional at HIMSS and what is the benefit of joining the community?

Van Vossen responds:
Yes, as long as you are a HIMSS member - you qualify for the Emerging Professionals Community. The HIMSS Emerging Professionals Community was created for members just like you! There has been no better time than now to be exploring the possibility of a career in healthcare information technology. With unprecedented grant opportunities provided by the U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor and others, educational programs are abounding across the country to train the next generation of healthcare IT professionals. To facilitate the adoption of the meaningful use of health IT, projections by the U. S. Department of Labor estimates that over 50,000 new professionals will be added to the already existing complement of HIT professionals. And to nurture the HIT professional, HIMSS has placed great emphasis on the HIT Emerging Professional, those with five years or less work experience in health IT, by creating the HIMSS Emerging Professionals group.

We've created a moderated Listserv for the group to have discussions and post announcements, etc. If you'd like to join the Emerging Professionals Community, please send an email to: emergingprofessionals@himss.org & we will take care of the rest. Learn more about the Community.

We also host a series of monthly, informational webinars that meet on the second Friday of the month at 1:00 PM Eastern / 12:00 PM Central. Below is more information on our upcoming webinars (no charge for HIMSS members):

The Importance of Your Personal Brand Rick Schooler, FACHE, FCHIME, MBA, VP & CIO, Orlando Health, Orlando Florida, 2011 CHIME/HIMSS John E. Gall CIO of the Year A successful career requires building and maintaining a Personal Brand that appropriately sets perceptions and expectations regarding your image, capabilities and potential. Being competent and delivering results are not enough.

• Explore the fundamentals of Personal Brand management
• Consider how others form opinions about you and the impact of your Personal Brand
• Determine what your organization wants from you and your position: Leader, IT Professional or both?
• Evaluate your career goals against available opportunities: Does your Personal Brand align?
• Map your future: What needs to change?

Register Now

Magdalene M. Van Vossen
Manager, Professional Development
HIMSS

QUESTION OF THE MONTH
I have extensive experience in non-healthcare IT project management and hold the PMP credential. I am interested in working in healthcare but need to know the best approach for me to so. What advice can provide to me?

Klinedinst responds:
Congratulations on wanting to pursue a project management position in healthcare. There are many opportunities available which should help you in determining the best fit based on your experiences. Those who work in healthcare understand the industry and the language. Therefore, it is challenging to find a senior level project management position if you’ve never worked in the industry. So please be aware and try to temper your expectations to where you can learn while also implementing projects. Next, you will want to determine the best environment, i.e. a provider setting (hospital, physician practice, or government facility), or, perhaps a vendor organization. Targeting the provider setting like a hospital provides the best options, in my opinion. With over 65 departments in a community hospital, for example, one may be able to leverage experience from a previous industry like Pharma, insurance, education, risk, or other types of industries. And to understand the types of departments in a hospital, visit the Davies Award winners page to learn more about the various award winners and their specific environments. Next, you will need to learn about the industry of health IT. There is no better resource than the HIMSS eLearning Academy which has hundreds of learning objects, i.e. sessions recorded from past conferences, as well as 16 courses. Each are categorized so that you can learn specifics about a particular area, i.e. ambulatory information systems, business and financial systems, process improvement, leadership, etc. And, you will also want to browse the various courses available too and pick from topics like project management, Information Technology in Healthcare, and many others. And finally, you will want to be sure to not only become a HIMSS member but also become an engaged HIMSS member. This is the best way, in my opinion, to learn about the industry and the many opportunities (and resources) available.

JoAnn W. Klinedinst, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, PMP
Vice President, Professional Development
HIMSS

QUESTION OF THE MONTH
I am new to healthcare information. I stumbled upon HIMSS on a computer search. I am a part-time student at my community college and contemplating a career as an implementation specialist for my current employer who will be installing an electronic health record. My employer is willing to train me on the job for this role. So between school and work I have very limited access to education programs. How can I best keep up with the new topics in health IT given my limited bandwidth but realizing I need to continue my learning curve for career growth?

Figge responds:
Given your limited bandwidth at this point in time, the simplest route is to become an active member of HIMSS and join our Emerging Professionals (EP) community.  Review all of the links in our Career Services and follow my weekly career blog and JoAnn Klinedins’st twitter feed. Review the older recorded webinars in our Emerging Professionals link as well because there are many recorded sessions that can get you up to speed as to what is being discussed and topics that are of interest in healthcare today. So, join HIMSS and follow the directions below.

First, click on the membership link:  http://www.himss.org/ASP/individualHome.asp

Then on the shopping cart there will be a "Discount/Comp/Promo Code:" field at the bottom of the page. Enter code EPSTU and click on the apply discount button (note: this is not a discount option but rather a way to enroll into the Emerging Professionals community directly). So, you must click on the apply discount button in order to enroll correctly and then proceed to checkout. 

Also, you must mark the checkbox for the Emerging Professionals Community to enroll and will do so automatically. The fee for a one year membership is only $30.00 and because of the steps listed above, you will enroll into the emerging professional’s community and all supporting programs in that community at no charge to you which is very much in support of your student career efforts.

We feel this is an exciting program for those interested in these career paths so also please visit the community you will be enrolling into as well.

This seems to be the simplest and most practical approach for you at this point so as to not overwhelm you or overload your daily activities. Hope this helps and looking forward to seeing you in the EP community!

Helen Figge, PharmD, MBA
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Senior Director, Professional Development, Career Services HIMSS

QUESTION OF THE MONTH
In your opinion what is the best way for those new to the industry to break into a career in health IT?

ANSWER
Based on my experience, I present my “Top Ten” list as follows but keeping in mind that there may be other ideas as well. 10. Join an association or two. There is no better place to learn about health IT than to join an association.  I’ve spent my entire career as a member of HIMSS, but, I’ve also supplemented that membership with others that interested me like the Project Management Institute.  By doing so, I learned about healthcare through HIMSS and project management through PMI. 9. Continually develop professionally. This is critical. Typically through your association involvement, there will be opportunities to attend conferences or educational sessions held at a distance. These are great ways to learn from others and make a contact or two as well.  8. Align your interests with passion. I play the piano and have since I was a kid.  In the hospital setting, I used to play one day a week at lunch time for patients in the Rehab Services Unit. They loved it; I was able to take a break; and it enhanced my work life. 7. Volunteer for assignments. This is critical because there are assignments that no one wants to do.  But by volunteering for these, you demonstrate your willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. I volunteered to facilitate projects which involved doing meeting minutes.  Few liked to do this but I didn’t mind. And the rest is history. 6. Network internally and externally.  This is the best way to engage because you get to know so many people from so many facets. And I continue to keep in contact with some of my early network participants from many years ago.  5. Be dependable. Enough said. 4. Be an agent of change. If you are not willing to change, then you cannot influence others to change.  By demonstrating your flexibility, you show others that you are committed just as you ask others to be as well.  My favorite Dilbert comic strip is “Change is good. You first!”  3. Look for innovation.  Resist the temptation to do things just because that’s what has been done in the past. By continually looking for ways to do things differently, you are demonstrating initiative.  2. Exceed expectations. Do better than what you expect yourself to do. This will surprise others, too!  1. Be passionate about your role. Be the best at whatever your role is in the health IT setting, regardless of your title.  This is critical and perhaps the best advice I can give.

JoAnn W. Klinedinst, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, PMP
Vice President, Professional Development
HIMSS

QUESTION OF THE WEEK
"Based on your experience, if someone would like to advance to a senior executive level role in health IT  is there any special degree or experience you feel is needed to make that next strategic step?"

ANSWER
For those interested in advancing to a senior executive level role, there are multiple competencies that an individual must achieve.  For example, a master’s degree is highly desirable in an executive management team.  A master’s program is designed to equip individuals with strong skills in analysis, problem-solving, and strategic thinking.  Routinely, a senior executive must extract the key elements of a seemingly chaotic or intractable situation and provide clear, direct guidance.  Advanced academic degrees can lay the foundations for such abilities to blossom in the working world.

Obviously, at the senior executive level, one must demonstrate financial expertise.  A senior executive is a fiduciary of an organization, responsible for the financial performance of at least a part of the P&L.  Take financial management courses, and take on responsibility for managing budgets, forecasting outcomes, and creating proformas.  Become conversant in financial nomenclature.

A senior executive must also recognize that organizational leadership is first, determining the organization’s direction.  Second, organizational leadership involves taking that group where it needs to go.  Within a senior executive team member’s skill set, therefore, must exist the ability to identify the right goals, motivate others, relentlessly maintain “eyes on the prize”, and remove obstacles from your team's path.  An effective senior executive has learned how to make good decisions by having a history of making poor decisions â€" then, applying that learning to future decision-making situations.  We learn how to be good managers by living through the repercussions of bad decisions.  We learn how to extract the right key elements by previously extracting the wrong ones.  We learn how to motivate others by absorbing the myriad ways others are motivated.  We learn how to stay focused by experiencing the frustration and disappointment inherent in scope creep.  And, we learn the need for nimbleness by confusing focus with rigidity. 

A documented history of loyalty to one’s employer, working in good faith, integrity, strength of character, and caring about those on your team are also powerful components of an effective senior executive.  You cannot be effective as a senior executive if you lack belief in yourself, if you are disloyal, and if you throw your team members under the bus.  These character attributes, while difficult to quantify, are powerfully meaningful.  Often, these are the types of issues being explored when a potential employer is checking references.  At the level of senior executives, it’s easy to quantify an individual’s ability to financially grow a business.  However, employers also want to know about you as a human being. Members of an effective executive management team must exemplify an organization’s cultural expectations. 

Remember, it’s okay if you don’t fit the first opportunity that comes along, or the second.  Not every organization is right for every senior executive. At the senior executive level, the expectations are high on both sides; it is expected that the senior executive is interviewing the organization as deeply as the organization is interviewing the candidate. 

Plus, you can take steps right now to begin the progression towards an executive management position.  As it's difficult to simultaneously move to a new employer and move up the management ladder, the most fertile ground in which to find your first senior management opportunity is with your current organization.  Consider talking with a senior executive in your organization about your aspirations.  Come in with ideas on potential assignments you'd like to take on, and that you think would benefit the organization.  Recognize that such an offer needs to be made in addition to, not a replacement for, your current responsibilities.    Any executive worth their salt will be open to engaging in conversations that may result in an already-valuable employee increasing their value.  Good luck with the journey!

Carla Smith, MA, CNM, FHIMSS
Executive Vice President
HIMSS