Career Planning to Lead Healthcare Digital Transformation

by Chris Papesh, MBA

Chris Papesh is a lecturer in Healthcare Administration and Policy, for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and currently serves as a member of the HIMSS Professional Development Committee. Previously, Chris served as an assistant vice president for Carnegie Mellon University and a consultant, project manager and vice president and technology director for global consulting and software organizations.

Introduction

The digital transformation of healthcare organizations is a dynamic and ongoing process, driven by the rapid advancements in technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, big data analytics, telemedicine, and electronic health records (EHR). For healthcare organizations to stay competitive and provide effective care, they must embrace technological innovations. Leading this transformation requires professionals with specialized skills, leadership capabilities, and a forward-thinking mindset. This article will outline key roles in this transformation and will explore the career paths, training, certifications, and lifelong learning strategies necessary to succeed in these positions. Roles and titles will vary depending on the strategic focus and digital transformation path of each healthcare organization.

I have been blessed in working with many of the leading researchers, computer scientists and software engineering and AI experts in the world to transform universities, healthcare and other organizations.

I will provide some tips and recommendations on how you can accelerate your career planning journey and path to lead the digital transformation of your healthcare organization.

Trends

I studied under Peter Drucker at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University. Peter Drucker in his lectures and books always told us to look at the trends, especially demographic and technological trends.

Moore’s law continues to predict that the capacity of computer circuits will double every two years, and this trend has persisted since the 1970s. Computer power is growing rapidly, and costs are falling fast for the same levels of computer power. The large mainframe computers that cost millions of dollars in the 1970s had only a tiny fraction of the computer memory, power, and storage of the average smart phone in 2025.

For busy professors, students, professionals, and managers, I highly recommend listening to Audible books, during your daily exercise, to understand the latest business and technology trends. Currently, I am listening to Mastering the Data Paradox by Nitin Seth (2024), who has served as the CEO and director of McKinsey’s Global Knowledge Center. As Nitin mentions, recent studies have shown that the total volume of global digital data, structured and unstructured, is doubling every 18 months. The world is awash with videos, social media, emails, and text messages. We see extreme growth in data in the healthcare and wellness sectors in data arising from smart watches, DNA sequencing, and electronic health records (EHR) and sensors. Leading academic medical centers and major hospital-health systems have built large data warehouses, data lakes, and data lakehouses with many millions of rows of data, with data structures optimized for reporting, and often deployed in a cloud architecture.

When I served as technology director for Oracle, my teams designed, built, tested, and implemented portal-data warehouse and ERP systems for more than 200 universities and healthcare organizations, including Stanford University, Ohio State University, Kaiser Permanente, Empire Blue Cross of NYC, NYU Langone Medical Center and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kaiser spent $4 billion on the implementation of its Epic EHR system and an additional $200 million on its Teradata clinical data warehouse system to store and speed access to its long-term clinical information and registry systems for its more than 12 million patients. My Oracle teams designed and built two data warehouses and other systems for Kaiser.

Major companies and their executive teams have embarked on their journey to digitally transform their firms. Hospital administrators and healthcare leaders will be transforming their organizations for the rest of their careers.

Technology Trends

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) are rapidly transforming healthcare, offering opportunities to improve diagnostics, patient care, operational efficiency, and medical research. Over the next decade, AI-driven solutions will revolutionize healthcare delivery, but their complexity and the associated challenges require specialized expertise to ensure effective integration.

AI's capacity to analyze data from diverse sources, including genomic data, lifestyle factors, and clinical trials, will drive advancements in precision medicine. LLMs will help healthcare providers create highly personalized treatment plans tailored to individual patients' needs. Over the next decade, AI will improve the management of chronic conditions, optimizing treatment responses in real-time and leading to better patient outcomes.

How AI Will Transform Healthcare

Improving Diagnostics and Treatment Plans

AI models can rapidly analyze patient data, including medical images, lab results, and genetic information, helping doctors make faster and more accurate diagnoses. By identifying patterns that may not be easily detectable by humans, AI can offer personalized treatment recommendations based on patient-specific data, such as genetic markers or risk factors. Over the next decade, AI will play a pivotal role in early disease detection and precision medicine, enabling better patient outcomes.

Healthcare Administrative Tasks:

Administrative tasks, such as billing, coding, and appointment scheduling, burden healthcare organizations. AI can automate these processes, freeing up healthcare professionals to focus on patient care. AI-driven decision support systems will also assist clinicians in real-time, improving the accuracy of diagnoses and treatment recommendations, reducing medical errors, and enhancing care coordination.

The use of AI in healthcare raises important ethical and regulatory concerns, including data privacy, algorithmic bias, and transparency in AI-driven decision-making. Specialized professionals will be essential in guiding organizations through these challenges, ensuring that AI technologies behave ethically and in compliance with evolving regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

Over the next decade, AI and large language models will profoundly transform healthcare delivery, offering improvements in diagnostics, personalized treatments, patient engagement, operational efficiency, and medical research. However, the successful implementation of AI technologies requires specialized expertise. Healthcare organizations will increasingly rely on professionals with knowledge in AI, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and change management to navigate the complex challenges and fully leverage the benefits of AI in healthcare.

Serving as the principal investigator (PI) on the UNLV Cardiff Project, my student teams have built a series of AI models from public health and hospital data to identify and map the locations of injuries due to violence and drug overdoses and we are working to create and deliver effective prevention strategies and programs. We have prepared a series of published research reports describing the technical aspects of the AI models.

Key Roles in Digital Transformation

HIMSS Health Information and Technology Job Descriptions and Career Pathway Tool

Each year, the Professional Development Committee (PDC) updates the HIMSS Health Information and Technology Job Descriptions document. In this document, you will find a healthy sampling of digital transformation, and health information and technology roles. The PDC created the document to help those new or transitioning into the industry understand the different areas of the field. It compiles key roles in the health IT professions and the exciting career opportunities and paths for entry-level and experienced professionals. Currently, there are 90 roles described in the document.

HIMSS has simplified the process of career navigation by developing the Healthcare Career Pathways tool to assist those exploring health technology positions. This tool allows you to map various potential career paths and visualize the steps to attain health IT and digital transformation leadership positions. If you are looking for your next job or next hire, discover the leading global job center for health technology jobs, the HIMSS JobMine. You can search JobMine’s extensive job board, post your resumé, get customized job alerts, and receive tips to improve your job search.

Among the 90 HIMSS health IT job descriptions updated in 2024 are the following examples and roles that can lead to digital transformation leadership positions: Applied Data Scientist, AI Developer, AI Practitioner, Business Analyst, Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), Chief Data Officer (CDO), Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO, and Vice President, Chief Information Officer (VP/CIO).

Lifelong Learning, Certifications and Professional Development

As the healthcare industry rapidly evolves, so too must the skills of those leading its digital transformation. Lifelong learning is a critical component of career success in this field, and individuals must stay up to date with innovative technologies, regulations, and best practices. General managers, healthcare administrators, change management, and computer security professionals may migrate into digital transformation leadership roles. Examples of certifications and specialized training that can prepare professionals for digital transformation leadership roles include the following HIMSS certifications: CPDHTS®, CAHIMS ®, and CPHIMS®.

The Certified Professional in Digital Health Transformation Strategy (CPDHTS®) is a certification from HIMSS to demonstrate global-level expertise in digital health strategy and leadership of digital transformation programs and teams. You can accelerate your career as a global leader in digital health transformation by passing the CPDHTS® exam. The Certified Associate in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CAHIMS®) certification is a pathway for expanding and diversifying industry knowledge for entry-level professionals or those newer to healthcare information and management systems. I recommend the CAHIMS ® certification to my UNLV students who lack years of experience in health IT professional roles but can qualify and pass the exam. The Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS®) is a certification program for experienced professionals, acknowledging and honoring their proven expertise and commitment to the health IT field. By passing the CPHIMS® exam and attaining the certification, you demonstrate lifelong learning and you will position yourself as a leader in the ever-evolving digital healthcare landscape.

Conclusion

Leading the digital transformation of healthcare organizations requires a blend of technical knowledge, strategic thinking, and strong leadership skills. Career paths to executive roles like the Chief Digital Officer typically involve years of progressive responsibility, ongoing education, and a commitment to lifelong learning. As the healthcare sector continues to evolve, professionals must be adaptable, continually expanding their knowledge and skill sets. As demonstrated within the HIMSS Healthcare Career Pathways, dozens of career paths can lead to exciting and high-compensation roles in ongoing healthcare digital transformation projects. Be sure to also visit the HIMSS JobMine where you can apply online for actual health IT jobs in real-time.