Expanding universes. From biomedical engineering to facility planning, CIOs are finding the domain of responsibility...

More CIOs are seeing broad new areas being brought under their supervision, from biomedical engineering to HIM/medical records to facilities planning, among other areas. For CIOs, having a strong, consensus-created strategic vision and set of operating principles, is very important. Making sure everyone in the organization is on the same page about direction and priorities, at a broad level, is crucial to success. These shifts are changing how CIOs spend their time: inevitably, the focus becomes more strategic and less day-to-day-operational. The CIO's profile with regard to the C-suite, board of directors, and even community, is virtually always elevated over time. To a large extent, broad changes in the operational landscape of healthcare are helping to dictate these changes to CIOs' portfolios. CIOs need to plan carefully and execute beautifully in order to make a success of their broadened scope of responsibility.