From Potholes to Piglets, Real-Life Lessons in Health IT
Only 20% of the success of a healthcare technology project is about the technology. The other 80% is the psycho-socio-political skills of the team implementing it. After 30 years of practicing medicine and implementing electronic health records, I learned this the hard way.
This book is a portable mentor for the next generation of informaticists.
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CT Lin is best known in healthcare circles for his informatics-themed ukulele parodies. “It’s Not About the Tech” reveals that the music was always beside the point. Read this book to understand computers. Read it more carefully to understand people.
— Robert Wachter, MD · Chair of Medicine, UCSF · author, A Giant Leap
Book Details
- 368 pages, 6×9
- ~30 illustrations, online references and links
- Also available on Kindle
What You’ll Learn
This book teaches practical informatics through stories of success and failure from EHR work. The book comprises bite-sized case studies that illustrate self-development as a tactic for improving teamwork, change management, and leadership in complex healthcare environments.
Who It’s For
Aspiring physician and provider informaticists, CMIOs, CNIOs, pharmacists, nurses, IT analysts, trainers, and project managers. It is for anyone working at the intersection of healthcare and technology. AMIA estimates that 10,000 more skilled informaticists will be needed in the coming decade. This book is for them, and for the senior leaders who mentor them.
The Journey of an Informatics Leader
Seven sections that follow the arc of an informatics leadership career
Introduction — Who this book is for, how to read it for personal growth
Investigation — Curiosity and the surprising value of listening
Intrigue — Creativity and beginning to change minds
Influence — Nudges and grand gestures to foster change
Inosculation — Connecting healthcare and IT with unintuitive tactics
Thrive — Vital skills and maintaining personal morale
Future — Adapting as technology and healthcare rapidly evolve
What Makes It Different
Story-driven, not academic. Learn from real project failures and successes, not theory.
Inclusive across roles. Physicians, nurses, IT analysts all see themselves in the work.
Written from the frontlines. By a CMIO with three decades of failures and successes.
Forward-looking. Closes with a candid section on generative AI and the next decade of informatics.
What People Are Saying
“CT has championed digital transformation in healthcare over the last 3 decades and knows it’s fundamentally about people, workflow, trust, and change management — not just technology. His book captures why implementation, workflow, and clinician engagement matter even more than the innovation itself.”
— Jackie Gerhart, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Epic Systems
“Dr. CT Lin brilliantly highlights the significance of thoughtfully integrating technology into care delivery — and all with a healthy dose of humor. His experience as a CMIO spanning several decades gives the audience a unique opportunity to learn from his triumphs and failures, offering critical lessons that are both practical and inspiring.”
— Margaret Lozovatsky, MD, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Premier Health
“An excellent treatise on the theory and practice of clinical informatics as taught by a master of the trade. This book is essential reading for all clinical informatics practitioners, especially as we move forward into the era of AI.”
— William Hersh, MD, FACP, FACMI, FAMIA, FIAHSI, Professor, Oregon Health & Science University
“In It’s Not About the Tech, C.T. Lin brilliantly bridges the gap between digital innovation and clinical execution, proving that the true power of health information technology lies beyond the code itself. By connecting advances in technology with the realities of human workflow, this book provides an essential roadmap for turning sophisticated tools into meaningful impact on the patients and communities we serve.”
— Philip Payne, PhD, President and Chair, American Medical Informatics Association
“Most health systems invest as if technology is the answer. This book politely (and repeatedly) proves otherwise. Through memorable anecdotes — including the classic ‘But, the p-value!’ failure and a statistically impressive but clinically meaningless acromegaly outbreak — it makes the case that transformation lives or dies in the space between workflow, incentives, and trust. If you’re a healthcare leader or physician executive who doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of others, this book is for you.”
— Craig Joseph, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Nordic Global
“CT Lin spent thirty years learning what every health system relearns the hard way. The technology was never the hard part. This is the field guide. Read it before you buy the next platform.”
— Adam Carewe, MD, Founder, NerdMDs
“CT is an excellent communicator.”
— Jill VanWyk, MD
Invite CT to Speak
Four talks drawn from the book, given to rooms from a dozen fellows to a regional user group.
Generative AI: the Profane, the Mundane, and the Insane
How should humans adapt to AI tech acceleration? What will we become?
Storytelling in Leadership (workshop)
Story beats data. How to build your compelling story in five steps.
It’s Not About the Tech
Tech alone is not enough. Informatics and the Psycho-80 were what actually carried APSO, ZIO, and Sepsis.
My Failure Resume
Why talk about your failures? Why did CT fail so often? What lessons can you apply?
Keynotes, grand rounds, fellowship sessions, retreats, and user groups. Email ctlin@duck.com with your date, audience, and format, and I’ll send terms.
About the Author
CT Lin, MD, FACP, FAMIA is Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and served 20 years as CMIO at UCHealth – Colorado, an organization serving four million patients. He was trained at Harvard and Stanford and is board certified in internal medicine and clinical informatics. He has championed patient information transparency, invented EHR Sprints and led EHR and AI adoption in an organization that has achieved Most Wired level 10 and HIMSS stage 7. His blog reached 14,000 unique readers in 2025.