It’s Not About the Tech

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.

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.

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

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 working CMIO with three decades of failures and successes.

Forward-looking. Closes with a candid section on generative AI and the next decade of informatics.