Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »November 01, 2007 — CIO —
As CIO for Quest Diagnostics, the diagnostic testing company, I not only have to keep information technology operations running, but I also have responsibility to use IT to create competitive advantage and to deliver value-added services and products for our customers. Developing market knowledge—that is, gaining a better understanding of the healthcare industry and our customers' needs—isn't a sideline activity. It's part of my role and it's critical to my company's growth.
A broad and deep understanding of your business, your market and your customers enables you to identify the products and services that will create sustained value for your customers and sustained competitive advantage for your company. Such understanding, along with knowledge of technology trends, is essential to aligning IT and business strategies to drive growth.
As a healthcare company, we provide services to multiple customers including physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers, insurers and pharmaceutical companies—and of course patients, who are at the center of everything we do. Because we work with all of these constituents, we have a 360-degree view of the healthcare market and its trends. Seventy percent of healthcare decisions involve laboratory test information, so laboratories such as Quest Diagnostics are at the center of many healthcare IT initiatives. We spend a lot of time with our business partners and customers understanding their needs and how technology can have the most positive impact.
Here are some examples of how we have used our understanding of customer needs and market drivers to deliver value-added IT services:
We recognized that online services could make it easier for large numbers of our patient and physician customers to do business with us, and so we identified and developed several new Internet-based services. For instance, thousands of patients visit our patient service centers (PSCs) to have blood drawn for tests. We know that a key factor in creating a positive patient experience is to minimize a patient's wait time in the PSC. So we implemented an online appointment scheduling service. A patient can quickly identify PSC locations that are convenient, schedule an appointment and retrieve driving directions. According to our surveys, patients love the convenience of the online service, which puts them in control of their busy day.
Another online service is the Care360 physician portal. The portal is used by more than 100,000 physicians to order tests and receive test reports electronically. Recognizing that electronic prescribing would be a major thrust in the healthcare industry to reduce medication errors, we integrated electronic prescribing into our Care360 product. The integration of labs and meds in the Care360 physician portal gives physicians critical information when they need it—and helps improve the quality of care.