CHIME CIO Forum Focus Group Recap: Navigating Today’s IT Resource Gaps

By MacKenzie Gonnelly

As healthcare organizations face continued IT resource constraints, leaders are being pushed to rethink how they manage technology, support users, and navigate limited operational capacity. To combat this strain, hospitals and health systems are shifting their focus toward maximizing what they already have. During the recent CHIME CIO Forum, Stoltenberg Consulting convened a focus group of health IT leaders to explore practical strategies for addressing resource gaps. This blog highlights five key takeaways from the discussion, including actionable approaches healthcare IT leaders can use to better overcome staffing and budget challenges, as well as improve organizational alignment.

1. Optimize your existing technology foundation before scaling
   According to the 12th Annual Health IT Industry Outlook Survey, 62% of health IT leaders consider “getting the most out of existing IT purchases, like EHR or ERP systems” as their greatest priority for IT-related financial goals. CIO feedback reinforces this focus by expanding the importance of optimizing existing technology before adopting new tools, especially when resources are tight. New technology often creates unnecessary complexity and places additional strain on already limited IT staffing. Engaging expert vendor partners to uncover optimization opportunities, especially in core systems like your EHR, is a practical first step. By fully leveraging underutilized EHR functionalities, organizations can achieve meaningful improvements without the financial and operational burden of new implementations.
   
   
2. Build strong AI governance for sustainable innovation
   The rapid rise of AI in healthcare has created both opportunity and risk. Without clear governance, healthcare organizations may find themselves inundated with vendor pitches, pilot proposals, and unvetted use cases, many of which lack a sound business case and/or introduce data protection concerns.
   
   Peer feedback for incorporating more effective AI governance includes:
   • Establishing criteria for evaluating new AI tools
   • Standardizing workflows for intake and approval
   • Building cross-functional review committees
   • Creating legal, ethical, and compliance safeguards
   • Aligning AI with organizational priorities
   
   By placing governance at the center of decision-making, health systems can conserve resources and pursue innovations that are safe, strategic, and sustainable.
   
   
3. Boost technology adoption through ongoing, accessible support
   When healthcare organizations invest in digital tools, adoption often falters when staff don’t have easy access to ongoing support. In fact, Stoltenberg’s HIT Outlook Survey found that healthcare CIOs identify the lack of continuous technology training as the top IT-related frustration for end users.
   
   To enhance staff satisfaction, health IT leaders at CHIME emphasized best practices such as hosting IT office hours for real-time troubleshooting, establishing rounding-based training programs, developing quick-tip resources and microlearning tools, and conducting ongoing optimization check-ins. Continuous support reduces help desk burden, boosts efficiency, and accelerates the successful adoption of digital tools, especially when resources are limited.
   
   
4. Design training programs for the least tech-savvy user
   Maximizing technology utilization requires designing workflows and training programs that support every type of user, not just the most experienced. By building with the least tech-savvy user in mind, organizations create a more inclusive, intuitive experience that enhances overall performance. This often means taking a human-centered approach, incorporating frontline feedback early, and ensuring instructions and training materials are concise and easy to follow. Ultimately, designing programs for universal usability empowers staff across all roles to work more efficiently and confidently, maximizing the value of technology systems.
   
   
5. Improve cross-department alignment to reduce waste
   Siloed IT decision-making often leads to duplicate technology purchases, conflicting workflows, and increased user frustration, all of which place unnecessary strain on limited resources. By improving cross-department alignment, organizations can significantly reduce these inefficiencies. Strategies such as cross-functional budgeting, a unified technology roadmap, and involving IT early in department-driven projects ensure that technology investments are strategic rather than reactive.
   
   

Hospitals and health systems can utilize this peer executive feedback when considering how to overcome their own IT resource gaps. When internal capacity is stretched, engaging qualified vendors to supplement support and ease operational burdens can effectively strengthen a healthcare organization’s managed services strategy for long-term cost savings. With the right mix of internal focus and external support, healthcare organizations can build a more resilient, scalable, and sustainable IT foundation for the years ahead.