The CMIO Quick Start Guide Part Three: Selecting the Right Candidate for You

The CMIO Quick Start Guide is a series of posts on the role of Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO). The number of health care organizations adding a CMIO to their staff is growing exponentially. However, even though the benefits of a CMIO are plentiful they won't make all your problems disappear. This series will discuss what a CMIO is, whether your organization needs one, how to hire the best one, and how to create the best environment for your mutual success. Stay tuned for a new post every Tuesday.

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Creating the Best CMIO Position Description

Rule #1: Don't let HR write the position description.

Rule #2: Make the Position Description Reasonable

• Are you looking for 10 years of experience in an application or field that has only been around for five?
• Are you looking for someone who has "expertise" in almost every aspect of a technical subject when becoming an expert in that subject can take a whole career?
• Are you looking for a highly-experienced highly-qualified CMIO but only able to offer 100K for the position? This may be reasonable if you're in a desirable area and have a unique opportunity for the candidate – but you probably don't so don't make this mistake.

Rule #3: Determine What's Exciting or Challenging About this Position

Rule #4: Look at What Other Organizations are Looking For

Screening for the In-Person Interview

our organization is having xxx problem, what would be the first steps you would take in solving it?"

be honest

The In-Person Interview

• Leadership
• Role-related knowledge
• How you think
• "Googleyness"

many

• The candidate must meet with the CIO. They'll be working closely together and must be able to feed off of one another.
• The candidate must meet with the CEO or another executive team member to understand the strategic direction of the organization.
• The candidate should have the ability to make any of their requirements or conditions known.
• The interviewers should ask a combination of scenario based and behavioral based interview questions. Scenario based questions will display how they think on their feet and their approach to problem solving. Behavioral based questions will display how they handled situations in past position. A serious misaslignment between the two approaches could signal trouble.
• The candidate must meet with their possible team. If your team is mediocre, your managers are mediocre, and your resources are mediocre, then expect to hire a mediocre candidate.

Extending the Offer