1. Take two large, well-established health care systems -- each with distinctly different IT systems, technology infrastructures, staffs

2. Merge them together

3. End result = managers jumping out of windows, employees fighting in the  hallways, absolute chaos?

Not if you're talking about the merger of the Egleston Children's Health Care System and Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center, both based in Atlanta. What you'll be lucky enough to get is Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, ranked among the top pediatric hospitals by U.S.News & World Report, and as one of  the top 10 children’s hospitals nationwide by Child magazine. Oh, and, it  was also featured as one of Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work  For.

Today, host Tom Parish talks with Jack Storey, CIO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, who was with them through the merger (and lived to tell about it). In this interview, he'll be sharing some experiences with us, talk about the telecommunications initiative he implemented that saved money and made IT news, and talk about best practices, the delicate art of bringing together different staffs to form one team, and generally, what to do/not to do in a complicated merger situation. At the end of the day, it's all about providing great healthcare to the most vulnerable of patients, so Jack and his team had a lot on their shoulders. Join us, to find out how they made it work.

Bio

Jack Storey is the vice president and CIO of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, one of the countries largest pediatric healthcare systems. He is responsible for the Information Technologies operations and strategic direction. Jack has been an information technology professional for 23 years, and has been focused on healthcare for the last 17 years. He has served in the of the senior IT executive for healthcare systems for the last 12 years. He is very active in professional organizations including CHIME, HIMSS and the CHCA CIO Forum.

Resources

Children's Healthcare of  Atlanta

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom  Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development  Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer