AI reshapes healthcare leadership

Editor's Note

Chief data officer (CDO) is a fast-growing C-suite role across the economy, with the notable exception of healthcare. The reasons why might be surprising: these roles have already been filled. Rather than growing, they are evolving.

That’s the primary message of a March 4 report in Becker’s Hospital Review. Quoting Tina Esposito, chief data officer at Advocate Health, the piece explores how the CDO role has expanded over the past decade due to industry shifts such as value-based care. These changes have made data management increasingly critical to operational strategy. "It was always important, but when something shifts so dramatically in terms of the strategy around how we deliver care, you have to then think about how to ensure the data corresponds,” he said.

The article also quotes Kiran Mysore, chief data and analytics officer at Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health, who pointed to artificial intelligence (AI) regulations and compliance requirements, as well as infrastructure that supports interoperability and integration. "Healthcare requires handling large volumes of structured and unstructured data for value-based care, population health, research and precision medicine," he said.

Esposito highlighted cloud enablement as a game-changer in the evolution of healthcare CDOs, allowing greater data integration while addressing privacy concerns. Additionally, health systems are expected to integrate more external data sources to enhance decision-making. Mergers and acquisitions add further complexity, requiring specialized data teams to manage increasingly intricate datasets.

The full report offers additional details, including the Advocate Health team’s work on post-merger integration efforts.