The health system IT roles fading away

Several longtime IT positions in healthcare are undergoing rapid change, according to hospital technology leaders who point to AI, cloud adoption and digital transformation as driving forces.

Sunil Dadlani, executive vice president, chief information and digital transformation officer, and chief cybersecurity officer at Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System, said one of the most visible shifts is occurring in clinical documentation.

“The traditional clinical documentation specialist or medical transcriptionist role has been evolving rapidly,” Mr. Dadlani told Becker’s. “With the rise of AI-driven ambient listening and voice-to-text tools from EHR vendors and third-party companies, much of the manual work of transcribing or assisting physicians in real time is being automated.”

He noted that while technology is replacing traditional dictation, new responsibilities are emerging. 

“The role is shifting toward clinical documentation integrity specialists and AI oversight functions,” Mr. Dadlani said. “These professionals will focus on reviewing AI-generated notes for accuracy, ensuring compliance with regulatory and billing requirements, and training clinicians to use new tools effectively.”

For Chuck Podesta, CIO at Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health, the changes extend to his own position. He said the CIO role itself is blending with the chief digital officer title.

“I see the chief information officer position as eventually fading away but by way of integration with the chief digital officer position to create the chief digital information officer,” Mr. Podesta told Becker’s. “Existing CIOs are being asked to take on these responsibilities, so the transition to CDIO will accelerate resulting in the CIO title fading away.”

Mr. Podesta noted that many organizations currently maintain both CIO and CDO roles, but expects more integration over time.

At Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, CIO Omer Awan said the transformation is most apparent in infrastructure. The traditional data center systems administrator is becoming less common as hospitals move toward cloud services and software-as-a-service platforms.

“Instead of racking and stacking hardware, today’s infrastructure professionals are becoming cloud engineers, automation specialists, and platform reliability experts,” Mr. Awan told Becker’s. “Their focus has shifted from maintaining uptime in the data center to ensuring secure, compliant integration of cloud solutions, enabling interoperability across EHR systems, research platforms, and patient engagement tools.”

Mr. Awan added that while the skills are evolving, they remain critical. 

“The skillset hasn’t disappeared; it has broadened and elevated,” he said. “Those who adapt to automation, cloud-native tools, and DevSecOps principles are even more valuable to healthcare organizations now than before.”

The post The health system IT roles fading away appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.