‘Endlessly repairing an old car:’ The case for new health IT

For nursing informatics leaders, the job is less about chasing the latest gadget and more about navigating competing demands. On one side are shrinking budgets, exhausted clinicians and the breakneck pace of digital change. On the other is the promise that technology can lighten workloads and improve patient care. Caught in the middle, chief of nursing informatics officers must decide which innovations will truly help.

At Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, S.C., Jared Houck, RN, CNIO, describes that tension as a “collision of shrinking margins, clinician burnout and AI [fear of missing out].” Health systems, he said, are understandably focused on numbers that show up in quarterly reports — cutting staff hours, lowering readmissions, shortening hospital stays. But in the process, they often overlook the less tangible benefits of tools that make nurses’ work easier. Those “soft [return on investment]” gains — time saved, penalties avoided, a safer workplace, higher satisfaction — are harder to measure but no less critical.

“The challenge before us is separating hype from real value while balancing both the human and financial impacts in ways that build a smarter, more sustainable future for care delivery,” Mr. Houck said.

For Katrina Pfeiffer, MSN, RN, CNIO of Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, the stakes feel personal. She worries how far technology can stretch before it begins to erode the compassion at the center of nursing. Implementing new systems requires time, money and, perhaps most importantly, attention to the human factors that determine whether a nurse feels supported or burdened by a screen.

“Just as we get one solution in place, the next wave of innovation is already on the horizon,” Ms. Pfeiffer said. What lingers for her is not the technology itself, but whether it will make nursing better — or harm the profession she cherishes.

The speed of that change also concerns Marc Perkins-Carrillo, MSN, RN, CNIO of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Innovation is vital, he acknowledged, but the churn of new digital tools leaves little time for thoughtful integration. The result can be overwhelmed nurses and diluted impact.

“My concern is ensuring that technology enhances, not hinders, nursing practice and patient care,” Mr. Perkins-Carrillo said.

At Cook County Health in Chicago, Benjamin Laughton, DNP, RN, CNIO, compared managing an EHR to maintaining a car that never stops running. The system requires constant tune-ups to keep pace with best practices and evolving care standards — an effort that draws on many disciplines at once.

“At the same time, we cannot afford to be in the position of endlessly repairing an old car just to keep it running,” Dr. Laughton said. “Sometimes the smarter move is trading up to a newer model — a solution that is safer, more reliable and ultimately better suited to where healthcare is headed.”

For Michelle Charles, DNP, RN, CNIO at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Ind., the reminder is that digital transformation can never replace the human core of nursing.

“While digital transformation offers powerful tools, it must always remain a supplement — not a substitute — for compassionate, high-quality care,” Dr. Charles said. “At the heart of healthcare is the unwavering commitment to caring for people, no matter the technology ecosystem. We must ensure that innovation never outpaces our commitment to excellence across the entire patient journey, from the first touchpoint to the last.”

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