It's More Than the Technology: An Interview with CIO Tim Zoph - Northwester Memorial HealthCare executive discusses plans for hospital information technology - Interview

Healthcare Financial Management, August, 2001

HFM: What do you think is the most underutilized or underappreciated technology currently around?

Zoph: I think there are wonderful things that can be done with scheduling technologies. For example, we have all of our service areas on automated scheduling systems. As a result, we were able to eliminate a physical admitting and registration department in our new hospital. We do our medical-necessity checking and ABNs through our scheduling systems. We've used those scheduling systems to improve the patient's experience, too. When we check people in, we have seating charts for them. When we are ready for a patient in our cardiology service, we have a technician in a wireless headset in the diagnostic area contact a greeter who will greet the patient at his or her seat rather than calling Out the patient's name.

Although health care has been slow to adopt technology, I think that the solutions are maturing and importantly, the leadership and understanding of what technology can do in the industry are maturing. I'm as excited about the prospects of what technology can do in this industry as I've ever been in my 17 years as a Gb. It's a great time to be a technology leader.

Insights on Timothy R. Zoph, MBA, MS

Name: Timothy R. Zoph, MBA, MS

Position: Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer

Organization: Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, Chicago, Illinois

Organization Profile: Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, through Northwestern Memorial Hospital and its other subsidiaries, provides a full range of support and health services from acute tertiary inpatient care to ambulatory, wellness/prevention and home health care. Northwestern Memorial HealthCare's subsidiaries include:

* Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a nationally recognized, 720-bed hospital, the primary teaching hospital of Northwestern University Medical School.

* Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, a primary care medical group practice, which maintains 12 medical offices.

* Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Corporation, which contracts on behalf of the hospital's medical staff with managed care payers.

* Northwestern Memorial Foundation, the primary fundraising entity for Northwestern Memorial.

Years in Position: 8

Years with Organization: 8

Years in Healthcare Industry: 21

Age: 45

Education and Certifications: Bachelor of Science, University of Utah, 1978; Master of Science of Accounting, Georgetown University, 1980; Master of Business Administration, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University. 1990

HFMA Member Since: 2000

Current HFMA Chapter: First Illinois Chapter

Most Important Professional Accomplishment: Played an integral role in the opening of the new Northwestern Memorial Hospital in 1999.

Five-Year Goal: Implementation of an advanced clinical information system at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Personal Role Models: My father and Bobby Jones,

Personal Quote: "To travel, hopefully, is better than to arrive."

Robert Louis Stevenson