Health Care Management - A Feudal Society
Albert A. Sinisi, Jr., BSAe, MBA
Vice President and CIO
St. Luke's Hospital and Health System

The author asks our CIO readers to look at themselves with some humor. "Those of us who have been working in health care for some time now must be wondering, what is our management style? Corporate America seems to make decisions quicker, implement technologies faster and, generally, not be as reactive as the health care sector. Although Carl Icahn might disagree, let me take the liberty and try to explain our management system in health care as a 'feudal society,'" Mr. Sinisi's article begins.

As vice president and CIO for St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network, Mr. Sinisi's responsibilities include applications, telecommunication, client computing, decision support and medical records.

Previously, Mr. Sinisi was the vice president and CIO at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), also with responsibility for medical records. Before his tenure at CHOP, Mr. Sinisi was employed at Henry Ford Health System, a multi-hospital and physician group practice environment. Prior to Henry Ford, Mr. Sinisi was employed by Thomas Jefferson University, an academic health care institution in Philadelphia, as director of management services and lecturer at the College of Allied Health Sciences. Initially, Mr. Sinisi began his career employed in the industrial sector by General Electric.

Under Mr. Sinisi's leadership at CHOP, the hospital was recognized as "Most Wired" by Hospital and Health Network magazine for four consecutive years. Additionally, CHOP was a six-time recipient of the Best Overall Healthcare Site on the Net presented by COR Health. While at Henry Ford Health System, that organization was recognized as one of the America's Most Computer Advanced Healthcare Facilities and received two Summit Awards from the National Managed Health Care Congress.

Mr. Sinisi is past chairman of Healthcare Information Systems Executive Association; charter member of the College for Healthcare Information Management Executives; a member of Oxford's Who's Who in 1992 - 1993; International Who's Who of Information Technology, 1998; and the recipient of the 1991 CIO Award for CIO magazine. Additionally, he is a founding member of the American College of Healthcare Information Administrators.

Mr. Sinisi also brings a civic view, having served as mayor and on township council while living in New Jersey. Mr. Sinisi is an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of St. Joseph's University.

He holds a Bachelor's of Science degree from St. Louis University and a Master's of Business Administration from Widener University.

Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Source
JoAnn W. Klinedinst, CPHIMS, PMP, FHIMSS
Vice President, Education
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)

Ms. Klinedinst's article documents her project management observations as she volunteered for the American Cancer Society's 2008 Relay for Life event conducted by the Central Bucks School District in her hometown of Doylestown, Pa.

Ms. Klinedinst is familiar to many of our readers as vice president of education for HIMSS. She is responsible for all aspects of educational programming for HIMSS' annual conference, virtual conference, the HIMSS eLearning Academy and distance education certificate programs

Ms. Klinedinst holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Management from West Chester University, West Chester, Pa.; a Master's Certificate in IS/IT Project Management and a Six Sigma Greenbelt Certificate, both from Villanova University, Villanova, Pa. She holds credentials for the Certified Professional in Healthcare Information Systems (CPHIMS), the Project Management Institute's Project Management Professional (PMP), and is a Fellow with HIMSS.