Healthcare IT leaders are exhausted, CIO positions remain unfilled for months, and the pressure keeps mounting. In this candid conversation, Laura O’Toole, CEO and Founder of SureTest, along with Bill Russell and Sarah Richardson from This Week Health, explores why traditional CIO roles are transforming faster than organizations can define them. They discuss the widening gap between leadership expectations and operational reality, the critical shift from problem-solver to coalition-builder, and why empathy may be the most underrated leadership skill in healthcare technology. From managing burnout to navigating constant organizational change, this episode reveals what it really takes to lead effectively when “busy” has become the new normal and the rulebook keeps changing.
Key Points:
- 02:31 Managing Teams and Expectations
- 09:57 Technology in Healthcare
- 12:38 CIO Role and Market Dynamics
- 20:21 The Importance of Building Coalitions
- 26:25 Handling Global Events as a Leader
- 31:22 Empathy and Connection in Leadership