Podcast Q&A With CMIO Dirk Stanley, Part 2: "It's Important to Engage With All Stakeholders."

One of the most important components of the CMIO role is to act as a bridge between two worlds clinical and IT — that can seem worlds apart, at times. It requires a willingness and ability to “listen to what people in IT are saying and translate it into clinical speak, and then translate clinical speak into IT language.”

It’s the type of skill that doesn’t come naturally for most people. It did, however, for Dirk Stanley, MD, who grew up in a bilingual household, with an American father (who was a former military interpreter) and a German mother. “I learned how to translate from one culture to the other.” He also learned that it’s not just about getting about the words right; it’s about getting the message right.

Recently, Stanley spoke with Kate Gamble about his key objectives as CMIO at UConn Health, how he has incorporated the concept of Blueprints Before Build into the strategy, and what he believes are the keys to securing buy-in from end users. He also discussed his early career frustrations as someone who was interested in both clinical and IT but felt like an outsider in both worlds, and why he chose to start a blog.