Clinical Information Systems (Cis) Strategist

Job Description
On behalf of our Healthcare client, Affinity Healthcare Solutions is seeking a Clinical Information Systems (CIS) Strategist. The ideal consultant combines hands- on acute-care CIS architecture and implementation experience with system- level strategy, TCO modelling and investment planning, plus substantive knowledge of Oracle Health/Cerner Millennium, MEDITECH Expanse and Epic in complex multi- vendor healthcare environments.Responsibilities
Experience conducting current-state assessments across multiple healthcare organizations operating different CIS platforms, architectures, and operating models.Experience developing future-state and target-state CIS architectures at health-system scale.Ability to assess strategic options within a provincial multi- vendor direction, without predetermining platform replacement or consolidation or reopening established provincial architecture.Ability to develop and objectively evaluate strategic options, including:Optimizing existing CIS platforms.Consolidating existing instances.Reducing the number of strategic platforms.Converging toward common platforms.Adopting common provincial capabilities.Maintaining a multi- vendor environment enabled through stronger interoperability.Ability to define transparent evaluation criteria and decision frameworks covering:Clinical capability.Patient safety.Interoperability.Architecture.Implementation complexity.Workforce requirements.Operational impact.Risk.Affordability.Total cost of ownership.Long-term sustainability.Demonstrated ability to translate strategic direction into a sequenced and achievable multi- year CIS roadmap.Investment and Financial Planning
Experience developing multi-year CIS investment plans for major health-system transformations.Demonstrated capability in total-cost-of-ownership modelling for enterprise CIS platforms.Ability to assess costs associated with:Software licensing and subscriptions.Hosting and cloud services.Infrastructure.Interfaces and integration.Data conversion and migration.Implementation.Testing.Clinical and operational readiness.Education and training.Change management.Deployment and stabilization.Optimization.Ongoing operation and sustainment.Experience identifying investment sequencing, dependencies, affordability constraints, and decision gates for large- scale digital health programs.Ability to differentiate between sustainment, optimization, expansion, and transformation investments and articulate the benefits, risks, and financial implications of each.Implementation and Operational Experience
Demonstrated understanding of CIS design and build, including:Configuration.Workflow design.Testing.Data migration and conversion.Cutover.Deployment.Stabilization.Optimization.Understanding of the operational requirements associated with maintaining and upgrading enterprise CIS environments while simultaneously undertaking major transformation.Ability to assess the implementation capacity and readiness of organizations undertaking major CIS change.Experience considering the sequencing and dependencies between CIS transformation, major hospital capital projects, and other significant digital health initiatives.Strong understanding of the clinical change, adoption, and workforce implications associated with major CIS transformation.Qualifications
Acute-Care CIS Expertise
Significant senior-level experience developing acute-care Clinical Information System (CIS) and/or Electronic Health Record (EHR) strategies for large and complex healthcare environments, preferably at provincial, state, regional, or multi- health-system scale.Deep understanding of acute hospital clinical workflows and digital capabilities, including:Emergency.Inpatient.Critical care.Perioperative.Medication management.Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE).Clinical documentation.Pharmacy.Laboratory.Diagnostic imaging.Scheduling and registration.Health information management.Demonstrated ability to translate clinical service and operational requirements into CIS architecture, platform, implementation, and investment strategies.Experience assessing how CIS platforms support:Clinical quality.Patient safety.Standardization.Clinician experience.Operational effectiveness.Major CIS Vendor and Platform Knowledge
Current, substantive knowledge of major enterprise acute-care CIS/EHR platforms, with particular familiarity with:Oracle Health/Cerner Millennium.MEDITECH Expanse.Epic.Experience evaluating multi-vendor CIS environments, including the strategic and technical implications of:Platform standardization.Consolidation.Coexistence.Interoperability.Understanding of major vendors':Product architectures.Product roadmaps.Deployment models.Licensing approaches.Cloud strategies.Commercial considerations.Experience providing vendor-neutral analysis and recommendations rather than recommendations predicated on a particular CIS platform.Technical Architecture and Interoperability
Strong technical knowledge of enterprise CIS/EHR architecture, including:Application architecture.Integration.APIs.Data platforms.Terminology services.Identity and access management.Clinical device integration.Ancillary clinical applications.Demonstrated expertise in healthcare interoperability and health information exchange, including:HL7 v2.FHIR.DICOM.SNOMED CT.Ability to assess:Technical debt.Integration complexity.Architectural dependencies.Platform lifecycle.Technology risk across heterogeneous CIS environments.Understanding of dependencies between the core CIS and major clinical and diagnostic systems, including:Laboratory information systems.Pharmacy systems.Diagnostic imaging and PACS.Pathology.Cardiology.Medical devices.Patient portals.Clinical data repositories and exchanges.Specialized departmental systems.Experience assessing cloud, hosted, and on-premises CIS architectures, including:Cybersecurity.Availability.Resilience.Performance.Disaster recovery requirements.Experience assessing CIS options within the existing provincial interoperability architecture, including federation with independent vendor networks.Ability to distinguish between reusable services, required enhancements, and material gaps without assuming replacement of the existing architecture.Additional Context
Dependency analysis is particularly important in BC. Previous CIS planning discussions have identified that comparisons between platforms can significantly understate cost and complexity when dependent systems, such as laboratory information systems, also require replacement or significant modification.Investment and Financial Planning
This capability is central to the assignment given the requirement for a three- year investment plan alongside the provincial strategy.Implementation and Operational Experience
Direct experience supporting large-scale acute-care CIS:Implementations.Migrations.Consolidations.Transformations.Experience covering the technical breadth associated with major CIS environments, including:EHR technical architecture.Cerner application support and optimization.CPOE.Clinical workflows.Design, build, configuration, and testing.Code upgrades.Data migration.Integration.Additional Attributes
Experience working with:Government.Health ministries.Health authorities.Large publicly funded healthcare organizations.Demonstrated ability to work across multiple organizations with different:Existing technologies.Organizational priorities.Levels of digital maturity.Ability to communicate complex technical, clinical, and financial considerations clearly to:Executive audiences.Clinical audiences.Technical audiences.Governance audiences.Experience facilitating complex system-level decisions where there are significant existing investments and differing organizational priorities.Strong written communication skills.Demonstrated ability to produce executive-level:Strategies.Options analyses.Roadmaps.Investment recommendations.Canadian healthcare experience is strongly preferred.British Columbia health-system experience is considered an asset.Demonstrated ability to work through existing multidisciplinary:Governance arrangements.Co-design processes.Review arrangements.Provincial and health-authority leadership structures.Ability to hand over recommendations and supporting analysis to accountable owners.Key Requirement: Technical Depth
Must demonstrate a combination of strategic and hands-on technical expertise in large-scale acute-care CIS environments.Must have substantive experience in one or more of the following areas:Acute-care CIS architecture.CIS implementation.CIS operations.Experience limited to high- level digital strategy, management consulting, or vendor selection alone will not be sufficient.Candidates should demonstrate experience that goes beyond strategy and includes practical exposure to how large-scale acute-care CIS environments are architected, implemented, integrated, operated, and/or optimized.About Affinity
Affinity Group is a technology and business consulting and services company. We believe in creating long term relationships between clients and consultants that foster a mutually beneficial partnership. Affinity is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.For more information on Affinity, please visit
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