Inside CHIME: The CHCIO Program – Well Worth the Effort

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yaman_tonguc 9.15.16 by Tonguc Yaman, CHCIO, CPHIMS
CIO, Advocate Community Providers

The CIO Boot Camp prepared Tonguc Yaman to meet the challenges of a new job; a CHCIO designation helped move his name to the top of the pool of candidates.

I attended CHIME’s Healthcare CIO Boot Camp and earned my CHCIO designation last year. Since then, I have received remarkable return on my investment. The combined benefits of these two programs have taken my career to a new level.

Through the contacts I made with CHIME’s CEO, its board members, the seasoned faculty (FCHIME) and the 60+ students who attended the 2015 Boot Camp in Orlando with me, I attained a part-time teaching assistant position in the Master of Public Health program at Columbia University, where I plan to graduate with an MPH in September 2017. Talk about opening doors!

I’ve also been offered speaking engagements since attaining the CHCIO designation. And I recently accepted a new position as the first CIO of Advocate Community Providers (ACP). I’m convinced that the CHCIO designation bolstered me through the selection process and made it possible for me to negotiate a contract with which I am greatly satisfied. I might not have considered the opportunity at all were it not for the Boot Camp.

Fall CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp Class of 2015

Boot Camp: Preparation for new challenges

The Boot Camp’s four days of intense discussion and problem-solving exercises with industry thought leaders inspired me and helped prepare me to meet the challenges of this new career opportunity at ACP.

In particular, group exercises to demonstrate IT’s essential role in value-based care and population health management helped me see that—regardless of new trends coming down the pike—time-honored abilities to build trust, establish honest dialogue and cut quickly to the root of a problem are still the best paths to a solution.

So while the Boot Camp taught me a great deal about new leadership approaches, it also confirmed the relevance of other approaches that I have developed in my 30-year career. In this way, the program has helped me be a better, more confident communicator, motivator and instructor than I ever would be otherwise.

CHCIO designation: Enhanced credibility as a CIO

The Boot Camp also helped me prepare for the CHCIO exam. The study materials were excellent and had direct application to many of the questions on the exam. And because the exam is a test not only of reading-acquired knowledge but also real-world leadership experience as a CIO, the Boot Camp’s problem-solving exercises were invaluable in helping me achieve my CHCIO designation successfully.

I know the designation helped me get the position I wanted at ACP. It showed I was the kind of candidate who was willing to dig deep, to take the time and invest the hard work to achieve something that would help me stand out in my chosen field. CHCIO implies diligence, trust, a strong work ethic—all the things employers look for when hiring. It enhanced my credibility during the hiring process, and how can that hurt in a fiercely competitive industry like ours?

More than an acronym; a life-changer

Frankly, I went into the CHCIO program thinking that the major challenges of my career were behind me. I learned that is definitely not the case. Sure, I’m proud of the fact that, as Deputy Network CIO with NYC Health+ Hospitals, I was part of the Command Center for successful evacuation of Bellevue Hospital during Hurricane Sandy and led IT initiatives to restore hospital service after the disaster. But I no longer view it as the crowning achievement of my career. It’s just one step in a journey that promises many more home runs.

I’ve worked in IT for nearly 30 years, the last 10 of which have been in healthcare. I’m not a newbie. But I have to say that attending the Boot Camp and earning the CHCIO designation are the best things I’ve done for my career.

The next CIO Boot Camp is October 28-21 in Phoenix. Learn more about CHCIO here.

More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 26: