Onyeka Nchege , CIO at Novant Health , tells us about the importance of the digital ecosystem to be able to innovate and reach more people with their care
NOVANT HEALTH
Onyeka Nchege , CIO at Novant Health , tells us about the importance of the digital ecosystem to be able to innovate and reach more people with their care
Onyeka Nchege joined Novant Health , a not-forprofit integrated system operating in North Carolina , South Carolina , and Georgia , as Chief Information Officer in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic . Aside from the typical challenges many health systems were experiencing , Nchege explains that it changed the ability of going to markets and engaging with stakeholders . " I always want to be able to shake hands or do elbow bumps because that ' s how you build trust . Now I ' m having to do that through Zoom , so I have to be very intentional and attentive to show that not only have I done this before but to make sure people understand that I understand what they ' re talking about ."
The pandemic also caused Novant Health to accelerate its digital strategy . " Like most organisations , we saw a tremendous shift in our adoption of telehealth by consumers and providers , so they learned new tools in real time to empower care delivery . In just a matter of weeks , digital health adoption advanced years into the future ," he says .
Nchege adds that to sustain the pace of new advances in technology , healthcare organisations must continue to innovate . " Let ' s not wait until there ' s another catalyst that forces us to do something and start to think innovatively . At Novant Health , we were already deploying telehealth in our environment , so we moved it up the timeline to get it done ."
4 www . novanthealth . org