Beebe Healthcare is poised for what CIO Mike Maksymow called an enormous organizational expansion.

"It's not even just our campus,” he said. “We're looking to expand our footprint elsewhere in the county, and just grow to meet our community demands."

Especially with anticipated growth in the wings, cybersecurity remains the top priority for the tech team. It's not an implementation, he said, instead it needs sustained focus.

"It's a holistic approach with a security program," Maksymow said. "So that is definitely top of mind, especially in areas that aren't traditionally looked at, such as biomedical  or internet of things devices."

In the coming year, the Beebe team will replace some of its legacy systems and look at opportunities for interoperability. Also, the to-do list will likely have several items related to the upcoming expansion, he said.

Data warehousing is on the roster. He wants to start looking at a true data warehouse with a data mart. "Before we go down that path, we really want to set up a data governance structure so we understand what data we're going to downstream," he said.

Beebe is a Cerner shop, and it has no plans to change.

When it comes to what makes the IT team tick, it's a sort of secret sauce. "Our team rocks," said Maksymow. "It really does." People appreciate each other, he said, work well together and are collaborative – with one another and with stakeholders.

The really shows during go-live for IT projects.

"You look at the activity – that buzz that's in the room with several of our people working together on a project. You really can't tell who's IT, who's a nurse, who's a doctor. We even have vendor members that people think are part of our team. With me, it doesn't matter whether you're a consultant or you're an employee, you're a Beebe."

When it comes to hiring, he looks for candidates who are engaged and look at me like they're excited about what I'm telling them, he said.

His best advice for creating a top IT shop? 

"Invest in people that you have, hire right, hire a team fit. Foster an environment of collaboration with all stakeholders."

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Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com