Info Sec Leadership in Healthcare IT

My latest book, Leading Healthcare IT, was just released on CRC Press/HIMSS and I've received some nice feedback and a few questions. One question was posed by a colleague about information security. In essence, he was curious why there was relatively little in the book about information security specifically when that seems to be all anyone talks about in HIT these days. Great question that I thought I'd answer more publicly here.

Information Security is Enormously Important

It's such a big, important topic, it really requires a whole book to itself (yes, I am contemplating that).

Information Security Requires Serious Leadership

Every aspect of HIT requires strong leadership, but none more so than Information Security. We can no longer relegate InfoSec to the dark corner of the department (though the folks who work in InfoSec seem to like it dark, so this is a figurative statement more than a literal one). It requires smart, savvy, strategic leadership (the road to which is the framework of the book).

Leadership Can Be Learned, But (Usually) Not By Reading A Technology Book

When reviewing the outline for my book, I decided I wanted it to be a leadership book, not a technology book. I could write about technology all day long (and sometimes do), but I did not want to get sidetracked by technology or even any single area of focus within HIT. Though some technology books touch on leadership, I really wanted this book to be fast, focused and practical advice on developing leadership skills in HIT.

So, that, in a nutshell, is what I shared with my inquisitive colleague. I appreciated his question and it gave me a chance to really articulate the decision-making process around the contents of this book.

If there are other questions about why a topic is covered (or not), please contact me, I'd love to hear from you.