College of Healthcare Information Management Executives

CHIME History

CHIME was founded in 1992 with the dual objective of serving the professional development needs of healthcare CIOs and advocating the more effective use of information management within healthcare.

CIO Membership

Currently, CHIME has more than 1,800 members across the globe.

Members of CHIME are the highest ranking IT executives within their healthcare organization or facility. While the majority hold the CIO job title, having that title is not a requirement for membership as long as they have equivalent job responsibilities. Many members are the senior IT executive within a division of a larger organization, such as the CIO of a hospital within a larger healthcare system. Some additional high-level executives, such as division leaders or regional leaders may be eligible, as well.

A typical CHIME member oversees the information services department and chairs the information technology steering committee within their organization. Additional responsibilities often include telecommunications, medical records, and health informatics.

CHIME members represent a variety of provider organizations, including large hospital systems, community hospitals and for-profit hospitals. In addition to CIOs from hospitals, CHIME welcomes all CIOs who are employed by organizations with responsibility for direct patient care, including physician practice groups, clinics, and others. Additionally, members may be accepted from other healthcare organizations such as Payers/HMOs, government agencies, state hospital associations, and RHIOs.

Healthcare CIOs play a central role in implementing IT systems that digitize patient records to achieve meaningful use of electronic medical records, enabling their organizations to qualify for incentive funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Certification and Education

In July 2009, CHIME launched the Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) Program, the first certification program designed specifically for CIOs and IT executives in the healthcare industry.

The CHCIO Program is a member-led initiative. CHIME members oversee the strategic direction of the program as well as write and review all questions on the CHCIO Examination. One of the goals of the program is to help healthcare IT executives transition to and through CIO 2.0 to CIO 3.0, heavily emphasizing the emerging role of the CIO as a member of the C-Suite leadership team, as opposed to the old model of a CIO as an infrastructure and services manager.

To become certified, candidates must hold a baccalaureate degree, pass the CHCIO Examination, have three years of experience as a CIO or equivalent, and earn a minimum number of continuing education units (CEUs) to maintain certification. As of July 30, 2015, there are 255 CHCIOs and 82 CHCIO-Eligible Professionals.

Advocacy Leadership and StateNet

CHIME serves as a voice of the healthcare IT executive within the US, informing and influencing public policy leaders and other officials on the role of information technology in transforming the delivery of healthcare, while providing members with the latest information regarding new healthcare IT legislation, regulations and policies, including the recent HITECH legislation, which includes funding for the implementation and meaningful use of electronic health records. Ten CHIME members who belong to a Policy Steering Committee help review proposed federal regulations and rules, and provide direction and comments on regulations impacting the use of IT in healthcare.

CHIME Foundation

The CHIME Foundation is a non-profit organization composed of select healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms. CHIME Foundation members benefit from the unique opportunity to partner and collaborate with more than 1,800 CHIME member CIOs.

For more information about the CHIME Foundation, visit: www.chimecentral.org/foundation

CHIME Publications

CHIME regularly releases opinions, guidance and information on matters of importance to the healthcare IT community. In August 2010, CHIME issued the CIO's Guide to Implementing EHRs in the HITECH Era, which included best practices and steps health care organizations should take to successfully implement EHRs, from the initial planning stages through the final documentation of results. Nearly 170 of hospital CIOs were involved in compiling the information included in the guidebook. The complete guide in PDF format is available at the CHIME Web site.