Overt Information

New CIO emphasizes Customer Service, Communication

Charles Enicks has spent most of his career working at academic health science institutions, helping them find out how computers can facilitate medical care, assist research and educate tomorrow’s health professionals.

A campus environment seems to offer Enicks the best of both worlds. He had considered applying to medical school at one time before majoring in chemical engineering and earning a master’s in biomedical engineering. He also has more than 30 years of experience in information systems, proving his affinity for computer program planning and implementation.

When he began looking for his next career opportunity after serving five years as senior vice president and chief information officer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, his attention turned again to an academic medical center. His sights set on the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and as of April 1, he leads the Division of Information Systems as chief information officer.

“When I met the leadership here, I was impressed by the vision, energy and direction they were heading. The success of the new physical plant allows us to invest in the future,” Enicks said.

Born and raised in West Virginia, Enicks received the B.S. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the M.S. from the University of Virginia. His first job was director of operations for Commonwealth Clinical Systems in Charlottesville, Va.

He has worked as regional vice president for services for McKesson in New Jersey, CIO at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta and CIO at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System. Enicks also was executive vice president of Healthlink, Inc. in Houston.

His career HAS TAUGHT HIM the value of customer service and the importance of communicating with clients regularly, particularly at an academic medical institution.

“It’s a complex environment with multiple significant missions,” Enicks said. “They have different needs and providing services to those constituencies poses challenges.

“Our job is to meet those needs without over promising, and to complete them when we say we will.”

Dr. Scott Stringer, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs, said Enicks’ experience provides him with a unique perspective and skill set with which to lead the reorganization of information systems.

“His specific experience in implementing large, complex software systems will be invaluable to us as we embark on several such implementations in the near future,” Stringer said.

“I’m very interested in how we can help caregivers do their jobs efficiently,” Enicks said. “There’s plenty of opportunity to improve the clinician interaction with systems.”

He plans to take the next couple of months to listen to DIS employees and key customers and review current programs.

“DIS has done some very good things. Now we need to develop a comprehensive plan for how we will provide systems and services for the next several years,” Enicks said.

-Patrice Sawyer Guilfoyle

2009-04-10 00:00:00 18890