Maximizing the Quality of Your Membership

The snow has melted and the mercury is on the rise – spring is in the air! After a long winter, the newly extended daylight hours and warmer temperatures always seem to wake up my senses and make me want to become more involved. As an InSight member, you are already halfway there. Volunteering is a great way to advance professionally, and I strongly recommend each of you take part in such an experience. But, if you do not feel ready to take that step this month, be sure you are utilizing all of the benefits InSight offers to ensure you are maximizing the quality of your membership.

In the recent member needs assessment which many of you took part in, you said, “Sharing ideas and best practices with other McKesson users” is the number one reason you became a member of InSight.

Additionally, “educational opportunities” and “networking” were most frequently mentioned as secondary reasons for joining. In response to this information, Headquarters has been diligently working to enhance the ways in which all of these things happen for you.

Most notably, I am impressed by the progress of our Discussion Forums. As many of you know, InSight recently added a McKesson Customer Login option to these forums. By opening the forums to members and nonmembers alike, the amount of networking opportunities and information sharing that is available to each of us has vastly increased.

Likewise, we have implemented thread categories, such as Resource Management Council, Revenue Cycle Management Council and Infrastructure Council, throughout the forums to help identify conversations pertaining to specific SIGs.

Personally, I think this makes using the tool more enjoyable and user-friendly. Headquarters is also able to modify the threads as we see fit. If you have a suggestion for new threads or would like to see one removed, please let me know.

Because there is not one typical member, our goal is to make this these tools as beneficial as possible for each of us - CIOs and IT professionals alike. In fact, the Discussion Forums are a way for each of our unique viewpoints and real-world experiences to be connected, so that we can all continue working together to holistically improve the healthcare industry.

It is pertinent that we continue to communicate and learn from each other. For those of you that have already been involved with InSight's numerous volunteer opportunities and have immersed yourself in the membership tools we provide, I applaud you. For those who have not, I strongly encourage you to take that step. If you have questions about anything, please do not hesitate to email me at jonesc@slhn.org. This is your organization, and I sincerely want you to benefit from it.

In closing, I encourage each of you to consider other members who may be deserving of the prestigious Tom Utley Member Achievement Award. For those of you who do not know, Tom was a former CIO at Merritt-Peralta Medical Center in Palo Alto , California . Essentially, InSight was formed in 1998 because of his dedication and commitment. The Tom Utley Member Achievement Award was created in his memory, honoring his many contributions to this user group.

Many of us know people who have gone above and beyond within this organization. It is important not to let these contributions go unnoticed. Think of those members who are involved in Committee's, Councils and SIGs. Do not overlook those who have implemented innovative ideas, have served on the Board of Directors or have made other noteworthy offerings of their time and knowledge.

For more information about the scholarship or to nominate a deserving member, please visit InSight online.

Cyndi Jones
InSight President
CIO, St. Luke's Health Network