Times change, and those that change with them find success. The set of attributes that made for a superior CIO 12 months ago does not apply today, or at least the prioritizing of those characteristics is different than it was before our country's economic change of fortune. CIOs that by nature are frugal, preferring to squeeze every bit of functionality out of their systems before hitting the market, have an early advantage. Those who can't say ‘no,’ are in for a rough ride.

Our list of the Top Tech Trends for 2009 reflects the conflicting influences tugging at healthcare CIOs. On the one hand, some trends reflect an overall need to make progress with clinical IT implementations—regardless of circumstances. On the other, many echo a need to maximize current investments by, for example, better operationalizing data housed in electronic systems, or embracing technologies that deliver a clear ROI.

With your budgets under siege, HCI editors felt an even greater obligation to provide an accurate and useful installment of our annual Top Tech Trends feature. For the first time, we combined our internal expertise and research with your real-world knowledge by incorporating reader voting into our trend selection process. After we established the initial list of 15, they were posted on our Web site for voting. With the final tally in hand, we present the Final Eight, endorsed by almost 650 readers.

We hope you enjoy the following stories and, even more importantly, that they help frame the most important issues you'll be grappling with this year.

See you at HIMSS.—A.G.

2009 Top Tech Trends

Runners Up

Healthcare Informatics 2009 February;25(14):22-23