Beyond the EMR? CIO Insights on Patient Engagement in a Digital-First World
Gina Armada 
July 11th, 2025
I recently joined a panel of brilliant healthcare CIOs from Tufts Medicine, MUSC, and Lee Health for a conversation hosted by Anthony Guerra at healthsystemCIO. The conversation made one thing clear: patient engagement is evolving fast, and many of the tools we depend on simply aren’t built to keep pace.
While Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems do a great job supporting clinical workflows, they weren’t built to handle the full scope of omnichannel patient-facing communications—ensuring communications align across all digital and even print channels. Since these varied high-volume touchpoints shape patient trust, they deserve just as much strategy as the clinical experience itself.
Here are some of the insights from the conversation that stuck with me—and a few thoughts on where we go from here:
1. Patients Notice When You’re Not Aligned
Your patients don’t think in terms of systems and acronyms—they just know when things feel disconnected. Every touchpoint needs to provide a consistent experience. When branding, messaging, or tone varies across touchpoints, that erodes confidence and trust.
As Crystal Broj at MUSC put it perfectly: “If it doesn’t look like it came from us, patients get suspicious. They delete it.” That’s not just a design issue—it’s a missed opportunity to engage.
2. We Can’t Wait for the EMR to Catch Up
Many of the CIOs shared a similar challenge: the EMR doesn’t always deliver the functionality they need—at least not quickly. When there’s friction in the process, especially around patient engagement, collecting co-pays, or ensuring patients register in advance, they can’t afford to wait for the EMR functionality to catch up. They make decisions with the EMR in mind, but they need solutions that can step in quickly and deliver speed to value.
That’s where purpose-built platforms like MHC NorthStar CCM come in—filling critical gaps, accelerating value, and working seamlessly alongside your EMR and core business systems to extend their capabilities.
3. Add Smart Solutions—Not More Chaos
Let’s be honest: the market is full of tools that sound great in theory but create more complexity in practice. The CIOs on the panel were clear—they’re not looking for “more tech.” They’re looking for better-integrated, well-governed, patient-centered tools that solve problems without creating new ones.
At MHC, we design with that in mind. Our communications platform pulls directly from your EMR and other core business systems, keeps branding consistent, supports omnichannel delivery, and gives you the flexibility to personalize at scale—without adding unnecessary complexity or IT overhead.
4. AI Is a Team Member—And Needs to Be Managed Like One
AI came up a lot during the session. The consensus? It’s exciting, powerful, and promising—but it needs to be actively managed. As Dr. Shafiq Rab of Tufts Medicine put it, “You don’t just set it and forget it. You review it, retrain it, and make sure it’s still doing what you need.”
That perspective reflects how we approach AI at MHC. It’s a tool with enormous potential—but only when it’s managed intentionally. With the right governance and oversight, AI can help automate manual work, accelerate response times, and support personalization at scale—without compromising trust or control.
5. Transformation Takes a Team
Perhaps the most important takeaway: IT can’t do this alone. Patient engagement lives at the intersection of technology, clinical workflows, and operations. The organizations making real progress are the ones bringing those voices together early—before decisions are made, not after.
As Chris Akeroyd, CIO of Lee Health, emphasized, involving cross-functional teams from the start is key to building solutions that truly work—for both patients and staff. When everyone is aligned early, the outcome is not just more usable—it’s more impactful.
In fact, some of the best outcomes I’ve seen didn’t start with a technology platform—they started with a shared vision and inclusive working sessions. That’s where real progress begins.
Looking Ahead
As healthcare becomes more digital and patient-centric, communications will play an even more central role. The more consistently we show up—across channels, documents, and touchpoints—the more trust we build.
If you missed the live webinar, I encourage you to watch the on-demand session and hear directly from these forward-thinking leaders.
🎥 Watch the Webinar On Demand
Beyond the EMR? Revisiting Your Strategy Around Patient Engagement & Communications
Don’t miss this panel discussion featuring leaders from Tufts Medicine, MUSC, Lee Health, and MHC—moderated by Anthony Guerra of healthsystemCIO.
📄 Download the MHC Solution Brochure
MHC NorthStar CCM: Personalized, Compliant Patient Communications—at Scale
Learn how our solution works alongside your EMR to automate high-volume communications like plan notices, billing statements, collections, and disclosures—without adding burden to your IT or clinical teams.
📬 Let’s Talk
If your organization is ready to simplify communications and improve patient engagement, we’d love to connect.
👉 Contact us or email us at info@mhcautomation.com
Gina Armada
Gina Armada was Chief Executive Officer of MHC until February 2026, bringing over 27 years of experience leveraging technology to deliver business solutions and customer value. Gina led MHC in consistently delivering intelligent workflow and content automation solutions that organizations can rely upon to streamline their operations, optimize productivity, and increase engagement with customers. Gina worked at Accenture until she joined MHC in 2008, serving in multiple roles until she was named CEO in 2019. When Gina isn’t piloting the growth of software solutions and services, she is active in coaching youth sports and loves spending free time with family and friends.
