Health system technology leaders are also responsible for functions ranging from supply chain and facilities to enterprise strategy and investment, illustrating how the health system chief digital officer scope has expanded well past traditional IT management at many organizations.
Orlando Health’s Expanded Chief Digital Officer Scope
Novlet Mattis, senior vice president and chief digital and information officer at Orlando Health, oversees supply chain and facility security in addition to IT, digital innovation and analytics. Pairing supply chain and physical security with digital innovation suggests Orlando Health has consolidated operational and technology decision-making under a single executive rather than distributing these functions across separate leaders.
Why This Combination Fits Orlando Health’s Needs
Supply chain and facility security both increasingly rely on connected technology and data systems, from inventory tracking to access control, giving a chief digital officer with this combined portfolio direct oversight of the technology infrastructure underlying both functions.
SSM Health’s Chief Digital Officer Portfolio
Saad Chaudhry, chief digital and information officer at St. Louis-based SSM Health, oversees facilities, real estate operations and physical security alongside IT, digital patient engagement and analytics. This breadth places Chaudhry’s role at the intersection of the health system’s physical footprint and its digital patient-facing strategy.
Why Facilities and Real Estate Fall Under This Role
Adding facilities and real estate operations to an officer’s portfolio reflects a broader trend of health systems viewing physical infrastructure decisions, from building efficiency to space utilization, as increasingly data-driven functions suited to a technology-oriented executive.
Blanchard Valley Health System and Fairview’s Chief Digital Officer Scope
Gulshan Mehta, chief digital and information officer at Findlay, Ohio-based Blanchard Valley Health System, oversees supply chain, enterprise project management and biomedical engineering in addition to the health system’s technology functions. At Minneapolis-based Fairview, Sameer Badlani, MD, holds the combined titles of executive vice president, strategy officer and chief digital officer, with a portfolio spanning enterprise strategy and growth, innovation and ventures, and consumer experience, alongside IT and cybersecurity.
Why Badlani’s Strategy and Digital Combination Stands Out
Formally combining the chief strategy officer and chief digital officer titles, as Fairview has done with Badlani, represents one of the more expansive structures among these five examples, positioning digital technology decisions directly within the health system’s broader growth and innovation strategy rather than as a supporting function.
Bon Secours Mercy Health’s Chief Digital Officer and Investment Arm
Jason Szczuka, chief digital officer at Bon Secours Mercy Health, also serves as president of Accrete Health Partners, the Cincinnati-based health system’s digital investment arm. This dual role gives Szczuka direct oversight of both internal digital strategy and the system’s external venture investment activity in digital health.
Why Pairing These Two Roles Matters
Having the same executive lead both internal digital transformation and external investment decisions through Accrete Health Partners could allow Bon Secours Mercy Health to more directly align its venture investments with its own internal technology priorities and needs.
What This Health System Chief Digital Officer Scope Means Going Forward
With responsibilities spanning supply chain, facilities, biomedical engineering, enterprise strategy, and venture investment across these five examples, health systems appear to be consolidating operational and strategic functions under technology leadership rather than keeping these areas separate. Given the variation across these five roles, from Mattis’s supply chain and security focus to Badlani’s strategy-driven mandate, other health systems restructuring their own digital leadership may find different models suited to their specific organizational priorities.
What to Watch Going Forward
As health systems continue evaluating how to structure digital leadership, industry observers will likely watch whether more organizations follow this pattern of expanding chief digital officer portfolios beyond core IT functions, and whether combined strategy-and-digital roles like Badlani’s become more common. Given the range of functions already folded into these five roles, this health system chief digital officer scope trend suggests the position is increasingly viewed as a broader operational and strategic leadership role rather than a purely technical one.
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