And in today's perilous economy, health systems and hospitals often don't have the resources to justify the expense. IT needs have to be balanced with clinical and financial concerns – and CIOs need to be able to gain support from others in the C-Suite to push transformative ideas forward. According to the survey, almost a quarter of CIOs of larger hospitals and health systems identified AI as a key priority to driving savings and efficiency. "The governance of a health system's approach to AI requires direct leadership from the finance department," writes Zand. The point being made here is that CIOs need to orchestrate support for future IT and innovations plans, and that begins with a thorough inventory of IT platforms and spending.