For the 16th episode of the CIO podcast hosted by Healthcare IT Today, we sat down with Joel Vengco, SVP and Chief Information and Digital Officer at Baystate Health. Located in Western Mass (Massachusetts for those following along at home), Baystate Health is in a great position to benefit from access to all of the amazing technology and people in Boston, but also is far enough away to be able to pave their own path as they care for their community. This was evident on the podcast with Vengco where he shared some of the unique ways he’s approaching innovation at Baystate Health.

One of the biggest areas that interests Vengco is around health equity and the digital divide. In this episode he dives into the challenges they face and their efforts to work on the problem. Plus, we talk about some of Vengco’s roots as an immigrant and how that shapes his work as a healthcare CIO.

Here’s a look at the questions and topics we discuss on this episode:
* What’s it like being the CIO of a health system so close to all that healthcare innovation in Boston? What opportunities and challenges does it provide?
* I see that Baystate’s Innovation Center is involved in Harbor Health. Tell us about that initiative and their work with health equity.
* Let’s talk about the digital divide. What are you seeing and what do we need to do to narrow the divide?
* You and your family immigrated to the US In 1978, do you think that immigrant mindset helped make it possible for you to become CIO? How does it change your perspective as CIO?
* What’s the biggest problem/challenge you’re trying to solve at Baystate right now?
* On your Twitter account you’ve pinned the quote “Your Value Does Not Decrease Based on Someone’s Inability to See Your Worth.” Why is this quote important to you and how do you use it in your leadership efforts?