Cris Ross Slays Dragons at Mayo Clinic

“My core job is to provide reliable technology for one of the best hospitals in the U.S.,” says Cris Ross, Chief Information Officer, Mayo Clinic. “And that’s a daunting and exciting job, even if that’s all I ever do.”

But that’s not even close to all he does.

“The other part of my job,” Ross says, “is to help our leaders and scientists figure out how to use technology in different ways.” Ross works to inspire his Mayo Clinic colleagues to explore new ideas and new ways of thinking, to mash seemingly unrelated or semi-related ideas into great ideas—and transform patient care in the process.

Ross slays dragons, in other words, even though he was a somewhat nerdy, occasionally athletic kid growing up in Minneapolis, as he describes himself. But it was the “somewhat nerdy” side that sparked his interest in technology.

Ross is one of the best health IT leaders out there, and someone I’m lucky to consider a friend. Hear how Ross went from playing with soldering irons and taking apart his dad’s old TV to transforming the patient experience with technology—from interoperability to the hope of artificial intelligence—at Mayo Clinic.

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