George T. “Buddy” Hickman has been “very, very involved in health IT,” as a CIO for the past 24 years, and in other capacities. Now as the chief strategy officer with First Health Advisory, a global risk management and digital transformation advisory firm, he imparts his vast industry knowledge to others as part of his daily job.

In this episode of healthsystemCIO’s Partner Perspective Interview Series, Anthony Guerra, founder and editor-in-chief, picks Hickman’s brain on how he sees new trends affecting CIOs, particularly the latest title of chief digital officer. Is it important to go after this title? Hickman says it depends. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of a new trendy name for the same CIO job. But if a CIO is a trailblazer, drastically driving change at his or her enterprise, it might be right to assume this new title. And by the way, don’t expect the role to come without conflict, as that comes with the territory for any C-suite IT position. Hickman offers some ways to work with it and win, along with a host of other career gems in this interview.