H.I.T. Men and Women 2013 Nominees

HITMEN 2013

The 2013 H.I.T.Men & Women Awards

The H.I.T.Men & Women awards are given to the who's who and game changers in HIT.  The annual H.I.T.Men & Women Awards Reception is held at the HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition and recognizes the men and women considered among the most influential throughout the HIT industry, as chosen by the readers of Healthcare IT News.  Winners will be chosen from the three following categories:

  1. Enhancing Patient Care through IT
  2. Shapers and Influencers
  3. Innovators, Up and Coming

Vote NOW for the 2013 H.I.T.Men & Women

See below for the biographies of our nominees:

Enhancing Patient Care through IT

Daniel Nigrin, MD
Chief Information Officer
Boston Children's Hospital
Dr. Nigrin is responsible for all clinical, research, teaching and administrative IT systems at one of the world's preeminent institutions for pediatric clinical care and research, serving a staff of over 7000. As a practicing physician, medical informatics researcher, and information technology executive, he is in a unique position to put into practice cutting edge technologies and ideas developed by the Children's Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP) and other biomedical informatics centers of excellence, bringing advances to patient care practice, quality, and research, but all the while keeping in mind the needs and workflows of busy clinicians.

Marvin Harper, MD
Chief Medical Information Officer
Boston Children's Hospital
Dr. Harper is actively involved a combination of implementation of clinical systems, direct delivery of clinical care, clinical research and teaching. Children's Hospital Boston is a HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model Stage 7 hospital. Systems deployed include a complete closed loop computerized provider order entry system, physician and nursing electronic documentation systems, results reporting systems, bed management systems, patient tracking boards, and clinical and research electronic data warehouses. Dr. Harper is Chair of the Children's Hospital Boston Health Information Management Systems Committee, and is a member of multiple committees related to the clinical care and IT systems at Children's Hospital, Boston

Brian Ahier
Health IT Evangelist
Mid-Columbia Medical Center
Brian Ahier works as Health IT Evangelist at Mid-Columbia Medical Center. Brian is also President of Gorge Health Connect, Inc. a health information exchange organization in the Columbia Gorge where they have implemented a Direct Project pilot. Gorge Health Connect, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit which has Board representation from Columbia Gorge Community College, Mid- Columbia Medical Center, Providence Hood River Hospital, Columbia River Women's Clinic, Mid-Columbia Surgical Specialists, La Clinica Del Carino, Mid-Columbia Center for Living, North Central Public Health District, and Hood River County Public Health Department. These organizations represent the bulk of healthcare delivery and training in the five county area. Brian is a founding Board member of DirectTrust.org and has worked extensively on the Direct Project since its inception working on several workgroups and teams. He is also a board member of HIMSS – Oregon.

Tim Bartholow, MD
Senior Vice President
Wisconsin Medical Society
Tim Bartholow, MD, is the Wisconsin Medical Society’s Senior Vice President of Member Services, Policy Planning and Physician Professional Development. His responsibilities include advocacy at the Capitol on behalf of physicians their patients, in addition to professional development for physicians built around health care quality and efficiency efforts. Prior to joining the Society staff in November
2008, Dr. Bartholow spent 16 years practicing family medicine at the Sauk Prairie Clinic in Sauk City, Wis., where he was one of 12 partners.

Frank Opelka, MD, FACS
Chief Executive Officer
Louisiana State University (LSU) Healthcare Network
Frank Opelka, MD FACS serves as the chief executive of the LSU Healthcare Network. Dr. Opelka joined LSU in the spring of 2005, returning to New Orleans after spending time in Boston at one of the Harvard affiliate hospitals. Dr. Opelka is a physician executive and a recognized national leader in patient-centric health care. He also has expertise in healthcare patient safety, quality improvement and health care finance. He serves LSU Health Science Center as the Vice Chancellor of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Opelka is the LSU Health Science Center's advocate for improving patients' health through the e-health record, the personal health record, and e-prescription program entitled, eRxNow.

Mark Hulse, R.N.
VP of Information Services & CIO
Moffitt Cancer Center
Mark Hulse, R.N., is the vice president of information technology and chief information officer at Moffitt. He directs the development and implementation of information systems initiatives that will support Moffitt’s mission to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.

Lynn R. Witherspoon, MD
VP & CMIO
Ochsner Health System
Dr. Witherspoon has served in an Informatics role or as CIO during much of his Ochsner career. He conceptualized and built a clinical repository in the mid-1980s and subsequently shepherded the design, development, deployment, and certification of Ochsner’s EHR platform. Ochsner is now implementing a broad suite of Epic applications, providing an integrated practice support and clinical care platform for Ochsner’s system of clinics, hospitals, and community providers.

Jeffrey Ferranti, M.D.
CMIO
Duke University Health System
Dr. Ferranti is responsible for leading a team charged with the visioning, strategic planning, and effective adoption of integrated technology and information solutions that enable high quality clinical care, research, and education. He also serves as an informatics thought leader, both internal and external to Duke, and, in partnership with our wider medical community, develops an overarching informatics strategy in support of the Duke Medicine mission.

Bob Narveson
President / CEO
Thrifty White Drug Inc.
In 2003 Thrifty White opened its first telepharmacy site. This concept allows a trained, certified and experienced pharmacy technician to fill and dispense prescription medications after being verified by a pharmacist over an audio-video link. This arrangement allows a community to continue pharmacy services even though the local drugstore has closed or the community is too small to support a traditional drug store. This technology allows patients to receive their medicine while they wait and still be able to talk to a pharmacist.

Marilyn Chow, R.N., D.N.Sc., FAAN
EVP and CNO
Kaiser Permanente
Dr. Marilyn Chow works with nursing leaders and senior executives across all regions and collaborates with internal and external partners to enable the delivery of the highest quality and most safe patient-centered care. Dr. Chow has made significant contributions to nursing through her scholarship, leadership, and political and civic involvement. She is recognized for her expertise in innovation, regulation of nursing practice, and workforce policy. Her career has focused on promoting the role of nurses in primary care, advanced practice, and hospital-based care. Dr. Chow is committed to incorporating innovation and technology to reduce waste and improve workflows within the health care industry. She was the driving force in conceptualizing and creating the Garfield Innovation Center, Kaiser Permanente’s living laboratory, where ideas are tested and solutions are developed in a hands-on, simulated clinical environment.

Mark Gilliam
CIO
Ardent Health
As CIO for Ardent Health Services, a $1.8 billion health care company, Mark Gilliam is leading the single most important initiative in the company’s history – the conversion to electronic medical records. In four years, Mark has turned Ardent’s I.T. Department from the lowest scoring corporate department in customer service to the 2010 Department of the Year award winner. In that time, IT has scored a number of very successful conversions, upgrading the delivery of care and the business processes of hospitals, labs, pharmacies and a health plan.

Shapers and Influencers

George Halvorson
Chairman  & Chief Executive Officer
Kaiser Permanente
George C. Halvorson is chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente, headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente is the nation’s largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, serving more than 9 million members and generating nearly $50 billion in annual revenue.

Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA
Surgeon General of the United States
Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA is the 18th Surgeon General of the United States. As America’s Doctor, she provides the public with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and the health of the nation. Dr. Benjamin also oversees the operational command of 6,500 uniformed public health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, and protect the health of the American People.

John D. Halamka, MD, MS
Chief Information Officer
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
John D. Halamka, MD, MS, is chief information officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is renowned for excellence in patient care, biomedical research, teaching and community service. The facility hosts more than three quarters of a million patient visits annually in and around Boston. Dr. Halamka is also chief information officer at Harvard Medical School; chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN); co-Chair of the HIT Standards Committee; a full professor at Harvard Medical School; and a practicing emergency physician..

Andrew Rose Watson, MD, MLitt, FACS
Department of Surgery, UPMC
Vice President, International and Commercial Services Division
Medical Director, Center for Connected Medicine
Executive Director, Telemedicine
Dr. Watson focuses the majority of his time on corporate health care at UPMC, a $9.5B integrated global delivery network in Pittsburgh. He is a Vice President of the International and Commercial Service Division. He helps to lead industrial relations for UPMC and plays a key role integrating health care information technology into clinical practice. He joined IT management of UPMC in 2010. He practices 30% of his clinical care using telemedicine and plays a lead role in establishing telemedicine for UPMC at an enterprise level. He led a 14-month program to develop an enterprise business plan and also a one-year process to submit a $38m broadband technology opportunity grant as part of the 2009 stimulus funding. He is the Executive Director for Business Development and Technology for Telemedicine.

Joseph Kvedar, MD
Founder & Director
Center for Connected Health
Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, is the Founder and Director of the Center for Connected Health, working to create a new model of healthcare delivery, by developing programs and innovative strategies to move care from the hospital or doctor’s office into the day-to-day lives of patients.
In his role with the Center for Connected Health, Dr. Kvedar is creating innovative programs to leverage information technology – cell phones, computers, networked devices and simple remote health monitoring tools – to help providers and patients manage chronic conditions, maintain health and wellness and improve adherence, engagement and clinical outcomes.

Karen Rheuban, MD
Medical Director, Office of Telemedicine
Director, Center for Telehealth
University of Virginia Center for Telehealth
Dr. Rheuban currently serves as Professor of Pediatrics (Pediatric Cardiology), Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education and Medical Director of the University of Virginia Office of Telemedicine. In addition to providing direct clinical services to patients, both inpatient and outpatient, Dr. Rheuban oversees a large ACCME accredited continuing medical education program that includes educational services delivered via on-site lecture or videoconferencing formats, an affiliated hospital program that provides services to 25 hospitals as well as computer-assisted instructional materials and web-based on-line continuing education activities. Dr. Rheuban is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Academy of Pediatrics and a board member of the Center for Telemedicine Law and the American Telemedicine Association.

Patricia Mechael
Executive Director
mHealth Alliance
Patricia has been actively involved in the field of International Health for 15 years with field experience in over 30 countries primarily in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. She has worked on research, program design and implementation, strategic planning, and policy development for mHealth and eHealth initiatives as well as Reproductive Health and Women's Health and Rights with a broad range of institutions. Prior to joining the mHealth Alliance, she was Director of Strategic Application of Mobile Technology for Public Health and Development at the Center for Global Health and Economic Development at the Earth Institute.

Steve Parente, PhD, MPH, MS
University of Minnesota
Stephen T. Parente, PhD, MPH, MS is the Minnesota Insurance Industry Chair of Health Finance in Carlson School of Management and the Director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute at the University of Minnesota. As a Professor in the Finance Department, he specializes in health economics, information technology, and health insurance. Dr. Parente has been the principal investigator on large funded-studies regarding consumer directed health plans, health information technology and health policy micro-simulation.

Ravi Chari
Vice President of Clinical Excellence
HCA
HCA operates 164 hospitals and 111 ambulatory surgery centers. In his role as VP of Clinical Excellence, Chari is responsible for enhancing physician engagement and reducing unnecessary clinical variation in the company’s ongoing efforts to improve quality. Chari, who reports to Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, President of HCA’s Clinical and Physician Services Group and Chief Medical Officer, has worked with physicians to identify opportunities to standardize evidence-based practices that reduced length of stay, for example, and resulted in better patient outcomes.

Matthew Hawkins
Chief Executive Officer
Vitera Healthcare Solutions
With 16 years of IT experience, Hawkins leads the Vitera team whose innovative solutions and services enable more than 400,000 healthcare professionals to increase the quality and effectiveness of patient care. Under the leadership of Hawkins, Vitera has helped its provider community receive more than $47 million in meaningful use incentive payments, launched Vitera Stat, an easy-to-use, cloud-based practice management and EHR solution, released Vitera Intergy Mobile, an application that meets the needs of providers desiring access to practice information and patient records, anytime, anywhere, and introduced Hands-On Lab, its virtual environment designed to provide convenient, function-specific product training to customers.  Additionally, Hawkins is spearheading Vitera’s “Practice of the Future,” a hands-on educational project which will replicate a technologically advanced physician’s office within the company’s headquarters.

Innovators, Up and Coming

Wil Yu
Founder
Foundation for Healthcare Innovation
Wil Yu is currently working with the San Francisco Civic Innovation Office to support its open data and innovation efforts. He is collaborating and consulting with a number of organizations fostering national care delivery transformation efforts. He recently helped to found a non-profit foundation, the Foundation for Healthcare Innovation, dedicated to healthcare innovation and is the editor-at-large for new peer reviewed journal focused care delivery science.

Tom Savel, MD
Director of the Informatics Research and Development Activity in the Public Health Surveillance and Informatics Program Office
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Dr. Savel collaborates with CDC staff and the broader public health community to develop, test, and evaluate innovative technologies and techniques that show potential to improve public health practice. Dr. Savel is co-chair of the Innovation and New Technology Subcommittee under CDC's Information Resources Governance Council. He also is an affiliated (adjunct) professor in the Applied Public Health office at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University.

Paul Tang, MD
VP and CIO
Palo Alto Medical Foundation
Paul Tang, M.D., M.S., is Vice President, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), and is Consulting Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Tang directs the David Druker Center for Health Systems Innovation and also oversees PAMF's electronic health record (EHR) system and its integrated personal health record (PHR) system, MyHealthOnline (formerly PAMFOnline).

Naomi Fried, Ph.D.
CIO
Childrens Hospital Boston
Naomi Fried is Boston Children’s Hospital’s first Chief Innovation Officer.  She is building the Innovation Acceleration Program, aimed at improving care quality and assisting the hospitalin shaping the future of health care.  The Innovation Acceleration program focuses on enhancing the innovation culture by supporting strategic innovation initiatives such as Telehealth, resourcing grass roots innovation, and identifying unmet innovation opportunities.

Roy Schoenberg, MD, MPH
Chairman & CEO
American Well Systems
Roy Schoenberg is the CEO of American Well Systems and the inventor of the American Well concept. He directs the company’s product development and operational divisions. Prior to founding American Well, Roy was the inventor and founder of CareKey Inc., a software vendor offering electronic health management systems. Roy led CareKey through product development, market introduction, and the adoption of its web-based health management solutions by 35+ million users. Roy continued to serve as SVP and Chief Internet Solutions Officer at The TriZetto Group (NASDAQ:TZIX) following its acquisition of CareKey in December 2005.

Donato Tramuto
CEO & Vice Chairman
Physicians Interactive and Health eVillages
Donato Tramuto has more than 30 years of healthcare experience in both the product and service segments. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of i3, a global pharmaceutical services company that is part of Ingenix (a UnitedHealth Group Company), overseeing the Clinical Research, Pharmaceutical Data, Analytics, Outcomes, EPI/Safety, Health Education, and Strategic Consulting business units. Tramuto is the founder of Health eVillages, a program of the not-for-profit Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, provides state-of-the-art mobile health technology including medical reference and clinical decision support resources to medical professionals in the most challenging clinical environments around the world.

Michael O'Neil
CEO
GetWellNetwork
Michael O’Neil was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 28. After four cycles of chemotherapy, Michael immediately began building GetWellNetwork, a company committed to working with hospitals to improve performance and outcomes through patient engagement. Today, GetWellNetwork is recognized by KLAS® as the leader in the new Interactive Patient Systems category and is exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association. GetWellNetwork has also been acknowledged as one of the fastest growing companies in the Washington, D.C. area by Inc. Magazine, Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ and SmartCEO magazine.  

Michael Sandoval
CEO, Chairman and Founder
Atigeo
As CEO, Michael Sandoval drives the overall strategic and creative vision for Atigeo. Atigeo is a compassionate technology company turning science into products and services for a wiser world. They believe technology should benefit the greater good. Their flagship software, the intelligent big data platform xPatterns, was created to make the world's information more accessible and insightful, lowering the barrier to working with big data as never before.

Chad Eckes
CIO
Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Cancer Treatment Centers of America is a worldwide leader in the treatment of cancer. The CTCA treatment team helps fight cancer on many fronts, through an integrated combination of medical, nutritional, physical, psychological and spiritual therapies. As part of this team, Mr. Eckes is responsible for leading a top notch IT department in providing leading technology solutions that improve patient care and assist in winning the fight against cancer every day.

Gregg Boyle
Technology Officer
Qualifacts
Qualifacts is the largest provider of Software-as-a-Service and web-based Electronic Health Records for the behavioral health and human services market. Mr. Boyle serves as Chief Technology Officer. Prior to joining Qualifacts, Gregg served as the Director of Enterprise Technology for WebMD/Emdeon’s Business Services division where he was responsible for developing and managing a variety of custom and off-the-shelf enterprise software systems. Mr. Boyle’s team was ultimately responsible for the identification and selection of future technologies and information technology standards for the company.

Clayton Nicholas
SVP
Change Healthcare
Nicholas brings nearly two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, Fortune 50 executive and Army Officer to his role with Change Healthcare. After honing his expertise in general management, marketing, strategy and sales techniques across healthcare and information technology sectors, Nicholas now leads marketing and public relations functions while helping to drive strategy and innovation.