NEW GLOUCESTER , ME –  Healthcare IT News has tapped some of the top healthcare IT experts in the country to serve on its first editorial board.

The board members will serve as advisers and critics of Healthcare IT News coverage both online and in print.

Healthcare IT News is in its fourth year of publication. Just two years into publication, it won a Jesse H. Neal award, a coveted recognition in trade publishing, for best issue of a newspaper.

The board members will serve three-year terms. Three additional members will come on board next year. Healthcare IT News editors sought representation from big city hospitals and smaller, rural hospitals, from physicians and standards experts.

The members are:

• John Glaser, vice president and CIO, Partners HealthCare System, Boston;
• Denni McColm, CIO, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, Bolivar, Mo.;
• Jane Olds, COO, Louisiana Health Network, New Orleans;
• Wes Rishel, vice president, Gartner Inc.;
• William Spooner, senior vice president, CIO, Sharp Healthcare, San Diego;
• Paul Tang, MD, vice president and CMIO, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, California; and
• Steven Waldren, MD, director, Center for Health-IT, American Academy of Family Physicians.

“It’s hard to imagine a more distinguished group of healthcare IT experts than those who comprise our editorial board,” said Jack Beaudoin, editorial director of Healthcare IT News and Healthcare Finance News, both published by MedTech Publishing Company. “I believe their insights and expertise will pay immediate dividends in our coverage choices. In this industry, timely, accurate and trusted news is crucial for decision-makers, and an editorial board of this caliber can help us consistently deliver the goods to our readers.”

Glaser was the founding chairman of College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and is past president of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). He has been a member of the board of the American Medical Informatics Association. He is currently the president of theFoundation for eHealth Initiative board.

“Healthcare is in the early stages of transformation; a transformation enabled by the thoughtful application of information technology,” said Glaser. “Healthcare IT News does a superb job of providing the industry with the news and information necessary to ensure an effective transformation.”

McColm’s 74-bed hospital in Bolivar, Mo. received the 2005 HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Awards of Excellence, awarded for EMR accomplishments. McColm, who is recognized industry-wide for her work, gives her IT team and the CEO of Citizens Memorial credit for keeping the hospital on the IT forefront.

Olds is on the frontlines in New Orleans, charged with rolling out electronic health record systems to more than 500 Louisiana State University physicians. Olds had her own home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and the home of her elderly parents was wiped out, too. She is pleased to be back in New Orleans, she said, where she can help rebuild a shattered healthcare system.

Rishel is the research area director for the healthcare provider practice at Gartner. In addition to his management role, he personally covers the Regional Health Information Organizations and the underlying technologies of healthcare IT including application integration and standards.

Spooner is responsible for information technology and telecommunications across Sharp. He oversees a department that manages Sharp HealthCare’s system-wide clinical, financial and administrative computer systems. In addition to his experience in information technology leadership, Spooner has a financial background, having held financial management positions in three multi-facility healthcare systems.

Tang, an internist, is associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. At PAMF, Tang is responsible for clinical information systems, including an enterprise-wide electronic health record system and an integrated personal health record system. He is chairman of the board for the American Medical Informatics Association and a member of the National Committee on Vital Health Statistics.

Waldren is a board-certified family physician. He serves as co-chair of the Ambulatory Functionality Working Group of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology. He also serves as co-chair of ASTM’s Continuity of Care Record Technical Committee and as secretary of the Physicians Electronic Health Record (EHR) Coalition. He is a director of The Center for Improving Medication Management.