A new leader is emerging in the hospital C-suite to help manage the shift from volume to value — the chief transformation officer.
Chief transformation officers may also go by other titles such as vice president of population health, chief clinical transformation officer or chief integration officer. They generally serve as administrative leader across various transformation initiatives, such as developing the primary care infrastructure and expanding IT and risk analytics capabilities, but often share joint responsibility for clinical transformation with a high-profile physician leader, according to the Advisory Board.
Here are eight chief transformation officers to know at hospitals and health systems throughout the United States, presented alphabetically.
Note: Chief transformation officers were selected based on editorial judgment and discretion. Individuals could not pay for inclusion on this list.
Michael Ash, MD. Chief Transformation Officer of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha). Dr. Ash, an internal medicine physician, has served as chief transformation officer of Nebraska Medical Center since May 2014. Areas that report to Dr. Ash include quality and outcomes, enterprise applications, telehealth, enterprise technical services, clinical services information and information security. Prior to joining Nebraska Medical Center, he worked at Cerner Corp. in Kansas City, Mo. There, he held a wide range of positions, including vice president and CMO of physician innovation, vice president and CMO of communication health strategy and vice president of provider strategy. Dr. Ash earned a bachelor's degree in pharmacy and a medical degree from the University of Missouri - Kansas City.
William Choctaw, MD, JD. Chief Transformation Officer of Citrus Valley Health Partners (Covina, Calif.). Dr. Choctaw became chief transformation officer of Citrus Valley Health Partners in May 2014. Prior to his current role, he was a member of the medical executive committee at Citrus Valley Medical Center in Covina for a decade. During that time, his roles included chief of staff and chief of surgery. Outside of his role at Citrus Valley Health Partners, he is a member of the clinical faculty at University of Southern California School of Medicine, based in Los Angeles, and continues to practice general surgery. Dr. Choctaw graduated from the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.
Pracha Eamranond, MD. Vice President of Population Health and Chief Transformation Officer of Lawrence (Mass.) General Hospital. In his roles, Dr. Eamranond works to improve the experience of a largely underserved patient population in the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts, as well as southern New Hampshire. He also teaches the practice of medicine course at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Eamranond earned a master's degree in public health from Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University and a medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. His clinical interests include immigrant health, internal medicine and primary care.
Beverly Jordan, MSN, RN. Vice President and Chief Information and Transformation Officer of Baptist Memorial Health Care (Memphis, Tenn.). Ms. Jordanwas appointed to her current role in December 2015. In her role, a new position at Baptist, she leads the health system's information technology department. Previously, she was the system's vice president and chief clinical transformation officer, where she oversaw the Baptist OneCare EMR implementation. She also previously served as vice president and chief nursing executive for the 14-hospital system. Ms. Jordan earned a master's degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix.
Helen Macfie, PharmD. Chief Transformation Officer of MemorialCare Health System (Fountain Valley, Calif.). As chief transformation officer, Dr. Macfie is responsible for system-level transformation and performance improvement for a wide range of MemorialCare initiatives, including population health, clinical quality, patient safety, risk management and utilization. According to the system, she is also responsible for coordination of systemwide strategic planning activities. Prior to her promotion to chief transformation officer in 2013, Dr. Macfie was senior vice president for performance improvement at MemorialCare.She serves as faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's patient safety executive course and on the board of California Hospital Association's Hospital Quality Institute and State Quality Committee, among other boards.
Dan Sontheimer, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Transformation Officer of Baptist Health Care (Pensacola, Fla.). At BHC, Dr. Sontheimer focuses on increasing care standardization, developing physician leadership and governance and advancing population health management. Additionally, he serves as president of Baptist Medical Group, is on the medical staff for Baptist Hospital in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze (Fla.) Hospital and serves as a part-time hospitalist. Previously, Dr. Sontheimer, who is board-certified in family medicine and hospice and palliative medicine, was CMO of Springfield, Mo.-based CoxHealth. He earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and has a master's degree in business administration from Regis University in Denver.
Subra Sripada. Executive Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer and CIO of Beaumont Health (Southfield, Mich.). Prior to his current roles at Beaumont Health — which was formed by the merger of Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Mich., Botsford Health Care in Farmington Hills, Mich., and Oakwood Healthcare in Dearborn, Mich. — Mr. Sripada was executive vice president, chief administrative officer and CIO of Beaumont Health System. In addition to his current roles at Beaumont Health, he serves on various healthcare advisory boards, including the advisory boards of Microsoft and AT&T. Mr. Sripada earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Osmania University in India and a master's degree in industrial and systems engineering from Kansas State University in Manhattan.
Chris Wilde. Chief Transformation Officer of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Mr. Wilde has served as chief transformation officer of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta since June 2014. During his tenure, the system established a program management council to manage the flow and execution of a value-based care strategy. His other roles have included CFO of clinical care for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, CFO of Our Lady of BellefonteHospital in Ashland, Ky., and CFO and CIO of Deaconess Hospital in Cincinnati. Mr. Wilde, a certified public accountant, also previously was manager of financial reporting and financial information systems at Mission Hospitals in Asheville, N.C. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.