Technology is an important part of patient care delivery today.
Healthcare organizations and clinicians across the country depend on health IT leaders and vendors to achieve optimal outcomes and deliver a seamless patient experience. Here are 102 women who make significant contributions to health IT advancements, leading large teams, initiatives and companies focused on improving patient care.
Note: Members of this list do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion. The list is organized in alphabetical order.
Contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com with questions or comments on this list.
Laura Adams. President and CEO of Rhode Island Quality Institute (Providence). Ms. Adams has about 30 years of health IT experience. She helms the Rhode Island Quality Institute, a Providence-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality, safety and value. Prior to taking on that role, she was president and CEO of Decision Support Systems, a company focused on internet-based healthcare decision support. Ms. Adams also was on the ONC's health IT policy committee's governance panel for the Nationwide Health Information Network.
Robin Adams. Vice President of Strategy and Product Development at Urac (Washington, D.C.). Ms. Adams is part of the executive team at Urac, an independent, nonprofit accreditation entity. An experienced healthcare professional, she has worked for more than 20 years in pediatric academic and community-based health systems. She previously served at Washington, D.C.-based Children's National Health System, where she played a key role supporting the development of the health system's regional outpatient center strategy to improve healthcare access. Ms. Adams also served as chief growth officer of Falls Church, Va.-based Inova, a nonprofit health system comprising an integrated network of hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency and urgent care centers, outpatient services and destination institutes.
Lisa Archer. Senior Vice President of People and Culture at American Well (Boston). Ms. Archer serves as a senior vice president of telehealth solutions provider American Well. A human resources leader with global experience, she previously was chief human resources officer of Dynatrace, a software intelligence provider. Ms. Archer also served as executive human resources roles at Microsoft, EMC and PTC.
Pamela Arora. Senior Vice President of Information Services and CIO of Children's Health (Dallas). Ms. Arora has more than three decades of IT experience. At Children's, which she joined in 2007, she is responsible for systems and technology, health information management and biomedical technology and support. During her tenure, the health system has achieved HIMSS Stage 7 EMR Adoption designation and earned the HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award for innovative use of EHRs. Ms. Arora previously was senior vice president and CIO of Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Memorial Health Care and CIO of Dallas-based Perot Systems.
Marti Arvin. Vice President of Audit Strategy at CynergisTek (Austin, Texas, and Mission Viejo, Calif.). Ms. Arvin brings more than three decades of operational and executive leadership experience in the areas of compliance, research and regulatory oversight in academic medical and traditional hospital settings to her role at the cybersecurity and information management consulting firm. She previously was chief compliance officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners, which was sold to Apollo Global Management in 2015, and the UCLA Health System and David Geffen School of Medicine.
Robyn Baek. Vice President of Analytics and Insights at SOC Telemed (Atlanta). Ms. Baek serves as vice president of analytics and insights at SOC Telemed, a telemedicine company. In her role, she is responsible for clinical, operational and financial data analyses and communications. Previously, Ms. Baek was an investment banker at Citigroup and a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global management and IT consulting firm.
Denise Basow, MD. President and CEO of Clinical Effectiveness at Wolters Kluwer (Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands). At Wolters Kluwer, Dr. Basow serves as CEO of clinical effectiveness, which includes UpToDate, an evidence-based clinical decision support resource and the company's clinical drug information solutions Lexicomp, Medi-Span and Facts & Comparisons. She took over the position in 2015 after serving as vice president and general manager of clinical decision support at Wolters Kluwer.
Ann Marie Beasley. Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Allscripts (Chicago). Ms. Beasley has more than 25 years of professional IT experience. She joined Allscripts in 2013 and led market strategy for the company's population health solutions before becoming senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Prior to joining Allscripts, she was vice president of strategy and product marketing at CA Technologies, one of the world's largest independent software corporations.
Lindy Benton. President and CEO of Vyne (Dunwoody, Ga.). Ms. Benton has 30 years of experience in health IT. She currently serves as CEO of Vyne, a health information exchange and electronic healthcare communication management solutions provider. Under her leadership, Vyne earned certified status for information security by HITRUST, indicating two of the company's products meet industry-defined requirements for appropriately managing risk. Previously, Ms. Benton served 12 years on the foundation board for Florida Hospital for Children in Orlando, now AdventHealth for Children.
Kelly Bliss. Chief Client Officer at Teladoc (Purchase, N.Y.). As chief client officer of Teladoc, a telehealth provider with more than 20 million members, Ms. Bliss is responsible for global client services strategies. The company includes 3,100 licensed healthcare professionals who have 20 years of experience on average. Throughout her career, she has helped build and manage global teams at Best Doctors, a global health benefits provider that integrated with Teladoc, InterSystems and TRO-Design.
Jenna Bourgeois. Founder and Chairman of Dynamics Intelligence (Redman, Wash.). Ms. Bourgeois serves as founder and chairman of Dynamics Intelligence, a software company that specializes in the Microsoft technology stack. As a founder and the company's former CEO, Ms. Bourgeois was the lead architect of Dynamics Intelligence's HEALTHieR Cloud offering. She has more than 20 years of technical experience, 10 years of Dynamics experience, and 15 years of experience as a Microsoft trainer.
Michele Brown. Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Leidos (Reston, Va.). At Leidos, Ms. Brown administers the company's ethics and compliance program. She also serves as deputy general counsel with a focus on issues involving government and commercial contracting and regulatory compliance. Previously, she was in private practice at Holland and Knight for nearly 10 years. Ms. Brown is also a former president of the Boards of Contract Appeals Bar Association, as well as a member of the editorial board of the Public Contract Law Journal.
Julie Bushman. Executive Vice President of International Operations at 3M (Maplewood, Minn.). Ms. Bushman joined 3M more than 30 years ago. She was a materials control analyst at the company and became CIO in 2003 after serving in various divisions and IT roles. She previously was division vice president and executive vice president of 3M's safety, security and protection services business.
Bobbie Byrne, MD. CIO of Advocate Aurora Health (Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee). Dr. Byrne has more than 15 years of experience in clinical informatics and 10 years of professional practice experience. She is CIO of 27-hospital Advocate Aurora Health, the nation's 10th largest not-for-profit, integrated health system, formed by the merger of Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care and Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care. Before the merger, she was CIO of Advocate.
Kelli Castellano. Chief Marketing Officer at TigerConnect (Santa Monica, Calif.). An experienced marketing and communications strategist, Ms. Castellano has more than 15 years of business-to-business marketing experience. Before becoming chief marketing officer at TigerConnect, a clinical communication and collaboration technology software solutions provider, she was senior vice president of marketing and communications for NextGen Healthcare. She spent her early career gaining experience at technology companies such as Affiliated Computer Services and Companion Technologies.
Loretta Cecil. Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Change Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.). Ms. Cecil spent time as senior vice president of governance relations and general counsel at McKesson Technology Solutions before joining Change Healthcare in 2017 as executive vice president and general counsel. During her time at McKesson, she supported the company's board of directors, CEO and executive committee. Previously, Ms. Cecil was the top attorney and regulatory and legislative lobbyist in the South for AT&T Corp.
Christine Chapman. Vice President of InterSystems TrakCare (Cambridge, Mass.). Ms. Chapman is vice president of InterSystems' unified health information system, TrakCare. Before her current role, she was service executive director at InterSystems and COO of InterSystems TrakCare. Additionally, she was executive vice president and COO of international healthcare company Picis and vice president of the eHealth services division of Superior Consultant.
Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN. CNO of Vocera Communications (San Jose, Calif.). Since January 2014, Dr. Collins has served as CNO of Vocera, a mobile healthcare communications company. Before taking on that role, she was vice president and business manager for Fresenius Kabi, USA, where she played a key role in launching the company's intravenous infusion pump in the U.S. She also was vice president of women's and children's services at Dallas-based Baylor University Medical Center and vice president of nursing at global medical technology company Masimo Corp.
Tara Cramer. Executive Director of Georgia Regional Academic Community Health Information Exchange (Sandersville, Ga.). Ms. Cramer serves as executive director of Georgia's largest public health information exchange. Since taking on the role in November 2011, she has led regional efforts for disaster planning/recovery for health information exchanges during hurricanes Irma, Florence and Michael. Ms. Cramer sits on the user group committee of the Georgia Health Information Network and is a member of the HIMSS HIE Practice Task Force.
Janet Dillione. CEO of Bernoulli Health (Milford, Conn.). Ms. Dillione has more than 25 years of experience with the development and delivery of healthcare technology and services. Since 2014, she has served as CEO of Bernoulli Health, a provider of clinical surveillance, medical device integration and real time data analytics solutions. She previously was executive vice president and general manager of Nuance's healthcare division, as well as CEO of Siemens Health Services. Ms. Dillione is a former member of the HIMSS Advisory Board and a member of CHIME.
Ellen Donahue-Dalton. Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Medecision (Dallas). Ms. Donahue-Dalton became a consultant to Medecision in 2011, and in 2012, she assumed her current role as leader of its solution development and strategic marketing initiatives. She brings prior consulting and coaching experience to the position, having founded the Dalton Marketing Group, and has worked with clients, including Magellan Health, Ceridian and Bloodhound Technologies. Ms. Donahue-Dalton also served as GTECH Corp.'s vice president and worldwide marketing and divisional president, leading the $1 billion global systems, software and services company to double-digit annual growth.
Kathy Doub English. Vice President of Enterprise Marketing at Vocera Communications (San Jose, Calif.). Since joining Vocera in February 2016, Ms. English, who started her career as a nurse, has overhauled the company's marketing content strategy, shifting the focus from product functionality to patient and care team value. During a three-year tenure at Cisco, she was senior director of industry marketing, global data center marketing and industry and services marketing. Ms. English also mentors emerging female leaders on how to improve their healthcare technology skills, earning her recognition from the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a woman of influence in 2018.
Karen Drenkard, PhD, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical and Nursing Officer of GetWellNetwork (Bethesda, Md.). Tasked with leading GetWell Network's clinical team, Dr. Drenkard offers expertise on harnessing technology to enhance the patient and family experience. She also oversees research as head of the O'Neil Center, a think tank uniquely focused on patient engagement. In March 2018, GetWellNetwork selected Dr. Drenkard to co-chair the Beryl Institute Nurse Executive Council and develop strategies to help nurse leaders succeed. She has held executive roles with the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Magnet Recognition Program and Inova Health System in Falls Church, Va.
Chiny Driscoll. Founder and CEO of MetiStream (Vienna, Va.). Since establishing MetiStream in 2014 to help organizations more efficiently capture, access and share data, Ms. Driscoll has overseen the company's first product launch and grown the company's workforce to include 17 employees and consultants. She previously worked in IBM's information management division as worldwide executive leader of big data services, playing a pivotal role in implementing big data products across industries. Ms. Driscoll serves on the board of advisers for two Blacksburg-based Virginia Tech programs: the Center for Innovation program and the Pamplin College of Business master of information technology program.
Bridget Duffy, MD. CMO of Vocera Communications (San Jose, Calif.) and Co-founder of Experience Innovation Network. Dr. Duffy leads the design of healthcare innovations as Vocera Communications CMO, while guiding clinical leaders and industry executives in shaping care standards at the helm of Experience Innovation Network. Dr. Duffy's human-centered approach to healthcare led her to co-found the National Taskforce for Humanity in Healthcare and become involved with Code Lavender, an initiative focused on improving the patient experience. Silicon Valley Business Journal recognized Dr. Duffy as a woman of influence in 2017.
Barbara Dumery. Senior Vice President of Product Management at Imprivata (Lexington, Mass.). Fascinated by why and how people use technology, Ms. Dumery led product teams at several healthcare technology companies before joining Imprivata as vice president of product management in 2014. At Verscend Technologies, she worked on product management efforts related to healthcare analytics and population health, and during a seven-year tenure at Nuance, she guided product management for a health IT solution suite. Upon joining Imprivata, she oversaw product management for the company's OneSign solution, assumed responsibility for user experience product design and was charged with driving portfolio strategy.
Cheryl Lee Eberting, MD. Founder and CEO of Azova Health (Alpine, Utah). After Dr. Eberting's TrueLipids product line for sensitive skin conditions gained widespread distribution, she founded Azova Health to facilitate digital collaboration among healthcare providers. In addition to her entrepreneurial endeavors, Dr. Eberting oversees the Alpine (Utah) Dermatology & Laser Center. A past clinical research fellow of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, she has been featured by media organizations including SiriusXM and MedEsthetics Magazine.
Carina Edwards. Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Imprivata (Lexington, Mass.). With more than two decades of healthcare technology experience, Ms. Edwards is responsible for all customer-facing operations, including worldwide professional services, worldwide customer support and advocacy, business development and corporate IT. The CHIME Foundation appointed Ms. Edwards to join its board of directors in January 2017. Prior to her current position, she worked as Nuance's vice president of solutions marketing and held executive roles at several companies, including Zynx Health and Philips.
Judy Faulkner. Founder and CEO of Epic Systems (Verona, Wis.). Since building Epic from a basement in 1979, Ms. Faulkner has grown the company to support more than 230 million patients' medical records with a team of over 9,000 employees. Epic gained several big contracts in 2018, including Orlando (Fla.) Health, New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals and at least four healthcare organizations besides hospitals. Ms. Faulkner has appeared on multiple Forbes lists, ranking No. 3 on the America's Self-Made Women list and No. 75 on Power Women in 2018.
Virginia Feldman, MD. Co-founder and CEO of Nexus Health Resources (Middletown, N.Y). In 2013, Dr. Feldman began working on a system to improve outcomes for Middletown, N.Y.-based Orange Regional Medical Center's recently discharged patients, and the solution laid the groundwork for Nexus Health Resources. As the company's CEO, Dr. Feldman is responsible for guiding the strategic direction of its operations and product design. A serial entrepreneur, Dr. Feldman also co-founded the Hudson Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center.
Helen Figge, PharmD. Chief Strategy Officer at Medicasoft (Arlington, Va.). Dr. Figge became MedicaSoft's chief strategy officer in August 2018 and serves as an adjunct global healthcare management professor at Boston-based Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Dr. Figge has worked for three Fortune companies, held leadership roles for HIMSS and guided the direction of startup health IT companies such as LumiraDx, HealthBox and CareFully, which she co-founded. In 2018, Health Data Management named Dr. Figge among the 50 most powerful women in healthcare IT for the third year.
Kathy Ford. President and Chief Product Officer of Rhinogram (Chattanooga, Tenn.). As Rhinogram's president and chief product officer, Ms. Ford guides the company's strategic growth and operational vision, striving to simplify, streamline and secure patient care. Before accepting the position in August 2018, she oversaw executive-level portfolios, guided merger and acquisition activities and led product efforts at GE Healthcare, McKesson and NantHealth. Throughout her career of 20-plus years, Ms. Ford has become known for pioneering the commercialization of more than 100 clinical solutions globally.
Angie Franks. President and Chief Executive Officer at Central Logic (Salt Lake City, Utah). Ms. Franks was appointed CEO at Central Logic, which focuses on transfer center software solutions, after serving as chair of the company’s board. She has more than 25 years of high growth, technology leadership experience. Her areas of healthcare IT expertise include transfer centers/patient flow, clinical and financial information systems, enterprise resource planning, telemedicine and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. She has served in executive leadership roles at Healthland, acquired by CPSI; Lawson Software, acquired by Infor; and GeoAccess, acquired by Optum.
Deborah Gage. President and CEO of Medecision (Dallas). After working for Truven Healthcare, Ms. Gage became CEO for healthcare IT firms including SolutionPoint, GTESS Corp., and RosettaMed. She brought her experiences with those three organizations with her when she became president and CEO of Medecision. With a self-proclaimed fearless approach to leadership, Ms. Gage has grown Medecision's client base to include top integrated delivery networks, 40 percent of physicians and eight of the top health plans. Additionally, she oversaw Medecision's acquisition of AxisPoint Health in 2017, which brought in more than 50 clients.
Kourtney Govro. Founder and CEO of Sphere3 (Kansas City). Ms. Govro made it her mission to improve the patient and caregiver experience after her youngest son received hospital treatment. She has since shared her expertise in nurse call design and point-of-care analytics as a speaker, author and researcher. Under Ms. Govro's leadership, Sphere3 received a patent for its LeadIt! software module, forged a partnership with Critical Alert Systems and received recognition as one of Kansas City's best small businesses from Thinking Bigger Business Media's 2017 25 Under 25 Awards.
Virginia Gurley, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of HGS AxisPoint Health (Westminster, Colo.). As senior vice president and CMO, Dr. Gurley is responsible for leading HGS AxisPoint Health's clinical content development and analytics efforts. With more than three decades of experience related to preventive medicine, clinical programs and health education, Ms. Gurley also manages the company's condition and case management solution, CarePoint. She previously held leadership positions at managed care organizations and care management vendors Healthways, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and McKesson.
Nat'e Guyton, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN. CNO of Spok (Eden Prairie, Minn.). Dr. Guyton became Spok's CNO in July 2016, bringing more than 15 years of healthcare experience to the role. Dr. Guyton's responsibilities include ensuring nurses' needs are represented in Spok's clinical communication platform and working with nurses to implement programs from the company, which now serves over 1,900 hospitals and health systems globally. She previously served as CNO at Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health and Mercy Suburban Hospital in Norristown, Pa., as well as senior director of nursing operations at Wilmington, Del.-based St. Francis Hospital.
Lindsay Hanrahan. Vice President of Product Management at Surgical Information Systems (Alpharetta, Ga.). Before the company joined Surgical Information Systems, Ms. Hanrahan was SourceMed's product management director. Now, she is responsible for guiding the company's product direction, product strategy, ASC management tools and clinical software solutions. A thought leader in health IT, software development and portfolio management experience, Ms. Hanrahan has had her work printed in industry publications.
Michelle Harmon. Chief Strategy Officer at Ludi. Ms. Harmon joined Ludi as vice president of national accounts in 2015, tasked with generating sales, expanding customer relationships and acting as a liaison for large clients. She now draws on 25-plus years of healthcare experience to serve as the healthcare technology and physician advocacy firm's chief strategy officer. Her previous titles include director of executive search at BE Smith, senior director of client services for WebMD and director of physician recruitment and retention for Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System.
Rebecca Hellmann, Chief Marketing Officer at Olive (Columbus, Ohio). Ms. Hellman joined Olive in January 2018, after a five-year tenure as vice president of marketing for Cardinal Health's hospital solutions and global supply chain division. While guiding Cardinal's technology solution integration efforts, she introduced an end-to-end lead generation and management program. In 2016, the Ohio Diversity Council recognized Ms. Hellman among the top 15 businesswomen in Ohio for actively mentoring women and holding various leadership roles.
Kathleen Hogan. Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Microsoft (Redmond, Wash.). Ms. Hogan joined Microsoft's team in 2003, serving as corporate vice president of Microsoft Services and corporate vice president of customer service and support before taking on her current position. As chief people officer, Ms. Hogan is responsible for creating an exceptional culture to attract talented professionals and support the company's 100,000-plus employees. While she was chief people officer, Microsoft earned the No. 34 spot on Glassdoor's 2019 Best Places to Work list.
Lissy Hu, MD. CEO of CarePort (Boston). Dr. Hu serves as the co-founder and CEO of care coordination and management solutions provider CarePort. She made the decision to leave medicine, and started CarePort while pursuing her MD and MBA from Harvard. Just three years after the company launched, CarePort was acquired by EHR giant Allscripts in 2016 and Dr. Hu maintained her position as CarePort CEO. By 2018, Ms. Hu and CarePort took over the Allscripts Care Management solution and services portfolio, which were rolled under the CarePort name. Dr. Hu continues to help drive CarePort into success, with her strategic thinking and personal experience working in the healthcare space.
Renee Hulen. Senior Director of IT and Clinical Informatics at SBH Health System (New York, N.Y.). Before SBH Health System named Ms. Hulen senior director of IT and clinical informatics in January 2016, she served as assistant director of information services. She has also sat on the SBH Institutional Review Board, which reviews research studies submitted by staff. Ms. Hulen's responsibilities at SBH include IT operations management, clinical informatics project development and software implementation planning.
Karen Ignagni. President and CEO of EmblemHealth (New York City). Ms. Ignagni served as president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans until September 2015, when she took the helm at EmblemHealth. Under her leadership the nonprofit health insurance company has expanded its local footprint and membership while integrating AdvantageCare Physicians. The company serves about 3.1 million customers in New York. In 2018, City & State New York included Ms. Ignagni in its ranking of the most powerful women in the state, listing her at No. 38.
Amy Ishmael. Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Casetabs (Santa Monica, Calif.). As vice president of strategic accounts, Ms. Ishmael is responsible for managing Casetabs' ASC and hospital partner relationships. Before joining the startup health IT company, Ms. Ishmael served as the surgery scheduling and client experience coordinator at United Surgical Partners International in Addison, Texas. In 2016, Ms. Ishmael became Casetabs' first customer success manager, which involved her with product development and surgery coordination issues the company was working to solve.
Andria Jacobs, RN. COO of PCG Software (Las Vegas). Ms. Jacobs brings more than 30 years of patient care experience to PCG Software. As the company's COO, Ms. Jacobs oversees PCG Software's applications growth and development, including managing additions and improvements to functionality of applications as well as outreach to more provider markets. Prior to joining PCG Software, Ms. Jacobs served as an administrative director for UniHealth in Northridge, Calif.
Rhonda Jorden. Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock). Ms. Jorden became the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' vice chancellor for information technology and CIO in September 2014. Prior to her appointment, she served in various IT roles at the university, including chief technology officer and in software development and management. Throughout her 27-year career in IT, Ms. Jorden has led multiple projects for the university, including building the Arkansas TeleHealth Network and the university's primary data center.
Erin Karam. Chief Technology Officer at Prepared Health (Chicago). As chief technology officer of Prepared Health, Ms. Karam leads the strategic and technical direction of product vision for the company's enTouch platform. Ms. Karam has special expertise in enterprise application architecture and emerging mobile, cloud and big data technologies. In 2016, she was a finalist for a Best Woman in Tech Moxie Award.
Mara Kaufman. Vice President of Client Services at Doctor.com (New York City). Ms. Kaufman joined Doctor.com in 2014 as the company's director of client success and became Doctor.com's vice president of client services the next year. In her current role, Ms. Kaufman leads client engagement through product developments and initiatives while managing Doctor.com's client success team.
Janice Kelly, RN-BC. President of AORN Syntegrity (Denver). Ms. Kelly has vast experience in clinical informatics. Before joining Syntegrity in 2011, she served as a clinical informatics specialist at Rose Medical Center in Denver and regional chief nursing informatics officer for Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health and Services' Alaska region. As president of AORN Syntegrity, Ms. Kelly leads the EHR support company in standardizing schedules and data of perioperative procedures.
Karlene Kerfoot, PhD, RN, CNO of Virence Health (Chicago). Dr. Kerfoot held various positions in nursing, patient care administration and clinical practice before assuming the role of GE Healthcare's CNO. She has published more than 300 articles and served in healthcare consulting and nursing academic positions. Prior to joining GE Healthcare, Dr. Kerfoot was corporate chief nursing and patient care officer at a variety of large health systems.
Lisa Khorey. Executive Vice President and Chief Client Delivery Officer for Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Chicago). As executive vice president and chief client delivery officer at EHR technology company Allscripts, Ms. Khorey leads all aspects of delivering the company's solutions to its clients, including professional and managed services. Before joining Allscripts, Ms. Khorey spent more than 20 years in various technology leadership roles at UPMC. She served as UPMC hospital's CIO and led the organization's enterprise analytics program.
Liz Kirk. Senior Vice President of Client Services and Continuous Improvement Solutions of Strata Decision Technology (Chicago). Ms. Kirk brings more than 15 years of experience working with healthcare providers to her role at Strata Decision Technology. In addition to leading the company's client services team, Ms. Kirk is involved in product and strategy development at Strata. In 2014, Ms. Kirk's Continuous Improvement application at Strata received the Chicago Innovation Award.
Erin (Kang) Kitchen. Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Doctor.com (New York City). Ms. Kitchen first joined Doctor.com in 2017 as the company's director of brand and communications. As vice president of marketing and communications, Ms. Kitchen helps healthcare providers and organizations engage patients through the evolving digital landscape. She has more than 10 years of experience as a public relations and marketing communications specialist.
Astrid Larsen. Director of Care Coordination at Centegra Health System (Crystal Lake, Ill.). As director of care coordination at Centegra Health System, Ms. Larsen oversees the care coordination department at four hospitals, as well as health and wellness insurance products. Her focus is on bridging the hospital system and outside providers, including patients' families, primary care physicians and other extended providers. Additionally, Ms. Larsen serves as a healthcare, business and psychology adjunct professor at Aurora (Ill.) University.
Patty Lavely. Senior Vice President and CIO of Gwinnett Medical Center (Metro Atlanta). Ms. Lavely joined Gwinnett Medical Center, a 553-bed nonprofit health system, in 2013. As senior vice president and CIO, Ms. Lavely has led Gwinnett through countless initiatives, including a redesign of its technical infrastructure and the development of one of the first health IT medical resident rotations in the Southeast. Before joining Gwinnett, Ms. Lavely served as CIO of Albany, Ga.-based Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Ga.
Melissa Leigh. General Counsel for Intermedix, an R1 company (Chicago). As Intermedix's general counsel, Ms. Leigh leads the company's corporate, strategic and tactical legal initiatives. With more than 25 years of healthcare legal and compliance experience, Ms. Leigh first joined Intermedix as the company's associate general counsel. In 2015, she was appointed Intermedix's chief compliance officer, with the task of overseeing and managing Intermedix's enterprisewide compliance program.
Chun Li, PhD. Chief Data Scientist of Diameter Health (Farmington, Conn.). As Diameter Health's chief data scientist, Dr. Li works with health information exchanges and providers nationwide to operationalize software that supports clinical analytics and reporting through Qualified Clinical Data Registries. Dr. Li directed Diameter Health's product development efforts, resulting in the company being certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for electronic clinical quality measure reporting. In 2017, Dr. Li was a finalist for the Connecticut Technology Council's Women of Innovation Award.
Michelle Lichte. Executive Vice President of Client Partnerships at Nordic Consulting Partners (Madison, Wis.). Ms. Lichte has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare IT. Before joining Nordic, Ms. Lichte served as an implementation executive at Epic, where she worked for nearly 18 years. She joined Nordic in July 2017 as a principal consultant before being appointed to executive vice president of client partnerships that December. As executive vice president of client partnerships, Ms. Lichte leads EHR support initiatives for Nordic's client partners.
Novlet Mattis. CIO of Orlando (Fla.) Health. As Orlando Health's CIO, Ms. Mattis leads a team of nearly 600 clinical and IT professionals. Since becoming CIO in January 2018, Ms. Mattis and her team's accomplishments include the development of a screening tool that identifies high-risk traumatic brain injury patients. Before joining Orlando Health, Ms. Mattis served as vice president of IT at Ascension Information Services in St. Louis.
Kate Mays. Division President of CSI Healthcare IT (Jacksonville, Fla.). Ms. Mays began her career with CSI Healthcare IT more than 12 years ago, and she has served in multiple leadership positions. Most recently, Ms. Mays was vice president of operations for CSI Healthcare IT, helping the sector grow 150 percent over three years. Before joining CSI Healthcare IT, Ms. Mays served as director of The CSI Companies.
Betsy McVay. Vice President and Chief Analytics Officer of UnityPoint Health (West Des Moines, Iowa). As vice president and chief analytics officer of UnityPoint Health, Ms. McVay leads a 70-member team in strategic efforts, including population health initiatives, clinical variation opportunities and performance management solutions. Passionate about promoting analytics in STEM, Ms. McVay sits on the Iowa City-based University of Iowa Tippie Analytics Cooperative board, which helps design programming and curriculum for students.
Amy Merlino, MD. Enterprise Chief Medical Information Officer at Cleveland Clinic. In addition to her role as Cleveland Clinic's enterprise CMIO, Dr. Merlino is a practicing maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the health system. Before becoming enterprise CMIO in 2017, Dr. Merlino served as director of clinical informatics and associate CMIO at Cleveland Clinic.
Lisa Michaud Grisim, MSN, RN. Vice President and Associate CIO of Stanford Children's Health (Palo Alto, Calif.). Ms. Grisim first joined Stanford Health more than 30 years ago. Before becoming associate CIO of Stanford Children's Health in 2012, Ms. Grisim served in various healthcare roles, including nurse manager, IT project manager and director of IT operations. Ms. Grisim is also affiliated with Women in Healthcare Information Technology, serving as chair of the organization's mentorship program and as a member of its board of directors.
Pam Murphy. COO of Infor (New York City). Ms. Murphy is the COO of Infor, an enterprise software company that provides industry-specific cloud applications. In healthcare, the New York City-based tech giant is ubiquitous — Infor reports that 72 percent of U.S. hospitals use its applications. As COO, Ms. Murphy leads business development and strategy for Infor, which recently secured a $1.5 billion investment and is considering an initial public offering in 2019 or 2020. Ms. Murphy is also known for supporting women in tech. She created Women's Infor Network to give female Infor employees around the word a forum for key issues and professional development. Ms. Murphy arrived at Infor in December 2010 and was appointed COO in October 2011. Prior to Infor, she spent 11 years at Oracle.
Kristin Myers. Senior Vice President of Technology at Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). Ms. Myers has been part of Mount Sinai's IT team since 2004, first at its flagship medical center and then at the health system level. Over the last 15 years, she has spearheaded Mount Sinai's $120 million EHR implementation, which earned the system the 2012 HIMSS Davies Enterprise/Organizational Award. Ms. Myers was responsible for striking a partnership between clinical informatics and IT leadership during the EHR selection process, and she later led the program management office for the implementation. Ms. Myers is also credited with keeping Mount Sinai's senior executives engaged throughout the implementation. Ms. Myers was named senior vice president of technology in 2017 after seven years as vice president.
Ashley Needham. Director of Corporate Initiatives at Validic (Durham, N.C.). As director of corporate initiatives, Ms. Needham oversees marketing, branding, public relations, communications and clinical research initiatives for Validic, which provides a mobile application programming interface that connects healthcare companies to data from the mHealth apps and devices used by their patients. Ms. Needham has been in this role since July 2016, and before that served as Validic's marketing manager.
Jamie Nelson. Senior Vice President and CIO of Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). Ms. Nelson took the helm of Hospital for Special Surgery's IT department in April 2012. Since then, she has revamped the team, growing ranks and creating new leadership positions like CMO, chief technology officer and chief information security officer. Under her leadership, the orthopedic hospital completed an EHR installation in January 2016 and earned HIMSS stage 7 certification in November 2017. The hospital earned the HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence for IT last year. Before HSS, Ms. Nelson held IT leadership positions at Norwalk (Conn.) Hospital, where she served as CIO, and NewYork-Presbyterian, where she served as vice president of IT.
Semone Neuman. Executive Vice President, of Coordination of Benefits of HMS (Irving, Texas). As executive vice president of coordination of benefits for HMS, an analytics firm that helps payers coordinate benefits, Ms. Neuman oversees the company's largest and most profitable business line. Ms. Neuman leads a team of 600 people, who together manage 300 health plan contracts and 40 Medicaid agency contracts. In her role, Ms. Neuman has led the adoption of new technologies at HMS that include artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and robotics. Prior to HMS, Ms. Neuman served as senior vice president of claim operations at UnitedHealthcare.
Cynthia Nustad. Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of HMS (Irving, Texas). Ms. Nustad brings two decades of IT management experience to her role as executive vice president and chief strategy officer of HMS, a company that provides analytics software to payers to coordinate benefits. In her role as CSO, Ms. Nustad sets the agenda for strategy, new technology and services. She previously served as HMS' executive vice president and CIO. Ms. Nustad's prior experience spans from startups to Fortune 100 companies.
Kristi Payne, LPN. COO of MDabstract (Jacksonville, Fla.). Ms. Payne co-founded MDabstract with a group of physicians and administrators in 2010 to help providers migrate from legacy sources to EHRs, capture data and turn it into meaningful information, and electronically file patient charts. As COO, Ms. Payne has overseen more than 200 EHR migrations, ACO reporting initiatives and other data projects. She leverages her clinical experience as a licensed nurse to improve EHR adoption, clinical workflow, revenue cycle management and reporting initiatives.
Gail Peace. Founder, President and CEO of Ludi (Nashville, Tenn.). Ms. Peace founded Ludi in 2012 to help hospitals streamline physician payment data and reduce time spent ensuring contracts avoid legal and regulatory violations. Ms. Peace brings 20 years of business development and sales experience in healthcare to her role as CEO. Before founding Ludi, she served as vice president of business development at Vanguard Health Chicago, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard Health Systems, before VHS was acquired by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in 2013.
Susan Pouzar. General Manager of the North America Division at Genesis Automation Healthcare (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Ms. Pouzar joined Genesis Automation in 2018, bringing 30 years of healthcare IT experience to her role as general manager of the North America division. She is responsible for expanding Genesis' solutions into the U.S. and Canada. Genesis Automation is an IT platform that provides supply chain management, traceability and analytics for healthcare providers. Ms. Pouzar went to Genesis from Harris Healthcare, another healthcare software company, where she served as vice president of sales and marketing.
Jan Powell. CEO of Alpha II (Tallahassee, Fla.). As CEO of Alpha II, a software as a service solutions firm, Ms. Powell has led the company through significant growth, including multiple partnerships with prime contractors on products licensed by the Veteran's Health Administration. Beyond Alpha II, Ms. Powell has worked with the ANSI X12 Standards Committee, which helps set standards for data exchange in the insurance industry. This work helps make coding, compliance and reimbursement more accurate on both the payer and provider sides.
Anita Pramoda. Founder and CEO of Owned Outcomes (Las Vegas). Ms. Pramoda founded Owned Outcomes in 2014 to help give providers participating in bundled payments more data and insights about their episodes of care. In addition to her work as a CEO, Ms. Pramoda serves on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and Health Catalyst, another healthcare software firm. She spent three years as CFO of Epic and has served on the boards of Allscripts and Dignity Health Foundation.
Sanju Pratap. Vice President of Payors and Products at MyHealthDirect (Nashville, Tenn.). As vice president of payors and products at MyHealthDirect, a scheduling software firm, Ms. Pratap's work directly influences executive leadership and company focus. Some of her designs have helped major cancer centers like New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering create navigable websites that allow patients to identify the best provider for their needs and schedule appointments online. She spearheaded MyHealthDirect's partnership with Humana, which has helped streamline connections between providers, health plans and patients in several large metropolitan service areas. Beyond MyHealthDirect, Ms. Pratap is also active in the Tennessee chapter of HIMSS.
Pamela Pure. Founder and CEO of Pure Advisory (Denver). Ms. Pure has more than 25 years of health IT experience, ranging from startups to some of the biggest names in the industry. Ms. Pure's latest venture is Pure Advisory, a consultancy specializing in health technology, healthcare and physician office consolidation. Before founding Pure Advisory in January 2018, Ms. Pure spent five years as CEO of HealthMEDX, an EMR developer acquired by Netsmart in 2016. Prior to that, she spent eight years at McKesson Technology Solutions in various roles, including COO, chief technology officer and, most recently, executive vice president and president. Her tenure at McKesson was marked with major growth — the company grew from $900 million to $3 billion in revenue from 2002-09. Before McKesson, Ms. Pure led Channel Health, a startup for physician EMR technology that she ultimately helped sell to Allscripts.
Laura Quatela. Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Lenovo (Morrisville, N.C.). Ms. Quatela manages the overall legal strategy for Lenovo. She joined the $45 billion tech giant in 2016 after co-founding a global consulting firm for intellectual property assets in 2014. Her impressive resume includes roles such as executive vice president of intellectual property for Alcatel-Lucent and co-COO and general counsel of Eastman Kodak. She is on the board for French technology company Technicolor SA.
Susan Ragon. Vice President of Finance, Administration and Recruitment at InterSystems (Cambridge, Mass.). Ms. Ragon joined InterSystems, the database software giant that powers Epic, in 1985, seven years after it was founded. She played a vital role in building the core infrastructure of the company, which brought in $644 million in revenue in fiscal 2017. Her past roles include director of finance, administration, marketing and documentation. In her current position, Ms. Ragon leads finance, recruitment and human resources across InterSystems' offices around the world.
Sheela Ramamurthy. Chief Client Officer at VirtualHealth (New York City). Ms. Ramamurthy joined VirtualHealth, a provider of a cloud-based solutions for value-based care, in 2017. In her role as chief client officer, she leads the company's "consultative approach" to product implementation. She brings more than a decade of consulting experience to her current role. Ms. Ramamurthy spent most of her consulting career in PwC's health industries practice. She has also worked for the major payer Health Care Service Corp., where she led clinical operations and technology optimization for the government programs division.
Angela Rivera. Executive Vice President of Operations at CynergisTek (Mission Viejo, Calif.). Ms. Rivera leads CynergisTek's cybersecurity and information management consulting services, sales development, marketing, and professional services teams. Ms. Rivera joined CynergisTek after 17 years at Computer Task Group, an international IT solutions and services company. She works to elevate other women in health IT, serving on the board for Women in Healthcare IT and forming the first regional HIMSS Women's IT Leadership Conference. She is a HIMSS fellow and served as president of the board for HIMSS' Southern California division in 2011.
Alana Ward Robinson. President and CEO of Robinson Group Consulting (Chicago). Ms. Ward Robinson founded Robinson Group Consulting in 2004. The firm provides interim CIO leadership, enterprise IT strategy, risk management and business process improvement solutions. Ms. Robinson is known for her ability to foster executive consensus around technology solutions, integrate teams, manage risks and deliver value. She has served as interim CIO for clients with revenues up to $5 billion.
Fidelma Russo. Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Iron Mountain (Boston). Ms. Russo came to Iron Mountain in 2017 from Dell EMC, where she was senior vice president and general manager for the technology company's Enterprise Storage and Software business. In her current role as CTO, Ms. Russo is responsible for mapping out Iron Mountain's future products, service delivery and business. She has previous experience in IT leadership from roles at Sun Microsystems, HP and Sepaton.
Deirdre Ruttle. Vice President of Strategy at InstaMed (Philadelphia). Ms. Ruttle joined InstaMed's executive management team as its first female member in January 2016. She was promoted from vice president of marketing to vice president of strategy in October 2017 and now works directly with the CEO and other executives to set the company's strategic objectives and prioritize initiatives that will create value for customers. Originally joining InstaMed in 2011, she has been integral to the company's growth and co-founded its first women's affinity group to promote professional development through networking, thought leadership, mentoring and community outreach.
Pamela Saechow. CIO of the American Academic Health System (Philadelphia). Ms. Saechow is a member of the executive team of the American Academic Health System, overseeing efforts to develop the organization's IT team and department. She has previous experience as associate CIO of Cleveland Clinic and served as senior assistant vice president for EMR implementation and support at NYU Health + Hospitals in New York City. With over 20 years of experience in health IT, Ms. Saechow oversaw a successful EHR implementation at Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health and was instrumental in changing the culture around implementing and using technology at NYC Health + Hospitals.
Allyson Schiff. Vice President of Operations of Newport Credentialing Solutions (Lynbrook, N.Y.). Ms. Schiff works with Newport Credentialing Solutions' clients, including large healthcare organizations, as vice president of operations. She has 15 years of experience in the provider enrollment section of healthcare and oversees a staff of more than 100 employees. During her time at Newport, she has been an important part of the team that developed the company's proprietary cloud-based software that enhances enrollment deliverables and key performance indicator reporting.
Brenda Schmidt. Founder and CEO of Solera Health (Phoenix). Solera Health founder and CEO Brenda Schmidt established the company around three years ago to connect patients, payers and physicians with nonmedical health interventions to prevent and manage chronic disease. The solution offers personalized patient enrollment and the infrastructure to submit and manage payments to network partners. In 2018, MedTech Breakthrough named Ms. Schmidt the Best MedTech CEO for her efforts in building the company and driving access to healthcare.
Lisa Shah, MD. CMO of Advantia Health (Rosslyn, Va.). Dr. Shah became CMO of Advantia Health, a 140-provider health system serving Maryland, Virginia and soon Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11. She was previously an executive with Sound Physicians where she oversaw clinical innovation and transformation across the company's 300-plus hospital partners, developing and scaling innovative care models. She was also responsible for designing technology-enabled workflows and telemedicine solutions that can improve quality and value. Before joining Sound Physicians, Dr. Shah was senior vice president of clinical operations and network at Evolent Health, and prior to that she was medical director of population health for Clinovations.
Rita Sharma. Vice President of Product Management at Salesforce (San Francisco). Ms. Sharma is vice president of product management at Salesforce, a position she accepted in 2017 after spending more than two years as head of product for the company's healthcare and life sciences division. In 2018, Ms. Sharma was instrumental in Salesforce's launch of the Health Cloud for Payers, a solution designed for the insurance industry. Over her career, Ms. Sharma gained experience as vice president of marketing and product management at Glooko, a diabetes remote-monitoring company.
Shelly Spiro. Executive Director of the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative (Alexandria, Va.). Ms. Spiro serves as executive director of the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative, which includes nine national pharmacy associations and three associate members. The organization focuses on the meaningful use of standardized EHR; it also supports safe medication use, continuity of care and patient access to pharmacist services with other interdisciplinary care team members. Ms. Spiro is also president and owner of Spiro Consulting, which focuses on long-term and post-acute care pharmacy services, as well as health IT.
Tressa Springmann. Senior Vice President and CIO of LifeBridge Health (Baltimore). Ms. Springmann directs information services and telecommunications management at LifeBridge Health and its subsidiaries. She oversees health information management and participates in strategic planning and operations of the information systems and telecommunication. She has spent six years with LifeBridge, serving as CIO since 2012, and she is chairman of the technology committee for Maryland's state health information exchange. She is a past president of Maryland HIMSS and serves on the healthcare management program advisory board for Towson (Md.) University.
Erica St. Angel. Chief Technology Innovation Officer for Access Physicians (Dallas). Ms. St. Angel has more than two decades of experience leading digital transformation. She has a background in the corporate, startup and public sectors, currently serving as chief technology innovation officer for Access Physicians. Throughout her career, Ms. St. Angel has gained experience developing strategy and generating results with technology, enterprise customer relationship management and business innovation. She previously served as a policy adviser on health, commerce and education to former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar and former Wisconsin Gov. and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson.
Tamara StClaire, PhD. Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer of GuideWell (Jacksonville, Fla.). Ms. StClaire is a member of GuideWell's executive management team and is critical to the company's efforts to identify and deliver strategic, innovative solutions. As senior vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer, Ms. StClaire helps the company address important challenges in the healthcare space.
Lynne Stockstad. Chief Marketing Officer of Optum (Eden Prairie, Minn.). Ms. Stockstad is responsible for Optum's strategic brand and marketing initiatives across business lines and customer audience segments as the chief marketing officer. She joined the company in December 2014 as senior vice president of product and consumer marketing and has led product marketing and branding efforts during her tenure at the company. She served in global leadership roles at Microsoft before joining Optum, gaining experience in areas such as product management, business development and public sector marketing.
Christina Sung. Vice President of Product of Health Fidelity (San Mateo, Calif.). Ms. Sung is vice president of product at Health Fidelity, connecting the product development team with marketing strategy. She is responsible for understanding market needs to steer corporate strategy and ensuring the company's products resonate with the market. Ms. Sung has previous experience in healthcare technology startups as well as large organizations such as Kaiser Permanente.
Lisa Stump. Senior Vice President and CIO of Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health and Yale School of Medicine. Ms. Stump has experience as a lecturer and commentator on health IT and digital health. She is the senior vice president and CIO of Yale New Haven Health and Yale School of Medicine, where she oversees a robust IT department. She also serves as an adjunct professor and board of visitors member of the College of Health Professions at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.
Jessica Sweeney-Platt. Executive Director of Enterprise and Strategic Accounts at athenahealth (Watertown, Mass.). Ms. Sweeney-Platt is executive director of enterprise and strategic accounts for athenahealth, a company that partners with hospital and ambulatory centers to drive clinical and financial results. She previously served as a managing director with Advisory Board, focusing on accountable care readiness and general hospital administration. Ms. Sweeney-Platt's experience also includes 13 years at the Corporate Executive Board, where she was managing director of the HR Executive Forum.
Sheila Talton. President and CEO of Gray Matter Analytics (Chicago). Ms. Talton has more than 30 years of experience increasing organizational value. As president and CEO of Gray Matter Analytics, she oversees a company focused on simplifying analytics to support scalable solutions for healthcare organizations. Throughout her career, Ms. Talton has spent time at organizations such as Cisco Systems and Ernst & Young, and has built a reputation for developing bold initiatives, obtaining buy-in for consulting services within technology product companies, and breaking down silos. She also created a $6 billion Solutions Consulting practice for the IT equipment company Electronic Data Systems.
Tanya Townsend. System Senior Vice President and CIO of LCMC Health (New Orleans). Ms. Townsend oversees consolidation, integration and enhancement of IT environments across the five-hospital LCMC Health as the senior vice president and CIO. She has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, previously serving as the top IT executive or CIO of three large integrated healthcare delivery systems in Wisconsin.
Stephany Verstraete. Chief Marketing Officer of Teladoc (Purchase, N.Y.). Ms. Verstraete heads Teladoc's global marketing and communication efforts and drives member adoption growth and utilization. Throughout her career, Ms. Verstraete has been dedicated to changing consumer behavior in new and emerging industries, as well as building digital brands and growing teams.
Emmy Weber. Chief Marketing Officer of Surgical Information Systems (Alpharetta, Ga.). Ms. Weber is responsible for corporate marketing strategies at Surgical Information Systems. She oversees efforts to promote SIS solutions in the healthcare market and works with clients to understand the needs of perioperative IT. Over her 20-plus-year career in marketing and product management, Ms. Weber has served as vice president of MedQuist, now known as MModal, and spent time at Lanier, a company that uses technology to improve communication.
Linda Whitley-Taylor. Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer of Change Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.). Ms. Whitley-Taylor is the executive vice president and chief people officer for Change Healthcare. Her illustrious career includes time as executive vice president and chief human resources officer of Amerigroup and senior vice president of human resources operations for Genworth Financial. She also spent 15 years at GE and is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
Leigh Thomas Williams. Administrator of Business Systems, Health Information and Technology at University of Virginia Health System (Charlottesville). Ms. Williams is responsible for the financial and revenue cycle information systems at the University of Virginia Health System as the administrator of business systems and health IT. She also oversees the department of business systems and human resources for the 584-bed academic medical center. Throughout her career, Ms. Thomas Williams has gained experience engaging physicians in change initiatives and EHR workflow optimization in addition to revenue cycle management.
Karley Yoder. Director of Product Management and Artificial Intelligence at GE Healthcare (Chicago). Ms. Yoder is director of product management for artificial intelligence analytics within GE Healthcare's healthcare digital division. She spearheads the company's AI strategy and product implementation, and oversees product management activities for the company's AI solutions. She has more than 10 years of experience in digital healthcare, previously spending time at Apple Health and leading ACA exchange implementations at the state level.