The chief digital officer is an emerging role for health systems as organizations turn their focus to digital capabilities and data analytics to boost patient care and experience.
CDOs lead the charge for digital transformation in the healthcare space and have become an important member of the executive team. Their responsibilities include overseeing data management, analytics, digital technologies integration, patient experience and digital innovation supporting patient care, clinician workflow and marketing efforts.
Here are 20 hospital and health system CDOs to know.
Note: Members of this list are arranged in alphabetical order. Individuals and organizations do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list.
Contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com with questions or comments on this list.
Omer Awan. CIO and Chief Digital Officer of Navicent Health (Macon, Ga.). Mr. Awan joined Navicent in 2016 after spending time as vice president and senior regional CIO of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. He also has previous experience as associate vice president of information systems at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston. In his current role, he leverages technology to support Navicent's digital initiatives.
San Banerjee. Vice President of Digital Experience for Texas Health Resources (Arlington). Mr. Banerjee leads the digital health experience at Texas Health Resources, a 27-hospital health system. With more than 20 years of experience in digital transformation, information systems delivery and launching innovative products, Mr. Banerjee brings a consumer focus to the system. He has previous experience as head of consumer digital solutions at Humana where he led the company's digital strategy and helped launch its first healthcare rewards program for Medicare and group members.
Michael Blum, MD. Chief Digital Transformation Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor of Informatics at UCSF Health (San Francisco). Dr. Blum is responsible for UCSF's informatics implementation and digital health capabilities. He is also the executive director of the UCSF Center for Digital Health Innovation and previously led the enterprise's EHR deployment. He now leads the health system's early-stage validation and incubation of digital health technologies. Dr. Blum is a cardiologist and has a passion for the intersection between clinical and informatics activities.
Suja Chandrasekaran. Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Officer for CommonSpirit Health (Chicago). A recognized leader in technology innovation, Ms. Chandrasekaran drives CommonSpirit's digital strategies to improve the patient, physician and employee experience. Ms. Chandrasekaran also leads the development of business models and technology innovation, data, AI and cyber security strategies across CommonSpirit. Previously, she was chief information and digital officer at the Kimberly-Clark Corp., senior vice president and chief technology and data officer at Walmart Inc., and led ecommerce and technologies at The Timberland Company. Ms. Chandrasekaran is also an active member of several industry boards.
Bradley H. Crotty, MD. Chief Digital Engagement Officer at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Dr. Crotty is a board-certified internal medicine physician with a strong focus on innovation and research. He also has board certification in clinical informatics with an interest in improving clinical care through information and communication technology. In November, he became enterprise chief digital engagement officer for Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin in addition to chairing the innovation leads program, medicine, at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Alistair Erskine, MD. Chief Digital Health Officer for Partners HealthCare (Boston). Dr. Erskine is responsible for the health system's innovative technologies sequencing and harmonizing data across locations, including Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the system's health plan. He also oversees emerging patient consumerism activities and heads the Partner's e-Care division, which engages patients, clinicians and researchers in the design of clinical information systems. Dr. Erskine previously served as the chief informatics officer at Geisinger in Danville, Pa.
Randall Gaboriault. Chief Digital and Information Officer of ChristianaCare (Wilmington, Del.). Mr. Gaboriault is the chief digital and information officer at ChristianaCare, a two-hospital health system, as well as chair of the Delaware Health Information Network, a statewide health information exchange. He joined ChristianaCare in 2010 after serving as senior vice president and chief information and strategic development officer of Teleflex. In his current role, Mr. Gaboriault helped the health system earn a multimillion-dollar Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Award.
Debe Gash. Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Saint Luke's Health System (Kansas City, Mo.). Ms. Gash joined Saint Luke's Health System in 1994 and became CIO in 2006. She became the health system's senior vice president and chief digital officer in late 2017. She has a background in implementing IT strategies, updating standards, security and IT infrastructure.
Neil Gomes. Executive Vice President for Technology Innovation and Consumer Experience and Chief Digital Officer of Jefferson Health (Philadelphia). Mr. Gomes is among the IT leaders at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health System responsible for the organizations' digital transformation. He brings expertise in designing, developing and implementing customer-focused solutions. He has experience leading large teams and managing budgets; at Jefferson, his Digital Innovation and Consumer Experience Group returns revenue to the health system through licensing, grants, consultancy, philanthropy and other industry collaborations.
Mark Hulse. Chief Digital Officer of City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.). Mr. Hulse is a member of the executive team at City of Hope and oversees the system's transformation to a digital culture. He leads the system's digital solution development and digital initiatives. Mr. Hulse has previous experience as CEO of the Theo Executive Group and chief administrative officer and CIO at Moffitt Cancer Center.
Claus Torp Jensen, PhD. Chief Digital Officer and Head of Technology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City). Dr. Jensen became chief digital officer and head of technology at Memorial Sloan Kettering in October 2019 after working as chief technology officer and head of architecture for CVS Health and Aetna. In his current role, Dr. Jensen is responsible for the data and technology integration across the health system and developing data and digital platforms to support patient care and research.
Rita Khan. Chief Digital Officer of Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). Upon being named Mayo Clinic's inaugural chief digital officer in December 2019, Ms. Khan was tasked with launching the health system's digital health center and leading Mayo Clinic's digital transformation. She joined the organization following consumer- and product-centric roles at UnitedHealthcare, Digital River and Best Buy.
Sarah MacArthur, MD. Director of Digital Health Innovation and Entrepreneurialism at NYU Langone Health (New York City). Dr. MacArthur, a practicing physician in NYU Langone's department of general internal medicine, is the founder and director of the health system's Health TechHub and Health TechConnect initiatives. Both programs seek to support internal and external innovators within NYU Langone's internal ecosystem to advance healthcare innovation.
Aaron Martin. Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Innovation Officer at Providence (Renton, Wash.). In his current role, Mr. Martin oversees Providence's digital and innovation efforts as well as serves as managing general partner of Providence Ventures, the health system's $150 million innovation investment fund. In addition to overseeing Providence's investments in early-stage medical device and technology startups, he leads the implementation of new programs and technologies across the health system to improve care quality and delivery.
Pete November. Executive Vice President of Digital Health and Chief Administrative Officer of Ochsner Health System (New Orleans). Formerly Ochsner's general counsel and chief compliance officer, Mr. November is now responsible for managing all of the health system's shared services. The services he leads include Ochsner's tech- and innovation-focused initiatives, such as innovationOchsner and all digital medicine and telehealth offerings. He also oversees the integration of Ochsner's new partnerships and affiliations.
Nick Patel, MD. Chief Digital Officer for Prisma Health (Columbia, S.C.). Dr. Patel, a practicing internist, leads the development and integration of technology at Prisma Health. He is also the vice chair for innovation at the Columbia-based University of South Carolina's department of medicine and serves on advisory boards for major tech and research organizations such as Hewlett-Packard Healthcare and Fraunhofer USA. In 2015, he was named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional.
Nick Reddy. Chief Digital Officer and Senior Vice President of Information Services for Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas). As chief digital officer, Mr. Reddy is in charge of The Hive, Baylor Scott & White's healthcare innovation exchange space. There, he leads a team of engineers, computer programmers and clinicians to develop consumer-centric solutions to major healthcare challenges such as lack of access; one such solution resulted in the creation of the MyBSWHealth app, among the highest-rated patient care apps available.
Edmondo Robinson, MD. Chief Digital Innovation Officer of Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa, Fla.). As the cancer center's first chief digital innovation officer, a role he assumed in December 2019, Dr. Robinson is focused on using digital technology to enable and accelerate Moffitt's overarching goals of preventing and curing cancer. He leads initiatives that fall broadly into three buckets: consumer digital, clinician digital and operations. Dr. Robinson was previously chief transformation officer and senior vice president of consumerism at Wilmington, Del.-based ChristianaCare.
Prat Vemana. Chief Digital Officer for Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.). Mr. Vemana joined Kaiser Permanente as the health system's inaugural digital chief in mid-2019, at which time he assumed responsibility for the development and execution of Kaiser Permanente's digital strategy. Prior to this, he served as chief product and experience officer for The Home Depot, and also held leadership roles at Staples and Informed Clinical Sciences Corp.
Angela Yochem. Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer of Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Ms. Yochem oversees Novant's efforts to support clinical solutions and technologies for patient care and experience. Prior to joining Novant, Ms. Yochem was executive vice president and CIO of Rent-A-Care as well as global CIO of BDP International. During her career, Ms. Yochem has served as an advisory board member for the American Hospital Association Innovation Council.