PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

I bring a unique and diverse work experience to share with you. I started my career twenty nine years ago after graduating as a Registered Nurse, and started by career at North Shore University Medical Center, Long Island. I embarked on a diverse patient care delivery career that encompassed numerous clinical “career” facets from Critical Care to OB/Labor and Delivery and Express Admission Services.  For the past seventeen years, I have been a member of the Solaris Health System.

Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center merged with JFK Medical Center in 1998, and Solaris Health System was created. At that time I challenged myself by moving into my first Informatics position.  I was part of a Nursing/Information Systems (IS) team that built and successfully implemented McKesson’s Care Manager Order Entry System.

I was “hooked” on the informatics world from that point, and always felt well-suited for my “second career” choice! 

Professional History:

1999 - Joined the IS Department for Solaris - Clinical Application Specialist, primary responsibility Care Manager, integration, education, project manager, shared rotating responsibility for the clinical applications group in my manager’s absence. Continued active application/integration development with McKesson R&D and support.
2003 - Manager of Clinical Support Services: active in Solaris Service Excellence Physician Satisfaction Team and Emergency Department Rapid Redesign Committees. Managed to IS components of the PMO/Solaris capital initiatives for all new products implemented from 2003 forward. “Critical thinking” skills and team involvement essential to the success of these activations and program planning.
2005 - Revised reporting structure -additional teams - Financial Support Services, Integration and Interfaces
2006 - Present: Director, Information Systems, Clinical and Financial Support Services, Integration and Interface teams. Participant in McKesson on-site visits for perspective and present clients.  Other responsibilities include, strategic planning of Information Systems, managing to ISD budget and yearly budget planning.
 

Insight Member History:

2000-2003 – Insight – SIG Chair - Member of the McKesson Allergy Focus Group conceived at the first Insight conference I attended. During the past five years I have not only been a member of Insight, but privileged to attend each Insight conference, actively presenting and moderating varied clinical sessions.
2004 – Insight Enhancement Council Chair for Clinical Management.
2006 – Director of Enhancements
2007 – Present: Vice President of Enhancements
COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

My experience as a director of Information Systems and member of the Insight Board has provided me with the knowledge and a clear understanding of the future of IT and McKesson’s strategic goals. The outcome of these entrusted responsibilities includes my commitment as a key strategist in the long term planning and implementation for Insight, providing future viability. I am committed to serve all members of Insight while promoting a strong, visible organization!

Donna Roach, Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, IL

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

I am the Vice President of Information Services/CIO for Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, IL and I am responsible for Information Technology, Health Information Management (HIM), Telecommunications and Clinical Engineering. We are a 215- bed community hospital and integrated delivery system located in Lake County.  We are currently experiencing tremendous growth and are looking at expansion areas in Heart and Emergency Care.   We are a long-term user of McKesson products and run the Series HIS system in addition to several of the Horizon Clinical products – HED, HOM, HMM, HMI and HEC.

In the past, I was the Director of Information Systems at W. A. Foote Memorial Hospital - a 400-bed hospital located in Jackson Michigan.  We were one of the original Series clients and run a majority of McKesson products in addition to being an early adopter of HEO.

I have had over 20 years experience working in Health Care Information Services.  In previous positions I have had experience with  McKesson products such as STAR and HealthQuest in a multi-hospital environment, along with several clinical products such as Horizon Clinicals, Horizon HomeCare and Horizon Laboratory. 

I have been active with Insight for several years.  Currently I serve Insight in the position of Web Committee Chairman. In the past, I was the President of the Chicago Chapter users group for the now Series product.  I am active within the HIMSS organization and the Chicago and Michigan Chapters of HIMSS.  I am also an active member for HIMSS Advocacy and a Fellow within the HIMSS organization.

I am an Assistant Professor at Rush University where I am the Course Director for the Information Services classes in the Health Systems Management Graduate Program. 

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I am very interested in serving the Insight Community.  In the last year I have served as the Web Committee Chair where we were able to provide several enhancements based on feedback from the user community.  This has provided valuable experience of working with the Insight staff and the Board of Directors. 

I view the Insight community as a vehicle to offer networking and education to its members and create a forum for open communication with the membership and McKesson.  I am interested in looking at what future opportunities could improve the services to the membership while preserving the enhancement process.

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SECRETARY
(Two-year commitment)

Patrick Fields, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Began Revenue Cycle management career in 1992.

Have held responsibility in all RCC disciplines.

Holds Bachelor of Business Administraion – Management, and Master of Business Administration – Finance

Former Member of the Board for the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management Houston Lone Star Chapter.

2006, 2007 Insight Speaker

Insight Member since 2003

Experienced user of EC2000, Horizon, LasarArc, and Health Quest

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I have enjoyed a progressive, Revenue Cycle Management career since 1992, working in all disciplines under the RCC umbrella. I’m currently the Corporate Manager of Patient Accounting, for the world renowned, Methodist Hospital System in Houston, TX, with responsibilities centering around billing, cash transactions management, and EC2000 administration. I’m currently serving Insight on the Nominations Committee, and look forward to the opportunity to server as the Board Secretary.

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Carla Hopkins, St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, Beech Grove, IN

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Carla Hopkins, RN, BSN is the Document Imaging System Manager at St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in the Indianapolis area.  St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers is comprised of 3 campuses and multiple outpatient facilities.  With a total of 536 beds, St. Francis services 25,000 inpatient and over 700,000 outpatient visits per year. 

Carla’s background of 15 years in Critical Care Nursing prepared her for roles in Informatics and the HIM department.  In the Informatics department, Carla was responsible for designing, building, educating and implementing Horizon Clinical, Provider Portal and Philips OBTraceVue.  Currently working with Horizon Patient Folder in Health Information Management, she helped implement HPF at three campuses and numerous off site areas in 2005.  In the HIM department, Carla is also responsible for forms redesign, COLD feed QA, system monitoring, system maintenance, liaison to physicians and hospital departments, workflow design, education, Physician IT Committee, performance improvement for HIM and IT, policies and procedures, developing system enhancements, assisting with interface design from host systems to HPF.  Working as a clinician on units and procedural areas, Informatics and HIM has given Carla the big picture understanding of end user / customer needs, regulatory and documentation requirements and an IT perspective. 

Carla is a member of Insight, Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). 

She is a willing learner, not afraid to ask the difficult questions, advocate to the end user, organized and detail oriented.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, three boys and black lab, Bristol.  She enjoys going to baseball and football games (especially ones her sons play in!).  Playing English hand bells in her church choir helps her to minister to others.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I would be honored to serve as Insight secretary. My 15 years of clinical experience have prepared me to understand the needs of the end user.  This was a valuable tool to bring to the table when designing and making decisions regarding clinical systems.  I believe that we ultimately impact the patients we serve by making wise decisions regarding information technology.  If elected, I promise to keep the interests of all health facilities represented by Insight at the forefront of all my actions as secretary.

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DIRECTOR-EDUCATION
(Two-year commitment – one year as Director-Education, second year as Vice President-Education)

Bernie Porter, Baptist Healthcare System, Inc., Louisville, KY

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Corporate Director of Decision Support for the 5 hospitals of Baptist Healthcare System (Kentucky) since 1998 with 15+ years of experience in Healthcare Decision Support Key responsibilities at Baptist Healthcare System include working with administrators, technical folks and end users to set reasonable goals and manage effectively through the effective use of information.  Corporate Director of Decision Support for the 5 hospitals of Baptist Healthcare System (Kentucky) since 1998 with 15+ years of experience in Healthcare Decision Support. Key responsibilities at Baptist Healthcare System include working with system and hospital executive management teams, key system-wide user groups, finance personnel, technical folks and end users to manage effectively through data-driven decisions. Also mentor and support hospital decision support analysts allowing them to maximize their effectiveness at their respective hospital in working with department managers.  Frequent presenter at InSight and Premier User Conferences arid has served as the Education Chairman for the InSight Resource Management Council since 2005. Enhancement Chair for the Trendstar SIG from 2000-2005.  Considerable experience over the last 8 years working with McKesson and others on product enhancements for Trendstar and HBI. From 2001-2093 served as a member of the Trendstar Product Advisory Committee (PAC), a 7-member committee representing the 700+ hospitals internationally using the Trendstar decision support system at that time.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I would bring a positive, but practical approach based on 7 years of experience as a Council Chair, SIG Chair and presenter. As a believer in teamwork that values the opinions of others, I would work with Insight, McKesson and the Insight members to address the needs of all. This is a good conference where we share some great ideas, but if we listen to each other and work together, we can make it even better.

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Chris Jircitano, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Chris began his health care and informatics career while employed as a tape librarian and Computer Operator for CitiCorp Insurance Services almost twenty years ago.  It was there where he was first exposed to software development for health care services.

In 1992, he helped establish the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Help Desk, supporting earlier versions of Medipac and other HBO health care products, while creating an abundance of user and administrative documentation for the budding Vanderbilt service enterprise.  In two short years, with the help of his peers and management, the Help Desk rapidly became the single point of contact for the Vanderbilt user community of 8000 as support for early PC, network, and software related issue resolution.

In 1994 Chris was recruited by the Daughters of Charity Hospital System to modernize their Help Desk and equipment acquisition services.  Subsequent to a successful transformation of these areas, he began to branch into software development, where he easily shifted into writing Information Technology based applications to support his fellow IT professionals who were in turn, supporting the clinical hospital systems.

Chris returned to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 1999.  He now manages three teams of software engineers developing integrations and applications for the clinical enterprise, while supporting 15+ vendor software systems to include McKesson’s Pathways Materials Management, Nova/TS2000, and other vendor systems for IT Support, Supply Chain, Respiratory Care, Rehabilitation, Nutrition Services, Patient Transport, Clinical Engineering, Risk Management, Cardiac Cath, Physician Credentialing, LifeFlight Helicopter Airlift, and a host of others.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

As Director of Education, I would like to use technology to perpetuate new models of teaching and learning.  The main goal will be to maximize contributions of advanced technologies in group learning, information access and exchange and network conferencing.

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DIRECTOR-ENHANCEMENT

(Two-year commitment – one year as Director-Enhancement, one year as Vice President-Enhancement)

Pamela Rodriguez, Methodist Medical Center of Illinois, Peoria, IL

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

I have worked at Methodist Medical Center for 32 years, the first 26 years in the Health Information Services Department as a Manager and the last 6 years in Information Technology leading project implementations. I am Project Lead for Horizon Passport, Horizon Patient Folder, Horizon Physician Portal and an assistant lead for STAR as far as McKesson products are concerned and Project Lead on 3 other non-McKesson applications, Softmed, AIMS and Visual Cactus.

I served the InSight Group as Vice-Chair and Chair of the Passport SIG. Currently I am the Council Chair for the Revenue Cycle. I enjoy working with this organization for many reasons. First and foremost for the networking opportunities with other McKesson users, opportunities to network with McKesson Liaisons and also the ability to promote the education of other McKesson users on the McKesson applications. I have improved my abilities to complete my job functions by attending the conference sessions and learning from the other attendees.

I had been an integral part of the Methodist enhancement team since 1998 when I was the STAR Medical Records analyst. I understand and work the McKesson/Insight enhancement process with the Methodist team and I am excited to look for ways to improve and make the process more efficient. As an active user of the enhancement process, I am able to relate and identify users needs and expectations, and work effectively with McKesson and Insight teams.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I really enjoy being part of the Insight team and would like to continue to do so.

Scottt Williston, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Chatham, ON, Canada

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

I have 21 years experience in Purchasing/Receiving/CSR of which 16 years are in a Management position.  I have been an active member of InSight since 2000.   I have held the position of PMM SIG Chair for 3 years and then had a Motorcycle accident and was appointed to the position of  Council Chair of Enhancements for RMG group for the past 2 years.

I am actively involved in the day to day maintenance of the PMM application within our organization.  I have also been a key player in testing when we were a Beta site.  I have been a member of the PMM Advisory Board for the past 5 years and have found this to be a great opportunity of customers to provide McKesson with insight into the direction we would like to see the product developed. 

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I am very interested in helping to develop the Enhancement Process, have several ideas which I’m anxious to help bring to fruition.  I believe very strongly in the benefits of this organization and will do my best to help us improve our processes by listening to the membership. 

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DIRECTOR-MEMBERSHIP*
(Two-year commitment)

*Please note: The Director of Membership position is dependant on membership approval of a bylaw change to add this Board position to the InSight structure. The approval vote will take place at the InSight Business Meeting at the 2007 Annual Conference.

Taunya Asay, IASIS Healthcare Corporation, Nashville, TN

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

I have been an RN since 1997, I have always worked in healthcare and find that the transformation into the clinical side to be a fun and challenging learning experience.

I have worked for Iasis Healthcare for 4 years.  My first year I worked at Salt Lake Regional as a Float Pool RN.  I was selected by the CNO to represent the facility in the Standardization process in the planning stages for the Clinical Systems.  After serving as the facility representative, I served as the Regional Project Manager and implemented the first region for Iasis to use HED.  I went on to assist with implementations of 8 other facilities. 

I now currently serve and the Clinical System Support Administrator for all Clinical Applications, and have served in this position for almost a year at current.

I work very closely with the Regional Project Managers to assist with ways to better improve the usage of our clinical systems and assisting with request for enhancements for the Corporation.

I am currently serving as the Insight HSM Sig – Chair of Enhancements.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I would love to take on this new and wonderful challenge and look forward to serving the Insight membership.

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Amy Thorpe, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, Corp, Houston, TX

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Amy's career in healthcare spans more than 15 years. Originally a Management Engineer, she has held various positions responsible for strategic planning, healthcare marketing, decision support, and information systems implementations.

Amy received her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1983 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston in 1987. She is a Senior Member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and has been a member of HIMSS since 1986.

Ms. Thorpe has been involved in Insight since 1999, serving as a SIG Chair, and has served as the Education Chair of the Clinical Management Council from 2001-2005.  Amy was elected to the Insight Board as Director of Education for 2006 and is currently serving as the Vice-President for Education in 2007.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

Over the past five years, I have seen many changes in InSight.   McKesson's portfolio of products has grown dramatically, and has presented many interesting challenges in providing values to the membership, both at the annual conference and throughout the year. Attendees are interested in solutions to current issues they face in their daily jobs, while also seeking information about new products currently under development. Insight is fortunate to have many dedicated members who are willingly share their time and experiences with other users. My primary goal as Director of Membership will be to develop new programs and services that attract new members and meet the needs of a vibrant and growing user base.

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NOMINATING COMMITTEE CANDIDATES
(Must elect 5 candidates)

Kevin Buchanan, Lexington Memorial Hospital, Lexington, NC

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Lexington Memorial is a not-for-profit, privately owned facility with 94 licensed acute care beds. Our medical staff includes physicians who represent more than 20 medical specialties. We are a 1997 Solucient Top 100 Hospital and Winner of the 2006 Press-Ganey Compass award for National Customer Satisfaction.

I was recently promoted to Chief Information Officer and, with the Director of Nursing, helped create a new vision for clinical informatics which included numerous McKesson systems. We are in the process of installing HED, HCR, HPF, HBF, ILE, and HPP and have plans to implement HMM, AdminRX, HCA, and HOM In the next 2 years.
I have been very involved in all aspects of our informatics systems, providing direct support and systems management.  I have very keen sense of the technical skills required to manage and maintain the supporting Infrastructure and applications. I have designed and developed several web-based applications within the organization, including a ED Patient Tracking system with HL7 integration and an Outpatient Patient Location tracking system that text pages the techs or nurses to provide notification of patient arrivals.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I first served in 2006 and 2007; I felt somewhat disconnected at first because I was more of an observer than a participant. My suggestion is for an orientation to the position’s processes and responsibilities. The job responsibility may be very accurate, but it is also rudimentary and doesn’t give an informative explanation of the working processes. I suppose this can be extended to other roles within the infrastructure.  I look forward to serving again. Thanks!

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Mark Cook, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia, WA

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Past Vice-Chair and Chair of Horizon Surgical Manager SIG. Served on 2007 Nominations Committee and Non-Conference Education Task Force.

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Lisa Engle, Texoma Medical Center, Denison, TX

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Lisa Engle is the IS project manager at Texoma Medical Center, a 260 bed community hospital that serves five counties in north Texas and southern Oklahoma. Texoma is owned by a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc. Lisa managed the Paragon implementation in 2004 in which the core HIS was replaced. She has also managed the implementation of Horizon Patient Folder/Business Folder and Paragon Carestation. She is currently involved in the betas for Paragon Pharmacy, Paragon ED module and the implementation of an EHR in the hospital associated physician clinics. She has a BBA from the University of North Texas.

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Todd Hatton, Saint Luke's Health System, Kansas City, MO

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Todd Hatton has been involved in the Healthcare Information Technology industry since 1994, focusing on implementation of hospital and physician practice based solutions.  Since joining Saint Luke’s Health System in 1996 as an Analyst I, Todd has been involved in numerous application implementations and conversions.  Todd served as Project Manager for 5 years prior to being promoted to Corporate Director of the Applications Solutions Group in 2006.  Todd was awarded a Master’s in Health Services Administration from Kansas University in 2001.  In 2006, Todd was recognized with the HIMSS Certification of Health Information Management Systems certification.  Past professional organization involvement includes one year of involvement with Insight Horizon Physician Portal SIG Secretary, and 8 years of involvement in the HIMSS Heart of America Chapter, including serving a term as President.

COMMENTS FROM THE CANDIDATE:

I look forward to the opportunity of serving on the Nominations Committee to aid in the selection of future Insight leaders, and to learn more about Insight as an organization to determine my opportunities for future involvement.

 
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Kris Iorio, Solaris Health System, Edison, NJ

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Kris Iorio is one of four Directors in the Information Systems Department at Solaris Health System. Kris has been a part of the Solaris organization for 12 years  and has experience in several roles relating to Information Technology.  These roles include, but are not limited to, project management, training and education, physician relations, and process improvement.  In her new role, she is committed to improving the delivery of healthcare services through providing a comprehensive educational and support  experience for all users in the areas of technology and process improvement initiatives.   To this end, she oversee the operational teams of Help Desk, Education and Account Executives.

Kris has been an active member of Insight since 2002.  In 2004, Kris had the opportunity to manage to a Special Interest Group (SIG) for the HOM product line.  In that year as well, Solaris was a McKesson VIP Award winner to which Kris sat of the panel of experts at the Insight Conference.  Currently, Kris is a member of the Membership Committee and leads the Insight Tradeshow Team.  Kris holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Pre-law from Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey.

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