Presenters

Description: Health Information Technology and HITECH activities are all about innovation, process redesign and providing health entities with much needed technical support. As such, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has created two programs to support HIT implementation efforts. Most notably the Beacon Communities Program and Regional Extension Center (REC)Program. The Beacon Awardees represent communities that have already made inroads in the development of secure, private, and accurate systems of electronic health record (EHR) adoption and health information exchange. Their goal is to build and strengthen their health information technology (health IT) infrastructure and exchange capabilities to improve care coordination, increase the quality of care, and slow the growth of health care spending. The RECs serve as the coordinating body that ensures public health activities, including receiving information generated by the meaningful use requirements are supported by the technical assistance to providers that the RECs will provide. This plenary session will highlight the work both ONC programs are doing around population health – an area where public health has been involved, but more collaboration and innovation can and should happen. This session intends to enhance understanding of Beacon Communities and REC efforts, foster new connections with public health partners, and foster new innovations around population health.

Jac Davies, Beacon Community of the Inland Northwest
Bio: Jac Davies is the Director of the Beacon Community of the Inland Northwest. She led the development of the successful $15.7 million proposal to obtain federal funding for the creation of a regional care coordination project for individuals with diabetes. She currently manages the new program that was created, including developing project plans and overseeing implementation of those plans, and communicating and coordinating with federal and state agencies and with multiple private sector health care organizations including hospitals, physician offices, insurers, pharmacies, laboratories and long term care organizations.

Lacey Hart, SE Minnesota Beacon Community
Bio: Ms. Hart is the Director of a Project Management Office within Health Sciences Research at Mayo Clinic and is Program Manager for a large portfolio of research programs including the HHS/ONC Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) on Secondary EHR Data Use and the Beacon grant for Southeast Minnesota.

Daniel Jensen, SE Minnesota Beacon Community
Bio: Mr. Jensen is the Associate Director of Olmsted County Public Health Services in Minnesota focused in the areas of aged and disabled programs, WIC (Women, Infants & Children), and public health Informatics. In the role of Informatics Mr. Jensen serves as lead public health technical advisor for the Southeast Minnesota Beacon program, project manager for both the PH-Doc 2012 and PH-Doc Beacon projects, and is an active member of the MN State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC) HIE workgroup.

Anjum Khurshid, Crescent City Beacon Community
Bio: Dr. Khurshid oversees a wide range of community health initiatives including quality improvement of primary care and behavioral health services within community health clinics, comprehensive wellness and clinical services in school-based health centers and the Crescent City Beacon Community program, a federally-funded pilot program focused on improved management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, through the use of information technology and electronic medical records. Dr. Khurshid also works closely with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to usher in the federally issued Medicaid waiver for the Greater New Orleans area.

Kimberly Lynch, Director of the REC Program, ONC
Bio: Kimberly is currently the Director of Regional Extension Center (REC) Programs, in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The REC cooperative grant program is working with organizations across the Country to assist primary care providers in priority settings to achieve meaningful use of an electronic health records (EHR) system.
Prior to joining ONC, Kimberly was the Operations Director for the Michigan Center for Effective IT Adoption (M-CEITA – the REC program for Michigan providers) at Altarum Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In addition to being responsible for managing the M-CEITA program’s start-up strategy, budgets, contracts and diverse staffing teams to support the adoption process, Kimberly built partnerships with provider networks throughout Michigan as well as of key influencers within those networks, including provider organizations, hospitals, health plans and professional associations. Kimberly also supported health IT policy, public health surveillance, strategy and evaluation projects for states including Vermont, California and Michigan, and within the Departments of Defense and Health & Human Services.
Kimberly also served in Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm’s administration as a Health & Human Services Policy Advisor where she was responsible for developing and implementing medical justice, public health, mental health, long term care and women’s agenda items. Kimberly also worked in governmental affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, specializing in policy and legislation related to medical information privacy and security, workers compensation and long term care. Kimberly has a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Michigan State University.

Amanda Misiti, ONC
 Bio: To be provided

 

 

 

 

 

Speaker:Seth Mnookin
Bio: Seth Mnookin is a Lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing. His most recent book, The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, uses a combination of investigative reporting, intellectual and scientific history, and sociological analysis to explore the misinformation surrounding vaccines and their rumored connection to developmental disorders. He is also the author of the 2006 New York Times-bestseller Feeding the Monster: How Money,Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, which chronicles the challenges and triumphs of the John Henry-Tom Werner ownership group of the Boston Red Sox. His first book, 2004′s Hard News: The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year.
Since 2005, Seth has been a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. In 2002 and 2003,
he was a senior writer at Newsweek, where he wrote the media column “Raw Copy” and also covered politics and popular culture. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including New York, Wired, GQ, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Spin, Slate, and Salon.com. He graduated from Harvard College in 1994 with a degree in History and Science, and was a 2004 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Speaker:Lillian Shirley, BSN, MPH, MPA, Multnomah County Health Department, President, National Association of County and City Health Officials
Bio: Lillian Shirley, BSN, MPH, MPA, Director of the Multnomah County Health Department, provides public health leadership in collaboration with community partners to address the county’s health needs, and offers health policy leadership on both a county and state level. Her department is the largest provider of safety-net services in the state of Oregon. A Federally Qualified Health Center with primary care, dental, pharmacy and mental health services, they provide an integrated medical home model. In addition, the department provides health services in all county jails. Ms. Shirley is the appointed Vice-Chair of the Oregon Health Policy Board charged with implementing Health Reform in Oregon and is currently President of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). Prior to coming to Oregon, Ms. Shirley was Director of Public Health in Boston, and was responsible for all preventive and community-based health services. After participating in the merger of Boston’s public hospital with Boston University’s medical center, Ms. Shirley served as the first executive director of the newly formed Boston Public Health Commission. In this role, she had executive responsibility for the establishment, design, and organization of the new public health authority in Boston. Ms. Shirley received a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Boston University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Ms. Shirley served for nine years as a board member of CareOregon, the states largest Medicaid insurer. She also is Vice President of the Public Health Foundation, member of the Board of Oregon Public Health Institute, the Portland Sustainable Development Commission, OHSU School of Medicine Dept of Community Medicine Adjunct Faculty, and Board Member of North by Northeast Community Health Center.