HIMSS

Didi Davis: As the new Director for Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), Ms. Davis joined HIMSS on May 22. In this new position at HIMSS, she will direct the IHE initiative, which provides a common framework for seamlessly passing health information within and across various healthcare enterprises for local, regional and national health information networks. Before joining HIMSS, Ms. Davis was the Director, IT Product Strategies for all clinical and financial products developed and sold by Eclipsys Corporation. She brings more than 15 years of healthcare information systems expertise in all facets of the industry to HIMSS. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor's in computer science. Mary P. Griskewicz, MS, FHIMSS: Ms. Griskewicz joined HIMSS on June 5 as the Director of Ambulatory Health Information Systems. With more than 15 years experience in healthcare and clinical systems management, Ms. Griskewicz will lead the HIMSS ambulatory initiative, including strategic, tactical and outreach activities focused on the outpatient setting. Before coming to HIMSS, she was Director, Government and Industry Affairs for GE Healthcare and Program Manager, Corporate Strategy and Business Development for IDX systems. She has held management positions in healthcare working in both hospital and health care payer (insurance) settings. Ms. Griskewicz has a master's in industrial relations from the University of New Haven and a bachelor's in political science from Central Connecticut State University. JoAnn W. Klinedinst, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, PMP: Ms. Klinedinst joined HIMSS on May 15 as the Director of Healthcare Information Systems. She will direct and expand the enterprise information systems and Web-based initiatives at HIMSS. Ms. Klinedinst brings 18 years of healthcare experience to HIMSS from Doylestown Hospital in Doylestown, Penn., where she was most recently the Project Director, Healthcare IT Funding/Governance Initiatives. She has a bachelor's in business management from West Chester University in West Chester, Penn. Ms. Klinedinst holds a Masters Certification in IS/IT Project Management from Villanova University. She is also chair of the Identifying Standards Work Group for the Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative (PAeHI) and was recently appointed to the PAeHI Nominating Committee. Pam Matthews, FHIMSS: Ms. Matthews joined HIMSS on June 26 as Director, Business Information Systems. In her position, she will direct the Society's initiatives in regional health information organizations (RHIOs), health information exchanges (HIEs), and administrative and financial health information technology while strengthening the balance between HIMSS clinical and business initiatives related to the electronic health record, interoperability and advocacy. Ms. Matthews comes to HIMSS with more than 20 years experience in information systems strategic planning, governance, and clinical practice automation. She was previously CIO for American Healthcare Services in Atlanta, Ga, and has been in consulting positions with Dearborn Advisors, Superior Consultant Company, Inc., and KPMG Peat Marwick LLP. She is a registered nurse and industrial engineer with a master's in business administration.

Barry I. Schoenbart, MD, RelWare 's Medical Director, keeps the focus of RelWare's products and service offerings on the real-world issues that clinicians face. He knows from personal experience that our clients' clinical reputations depend on his expertise, as do the lives of our clients' patients. Barry majored in Biology with a minor in Chemistry in his undergraduate studies. He completed his Doctor of Medicine in 1983 and later earned a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Information Technology. In addition to this, he has studied executive management, leadership, and project management. As a tissue transplantation specialist, Barry practiced at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, Michigan, until his experience with computers led him to consider merging his interests in medicine and technology. Barry brings twenty-six years of healthcare and informatics experience to RelWare; he spent thirteen in the computer industry and eight in healthcare information technology. Barry has worked as a consultant to hospitals and health systems in healthcare informatics. As Director of Clinical Informatics for the Sparrow Health System, Barry oversaw the health information systems for nine counties over one million people. As a member of the National Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) and a Board Member of the Michigan Chapter of HIMSS, Barry works on a subcommittee for Clinical Informatics. Barry recognizes that technology implementation is only one part of health information management - redesigning processes is also important. With the help of Barry's expertise, developers at RelWare synchronize implementation and process to help our clients take full advantage of the available technology.

Mr. Crane is an executive level information technology professional recognized as a thought leader in healthcare mobility technologies. Mr. Crane has performed numerous webinars and speaking engagements on mobility. Mr. Crane is a specialist in amplifying value for his customers and enhancing the performance of technical teams. He has worked in the Information Technology field for over 15 years. His experiences span several hospital IT organizations and several consulting firms before founding DLC Technology Solutions, Inc. in 2005. Most recently Mr. Crane was the General Manager of Provider Healthcare Services for Daou Systems, Inc. (now Proxicom) in Exton, PA. During his tenure there, he founded several unique methodologies for implementing technology projects, as well as a specific approach for assisting clients with their mobility challenges. His diverse background allows him to have a holistic perspective on technology; accelerating the rate at which complex information systems can be integrated, designed, and implemented. At DLC, Mr. Crane provides growing businesses in Southern New Jersey with top tier technology talent and innovative solutions that support client's business in a realistic, cost-effective manner. Mr. Crane holds several Cisco and Apple certifications, and is an active member of the American Management Association (AMA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). In addition to being quoted in a number of publications such as Healthcare IT News, Managed Healthcare Executive and Healthleaders, Mr. Crane has spoken at the HIMSS National Convention in 2004 on the topic of Internet Security and in 2006 regarding Information Technology planning for new construction. Additional speaking engagements are planned for the future, and will be listed in the "NEWS" section of our home page.

Ed Larsen is a leading, independent consultant in healthcare information systems and medical technology with twenty-five years experience. During this period he has served as CEO for several start-ups and in other executive management roles. Recent projects include strategic analysis of healthcare information systems interoperability initiatives, use of Web technology in enterprise computing and clinical information systems. Mr. Larsen provides a multi-disciplinary approach to integrate clinical, technical and financial factors into business planning. He holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is a member of HL7, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He has had a leadership role in industry initiatives including CHIM's response to proposed FDA regulations of medical software and in evaluating HCIT standards initiatives. He has advised HL7 on e-Prescribing and tracks interoperability initiatives for HIMSS. He has presented and written on many related subjects including patient focused information systems, cost-effectiveness, clinical process management and other aspects of strategic planning in healthcare. E. R. Larsen, Inc. is a corporate member of HIMSS. Visitors interested in exploring how E. R. Larsen, Inc. might provide specialized consulting assistance are invited to contact Ed Larsen. Such contacts, proposals and and subsequent engagement will be treated in confidence.

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As Chief Operating Officer for Health Services, Ms. Dillione is passionate about having a positive impact on patient care through the use of information technology. With her in-depth knowledge of the healthcare environment and her long-standing partnerships with customers, Ms. Dillione understands that information technology is a great enabler, giving nurses and physicians more time to spend with patients, delivering quality care. Ms. Dillione has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare information services industry. With Siemens since 2000, Ms. Dillione most recently served as senior vice president of US Siemens Health Services Business Management, with operating responsibility for profitability, market share growth and customer satisfaction throughout the U.S. Prior to Siemens, Ms. Dillione spent 18 years at Shared Medical Systems (SMS), starting as a systems consultant and moving into positions of increased responsibilities on a regular basis. Her years at SMS gave Ms. Dillione a well-rounded view of the healthcare information systems landscape since she worked in both the financial and clinical solutions arenas as well as in technical and management positions. A frequent speaker at industry forums, user-group meetings and investor conferences, Ms. Dillione passionately espouses the localness of healthcare delivery and how technology today supports that. Ms. Dillione was recently named an Advisory Member of HIMSS Board of Directors, currently is a Senior Member of HIMSS, and participates on the Society's Integration and Interoperability Steering Committee. Ms. Dillione has a bachelor of arts degree in bio-medical ethics from Brown University and is a graduate of the Wharton School's Executive Management Program. She lives in West Chester, Pa., with her husband and two daughters.

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Joan R. Duke, FHIMSS, has been involved for over thirty years in all aspects of health care information systems. In 1990, she founded Health Care Information Consultants (HCIC) to assist organizations in health care information technology management. HCIC focuses on solving problems relating to systems management, organizational readiness, and technology integration. She has have assisted a variety of organizations including health systems, hospitals, home care, long-term care, hospice, behavioral health, clinics, physician groups, health care technology vendors, and non-profits unify their organizational and information, technology resources. Ms. Duke's experience includes enterprise technology planning, management of information systems organizations and hands-on development and implementation of systems. For the past fifteen years she has assisted numerous organizations to plan and execute their information technology strategies. She is well versed in electronic health records (EHR) in both the inpatient and ambulatory environment. She has also assisted health information exchanges (HIE) providing planning support to the State of Delaware and working with members of the Maryland-DC collaborative to identify system requirements and to develop a business model for health information exchange. In 2003, she was appointed to the HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence Task Force to evaluate organizations for recognition of exemplary implementation of electronic Health records (EHR) systems. Previously she was the information services executive at Harbor Hospital Center in Baltimore where she managed the migration of older systems to state-of-the-art technology and established a strong technical and service-oriented department. Prior to that she was a Project Manager for a technology company working to integrate systems and implement projects for the Department of Defense. She also supervised and developed clinical systems at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and developed statistical programs for the National Institute of Mental Health. Ms. Duke obtained her B.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Maryland in 1965 and her M.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1973. Ms. Duke has delivered papers and published in national forums on such topics as systems planning, systems evaluation, contract negotiation, networking and HIPAA. She is author of two chapters for Aspects of Electronic Health Record Systems, Second Edition published in 2006. She has also written papers and spoken to local and national organizations on standards and clinical terminologies. She is a Fellow of Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS), past President of Maryland Society of Healthcare Information Systems Management (MSHISM), and participates in American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), Healthcare Technology Network of Greater Washington, and Health Level 7 (HL7) Working Group.

Larry Smeage, Vice President of Sales at RelWare , envisions a marketplace where collections of best-of-breed software solutions are integrated into successful whole systems. He sees that significant investments have already been expended in software infrastructure, and believes that solutions providers like RelWare can fill in the gaps in healthcare software portfolios. As a medical corpsman in the Navy, Larry worked in CCU, ICU, and the ER at the Naval Regional Medical Center in San Diego. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology and Public Health with a minor in biochemistry from Michigan State University, worked on a Masters Degree at Wayne State University, and did research in clinical microbiology at Oakland University. Larry's 34 years of experience in healthcare have included work in acute care and emergency medicine, clinical laboratory, record management, and sales of clinical information systems, which included more than nine years of experience at Cerner Corporation. He spent twelve years working in the clinical laboratory heading up one of the largest clinical microbiology laboratories in the country. His extensive experience, both as a vendor and in the clinical setting, gives him a broad understanding of the healthcare delivery enterprise and how RelWare products positively affect the delivery of patient care. Larry is a registered Clinical Microbiologist M(ASCP) and a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the ASCP, ARMA, HIMSS (Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society), RSNA (Radiological Society of North America), and AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association). He considers RelWare's effectiveness at interfacing between systems to be a key to our continued success.

Laura brings over 2 decades of experience in consilting and in Health Care and Information Technology. She has held increasingly responsible management and technical positions in the consulting, pharmaceutical and distribution industries including global IT management positions and she has extensive experience working both in the US and in Europe. Laura served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer for PharMerica Corporation, a $1.5 billion pharmacy services company where she was responsible for the development, implementation and management of information technology (IT) and associated resources to support PharMerica's business objectives. She oversaw a staff of over 150 people and managed a technology support budget in excess of $40 million. She was also Vice President, Information Technology for Northern Europe for Arrow Electronics, a global electronics distributor where she had overall responsibility for IT strategy and operations. She was based in London. Prior to Arrow Electronics Ms. Kolkman held a variety of management and IT-related positions at Pharmacia & Upjohn (now Pfizer) where she was based in both the US and Europe. Most recently she held the role of Senior Director, Global R&D IT Business Solutions Delivery. In that position she was responsible for IT strategy -- as well as applications development and delivery -- for the firm's global R&D division which had an annual budget in excess of $3 billion. She managed a staff of over 130 people located in the U.S., Europe and Asia and an annual IT budget in excess of $50 million. Among her many affiliations, she is a member of the executive board of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, a member of the Steering Team of the Tampa Bay RHIO, a member of the Tampa Bay Partnership, and a member of the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) where she has co-authored position statements and guidebook chapters. Ms. Kolkman graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Michigan with a BSN in Nursing. After working as an RN, Assistant Director of Nursing and a Nursing Instructor, Ms. Kolkman returned to school and earned an MS in Computer Science from Western Michigan University. Ms. Kolkman was one of the founding partners of Consulting Intelligence and in 2005 she formed her own company, Mosaica Partners, LLC to specialize in Health care transformation through the integration of technology. She remains a Director of Consulting Intelligence.

A native to South Louisiana moved to Georgia and graduated from Cobb Christian School of Marietta. Mr. Gaspard joined the United States Air Force where he received certification training in Communications Electronics Engineering and Munitions Maintenance from the Community College of the Air Force. He then returned to Georgia with his wife and daughter and currently serves as Information Systems Manager. He is responsible for all communications in the practice, for both data and voice. Linny is active in the community where he is a member of the American Legion, of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) association, an active member of the National Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Georgia Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (GHIMSS). Linny enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter on daily basis, as well as personal hobbies of biking, motorcycle riding, reading the Bible and related books, and traveling.

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Mr. Caplan has worked with physicians and community hospitals to develop strategic IT initiatives, including EMR and telehealth services. Prior to Inteck, Mr. Caplan was Vice President of Business Development for DataFuzion, a healthcare data mining and analytical reporting firm where he was responsible for EMR integration. Mr. Caplan has worked with physicians and billing companies to develop office and clinical information management systems and is a former Executive Director for a telemedicine network that supported 24 hospitals in three states serving nearly a half million people. Mr. Caplan holds two graduate degrees in Urban Planning and Economics and has completed postgraduate research in health administration. He currently is the Associate Track Director/Adjunct faculty instructor in the Health Information Technology program at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences and the Graduate School of Business. Mr. Caplan has also been a featured speaker at several regional and national conferences on EMR implementation, telemedicine, HIPAA, and information technology applications in healthcare education. Michael J. Weaver, M.D., M.H.S., F.A.C.P. Dr. Michael Weaver is a board certified internist. His focus is to help physicians achieve optimum benefit from IS and IT to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. Dr. Weaver has worked with various client organizations and their medical staffs to facilitate physicians' participation in IS projects including strategic planning, system selection, implementation, and others. Dr. Weaver has been practicing general internal medicine for more than 20 years. Previously, he headed an academic general internal medicine service at an Army medical center and held an appointment as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Dr. Weaver has more than 15 years' experience with hospital computer information system. He has chaired physicians' computer-system users' group and a hospital's medical information management committee. He was also a member of a hospital's executive committee, representing clinical information management. He participated in systems analyses, systems implementations, and new software development projects. He completed a fellowship in general internal medicine (Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 1986) and a master's degree in healthcare systems (M.H.S., University of Denver, 1994). He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of American Medical Informatics Association. He is also a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), where he is a former president of the Colorado chapter.

Mr. Carson has worked in the healthcare industry since 1982. He has diverse capacities such as Management Engineering, Physician Clinic Administration, Home Care Administration and as a Hospital Administrator/CEO before starting Carson and Associates in 1999. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and an MS in Engineering Management. He is a fellow in the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and a Diplomate in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Susan has been a member of the Minnesota HIMSS chapter for six years and is a Senior Member of HIMSS. She has been employed in Healthcare Information Systems for the past eighteen years. She has served on the Minnesota HIMSS board for many years in the capacities of At-Large Member, Program Chair, and is currently Co-Chair of the Sponsorship and Scholarship Committees. She has presented at the National HIMSS convention on the topic of benefit realization for clinical systems. Susan is employed as the Manager of Hospital Clinical Applications for the Excellian (Epic) Project at Allina. Her past experience includes working at Children's Hospital and United Hospital in Clinical Systems. She has also worked for a clinical system's vendor in Iowa, as well as being employed as the Director for Clinical Informatics at St. John Hospital in Detroit, MI. Susan has a B.S. in Nursing from the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and an M.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Terry Moede is an experienced health care professional specializing in technology assessment-planning-implementation, process improvement and project management. She has thirty years plus managerial experience focused on strategy development and delivery, business process improvement, systems project management and general project development in the provider and payer health care arenas. She has demonstrated success regarding information systems assessment and planning, systems integration, systems implementation, and large team project management. She has delivered solutions oriented management and consulting services for multiple clients in large health care delivery systems in the provider and payer markets. Ms. Moede has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a health care specialty from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in health care administration from Northern Arizona University (NAU). She is registered as a Cardiopulmonary Technologist (RCPT) and certified as a Respiratory Therapist (CRTT). Terry is also certified as a project management professional, PMP by the Project Management Institute. She serves as a Board Member for the Southern California Health Care Information Systems Society (HIMSS) and is an active member of the Los Angeles Project Management Institute Chapter (LA-PMI).

Miriam Paramore is the CEO of Louisville, KY based AdvantageMD LLC, a physician revenue cycle management company delivering cash flow and information technology solutions. During Ms. Paramore's 21 years in the healthcare industry, she has held a number of executive management positions including CEO of a consulting company, CEO of a healthcare clearinghouse, General Manager of operations for a physician/hospital receivables company, and senior healthcare consultant with Ernst & Young. She is the Vice Chair and Chair-Elect of the Association for Electronic Health Care Transactions, a national policy group for HIT vendors. She currently serves as the interim chair for the Louisville Health Information Exchange, and is a member of the Kentucky state-wide Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative Variations Workgroup. She is a member of the Healthcare Billing and Management Association Publications Committee. She co-founded and served on the board of the HIPAA Action Workgroup of Kentucky (HAWK), a state-wide not-for-profit organization, and served as an Advisory Board member of the Southern Healthcare Administrative Regional Process (SHARP), a 13-state not-for-profit collaboration. She served as a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association national HIPAA@Work committee, the WEDI Regional Affiliate Leadership committee, and JCAHO/NCQA HIPAA Privacy Review and Appeals Committee.

Dani Magistro, MSN, RN, BC has 28 years of experience in the healthcare industry. The past fifteen years have been focused in the clinical information systems environment with expertise in project management, process analysis and redesign, system selection and implementation. She consults with medical centers, schools of nursing and clinical information system vendors on process redesign and workflow management, project management for system selection and implementation, healthcare informatics education, and product direction. Ms. Magistro has recently been working with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia assisting with core vendor system selection and pre-implementation activities, Lancaster General hospital as quality assurance for their EHR system selection project and analyzing data assets for Solucient. Previous engagements have included working with: Sinai Hospital on operating system implementation; Johns Hopkins Hospital to analyze and document the functions of the Oncology Clinical Information System; and for West Virginia University Hospital to analyze the potential realization of benefits from investing in information technology. For the Clinical Center at NIH she assisted with selection of a core clinical system and nutrition, surgical and pharmacy systems. She also performed a critical care requirements development, analysis of current state of CPOE at academic medical centers, pharmacy department information system feasibility studies, and a clinical documentation systems market review. At Nemours Ms Magistro installed EPIC ambulatory EMR providing onsite training support for a five-provider practice; at Boone Hospital she performed a workflow analysis for imaging system development project; and for University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMS) system she analyzed the feasibility of the implementation of an antineoplastic medication management system. At UMMS, she also assisted with Year 2000 contingency planning; evaluated and provided strategic direction to a foreign clinical information system vendor prior to a USA product launch. She has also evaluated North Arundel's self-developed clinical information system; and supported Greater Baltimore Medical Center selection process for a clinical information system. She also performed a Nursing Clinical Information System ROI study at South Eastern Ohio Medical Center for a healthcare information system vendor. She has been adjunct faculty and curriculum advisor for the Nursing Informatics certificate program at Eastern University. Prior to moving into consulting, Ms. Magistro was a Clinical Information Systems Specialist for SpaceLabs Medical, Inc. and JRS Clinical Technologies, Inc. She also managed the system selection and implementation for Mercer Medical Center in Trenton, NJ. Ms. Magistro received her BS in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh in 1978 and Master's of Science in Nursing also from the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. In 1996, she became one of the first nurses certified as an Informatics Nurse by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Ms. Magistro has attended and presented informatics-related programs nationally and internationally. She is a board member and Program Chair of the Delaware Valley HIMSS chapter, and a member of the Capital Area Roundtable on Informatics in Nursing, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and Sigma Theta Tau, Eta Chapter (the International Honor Society of Nursing). She was the 1992-3 President and a founding member of Healthcare Informatics of New Jersey and a member of the Planning Committee for the NJ State Nurses' Association Computers in Nursing Forum.

Karen J. Ondo, FHIMSS, has 30 years of healthcare technology, systems, business and clinical experience as a result of positions including: VP/CIO of a multi-entity IDN (49 sites); Director of Laboratories (450 bed hospital with Academic affiliation and School of Nursing); vendor (product design, development and installation of integrated systems); and now Executive Vice President, KLAS Enterprises, a market intelligence firm specializing in healthcare IT performance monitoring. She is currently engaged in various consulting and advisory capacities to assist both provider and vendor organizations in the US and Canada and is Principal in her consulting firm Computer Systems Associates. Recent published articles, reports and speaking engagements involve local, national and international settings and she is a seven times HIMSS national speaker.

Simon Cohn, MD, MPH is the Associate Executive Director, Health Information Policy for Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Permanente is the nation's largest nonprofit integrated healthcare delivery system serving 8.2 million members. He has been a leader in Kaiser Permanente's efforts to develop and implement comprehensive health information systems to support both the delivery of health care and health research. Dr. Cohn is Chair of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the main public advisory committee to U. S. Department of Health and Human Services on health information policy, HIPAA and the national health information infrastructure. The NCVHS has played a key role in laying the foundation for interoperable health information technology. Dr. Cohn is also a member of the federal Commission on Systemic Interoperability. Additionally, he is a member of the AMA Common Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel and the National Uniform Claims Committee (NUCC). He was a member of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety. In 2002, Dr. Cohn was a recipient of the President's Award from the American Medical Informatics Association for his contributions to the field and was also elected a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Victoria Bradley, RN, DNP, CPHIMS, FHIMSS is the Director of Health Information at the University of Kentucky HealthCare, Lexington, Kentucky. She is administratively responsible for the hospital medical records department and project director for implementation of an enterprise wide integrated clinical information system. Her experience includes system selection, contract negotiation, implementation and evaluation. She discovered her passion for informatics by leading a project to develop a computerized tracking system for an emergency department. Dr. Bradley was active for many years in the specialty of emergency nursing as an educator, director, speaker and author. She is a past president of the Emergency Nurses Association and the Emergency Nurses Foundation. She has received the Pillar Award of the ENA Foundation and the Judith C. Kelleher Award from ENA. Dr Bradley is a HIMSS Fellow and has served on a variety of HIMSS committees including Chair of CPHIMS Committee and Co-Chair of Nursing Informatics Symposium Planning Committee. She is a recipient of the HIMSS Informatics Nursing Leadership Award. Dr. Bradley received her bachelor and masters in nursing from Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. She is a recipient of a Wright State University Wall of Fame Award. She recently received a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of Kentucky. This program, begun in 2001, was the first of its kind in the country. It is designed to prepare expert clinical nurse leaders to change direct care practice or to change health care systems to address safety issues and to improve health care outcomes. Dr. Bradley's doctoral project was a survey of nursing acceptance of CPOE and description of reported medication errors before and after CPOE implementation.

Mr. Portela brings more than 20 years of health care IT sales and marketing experience to GCQ. Mr. Potela served as a vice president of strategic initiatives for Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS). During his tenure, he was responsible for establishing partnerships with prestigious medical centers such as Albert Einstein Medical Center, and St. John's Episcopal. Prior to PCTS, Mr. Portela served as senior vice president of client relations for CliniComp International Inc., where he was responsible for sales and marketing, account management/implementation services and special projects. As the head of client relations, Mr. Portela was responsible for the support of approximately 35 hospital-wide installations, representing 10,000 beds worldwide. As vice president of sales and marketing, Mr. Portela was directly responsible for the selection of CliniComp by the Department of Defense as the sole provider of its inpatient clinical modules to military medical facilities. Prior to joining CliniComp, Mr. Portela was vice president of sales and marketing for Systran Systems Inc., a San Diego based provider of computerized natural language software.

Stephen Armstrong, Vice President of Marketing, is a founding executive of Patient Care Technology Systems. He is responsible for the company's corporate and brand identity, market intelligence, and strategic marketing communications for the company's portfolio of clinical information and workflow solutions. A veteran with over 18 years experience marketing national brands with industry-leading multi-national companies in Canada and the United States, Mr. Armstrong has held senior marketing management positions with Pillsbury, Pepsico and Tricon Global Restaurants (Pizza Hut). During his tenure at these companies, he supervised new product development, brand repositioning and the development and implementation of strategic marketing campaigns. While at Pizza Hut, Mr. Armstrong was given the chairman's award for marketing leadership of the repositioning of Pizza Hut's entire menu, which rejuvenated system sales. Mr. Armstrong, a native of Toronto, Canada, graduated with an honors in business administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Executive training includes Pepsico Leadership courses and the Center for Creative Leadership. He is a member of the American Marketing Association, Medical Marketing Association and HIMSS.