The HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association (EHR Association, www.himssEHRA.org) is a trade association of 41 electronic health record (EHR) companies which aim to accelerate the adoption of EHRs in hospital and ambulatory care settings in the U.S. As a result of its annual elections earlier this month, the association announced new leadership. Several Executive Committee members will return, and new members are added to maintain the balance of representation from companies that “serve healthcare enterprises with both ambulatory and acute care EHRs, and companies that focus solely on the ambulatory market”, as a spokesperson explained.
Mickey (Michele) McGlynn, Senior Director, Strategy and Operations for Siemens Healthcare, Health Services, who has served on the Executive Committee since 2009 and as Chair of the Government Affairs Workgroup from 2008 until June 2011, acts as the new Chair. McGlynn will work closely with Leigh Burchell, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs for Allscripts, a member of the Executive Committee since 2011 and Chair of the EHR Association Public Policy Leadership Workgroup, who was elected to serve as Vice Chair.
“I’ve worked with the EHR Association since its early days, and the experience has been incredibly valuable for Siemens, and, I believe, for the industry as the Association has become the ‘go to’ source for expertise on the development and support of EHRs”, underlined McGlynn. “I’m honored to be given the opportunity to serve as Chair, and look forward to a busy year ahead.”
Joining the Executive Committee for two-year terms are Meg Marshall, Senior Manager, Government Health Policy, for Cerner Corporation and Chair of the Privacy and Security Workgroup; and Ginny Meadows, RN, Executive Director of McKesson’s Program Management Office, and lead on the Quality Measures Sub-Workgroup under the Quality and Clinician Experience Workgroup.
Returning to the Executive Committee to finish their two-year terms are Jason Colquitt, Executive Director, Research Services, Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc.; Lauren Fifield, Senior Health Policy Advisor for Practice Fusion, Inc.; and Mark Segal, PhD, Vice President, Government and Industry Affairs, GE Healthcare IT, Vice Chair Emeritus of the Association, and current Vice Chair of the Public Policy Leadership Workgroup. – Charlie Jarvis, Vice President of Healthcare Services and Government Relations for NextGen Healthcare, completed his term as Vice Chair of the Association, but retains his seat on the Executive Committee through June 2013. Jarvis, elected to the Vice Chair position in 2010, was first elected to the Executive Committee in 2007 and has also served as Chair of the Communications Workgroup, the Government Initiatives Workgroup, and the Ambulatory Special Interest Group.
“This is such an important juncture in the evolution of our industry”, said Meadows. “I learn so much from the insights that my peers bring to the Association, and I hope to contribute to our increasing involvement in leading innovation and progress toward widely adopted, interoperable health IT.”
Carl Dvorak, Executive Vice President for Epic Systems, completed his second term as Chair of the Association and expressed his appreciation for the important contributions that the group has made over the past year. “I think we can all be proud of the leadership role that the Association has taken on virtually every initiative that impacts EHR developers and users, and I want to thank the entire membership for their hard work and support”, Dvorak commented. He was a founding member of the Association, now in its eighth year. He also served on the Executive Committee from 2004 to 2006, and was re-elected in 2009. He was elected to the Chair position in 2010.
Dvorak recognized the contributions of Rick Reeves, Senior Manager, Product Development Services at CPSI, who has served the maximum of six years on the Executive Committee. Rick will continue as Certification Workgroup Chair, a position he has held since 2005.
Dvorak will continue to serve on the Executive Committee as Chair Emeritus along with Justin Barnes, Vice President of Marketing, Corporate Development and Government Affairs for Greenway Medical Technologies and Chair Emeritus of the Association, who served two terms from 2008 until 2010; and Charlene Underwood, Senior Director, Government and Industry Affairs at Siemens Healthcare, who was the Association’s first Chair and continues to serve the Association in an ex officio position as Chair Emeritus.