Presentation & Speaker Details

Clinical Presentations

Leveraging Advanced Mapping Capabilities for Better Patient Cohorting

Dr. Mo Shahsahebi, Duke Cancer Institute
Dr. Matt Cardwell, IMO-Intelligent Medical Objects
Approximately 20-30% of breast cancer patients will develop metastatic breast cancer (MBC), which is often fatal. However, thanks to more effective treatments, survival rates among MBC patients are on the rise. Duke Cancer Institute has long been interested in tailoring treatments to these individuals, but the cohort is far from monolithic. Indeed, some therapies may be better suited to specific patients based on certain clinical characteristics, or phenotypes. Yet to effectively study these differences, patients must be stratified into subgroups based on phenotype, which can be difficult to achieve. Finding patients who fit a particular phenotype requires highly specific clinical data, much of which is obtained through time-consuming manual chart review. To streamline this process, Duke Cancer Institute wanted to leverage SNOMED CT® – a widely accepted standard used to codify clinical data – to build a computational phenotype that they could then deploy to drive automatic querying of the EHR. The ultimate goal was to create a more efficient way of finding MBC patients without sacrificing the high level of accuracy seen with manual review. However, this posed a challenge as not all data in the EHR is coded in SNOMED CT. In fact, much of it is coded using ICD-10-CM billing codes, which are typically not granular or precise enough to find specific MBC patients. Additionally, data that is coded in SNOMED CT often lacks the secondary and tertiary codes that are needed to appropriately capture the highly detailed MBC diagnoses required for precise cohort identification.

By leveraging a clinical terminology solution with comprehensive code maps, Duke Health’s computational phenotype produced an accuracy rate of 95% and was found to be more sensitive than other more commonly used methods of identifying MBC patients, such as pulling patients from tumor registries. Importantly, this increased sensitivity came without sacrificing precision. More importantly, by leveraging SNOMED CT maps, Duke Health was able to successfully create a highly efficient and accurate computational phenotype.

Objectives:

• Identify computational phenotypes that could be used to construct more comprehensive patient registries, which include information on treatments and outcomes to accelerate the development of more tailored treatment guidelines and more accurate prognostic estimates for MBC patients.
• Attendees will be able to identify how leveraging SNOMED CT in addition to ICD-10 create more accurate and specific cohorts.
• Explain how to enable clinical EHR data at scale for patient cohorting.

Dr. Mohammad Shahsahebi is a family medicine doctor in Durham, North Carolina and is affiliated with Duke University Hospital and Duke Cancer Institute’s Center for Onco-Primary Care and Supportive Care and Survivorship Center. He received his medical degree from University of California Irvine College of Medicine.

Dr. Matt Cardwell joined IMO in 2010. He now serves as Senior Vice President, Client Services. Over the years, Matt built and led a variety of teams and products through the company’s rapid growth during Meaningful Use and the ICD-10-CM transition in the US. He now leads the company’s implementation, support, and customer success teams, working closely with IMO partners and customers to improve data quality through the deployment of IMO solutions. Matt completed his doctoral work in mathematics at Northern Illinois University.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcardwellphd/

AI Governance in a Patient Care Setting: An Approach for Clinical and IT Leaders

Eric Poon, Duke Health
AI holds enormous promise to transform health care — the advent of large datasets from EHRs coupled with advances in machine learning and generative AI could fundamentally change the processes of patient interaction, diagnosis, risk stratification, therapeutic decisions, and resource allocations. However, the hype of AI has led to the proliferation of tools with little assurance that they are safe, effective, and equitable. Healthcare organizations are now faced with the difficult task of navigating this new landscape with little guidance. In this talk, Dr. Poon will discuss the approach clinical and IT leaders at Duke have taken to manage the life cycle of AI tools developed and deployed for patient care to ensure models are not only safe, effective and equitable, but also reliable and maintainable.

Dr. Eric Poon holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Cornell University and a medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School. He obtained his clinical training in the primary care track of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, and subsequently obtained his Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Poon currently serves as the Chief Health Information Officer for Duke Medicine. He also practices primary care internal medicine in Duke Primary Care. In his capacity as CHIO, he is responsible for the visioning and strategic planning of clinical and analytic information systems that impact patient care, research and education.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericpoon/

Harnessing Digital Transformation in Preventive Healthcare: The Why and How of Personalized Wellness Prescription

Mike Rucker, PH.D., Chief Digital Officer
The advent of digital transformation in healthcare presents vast potential for preventive health practices. Through this session, we will delve into the why and how of a modern approach to wellness and fitness delivery, putting a spotlight on personalized “upstream” prescriptions enabled by smart equipment and a new breed of electronic wellness records.

Personalized preventive prescriptions, at the intersection of technology and preventive healthcare, provide an innovative solution to combat prevalent lifestyle diseases. This presentation explores the significance of such an approach and provides a deep dive into the operational mechanics behind it, emphasizing how real-time tracking and adaptability can contribute to user engagement and improved health outcomes.

The session explores the broader potential of IoT-enabled health technology. Attendees will gain an understanding of how these smart tools are used to tailor wellness regimens to individual needs, track adherence, and adjust programs for optimum results, culminating in a unique, interactive user experience that encourages sustained behavioral change.

It will further elaborate on the transformative potential of such technology-integrated approaches to wellness, discussing their implications for public health management and the shift from disease treatment to proactive prevention.

This session aims to enhance professional knowledge, presenting a comprehensive perspective on how modern digital solutions can shape preventive healthcare. Attendees will leave with a broader understanding of the underlying principles and implementation strategies of personalized wellness prescription, equipped to adopt and advocate for such cutting-edge preventive healthcare strategies in their professional domains.

Objectives:

• Assess the transformative potential of digital solutions in shifting the healthcare paradigm from disease treatment to proactive prevention.
• Explore the operational mechanics behind the implementation of technology-integrated wellness approaches for improved user engagement and health outcomes.
• Discuss the significance of personalized wellness prescriptions in preventing lifestyle diseases and promoting overall health.

Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association. He has been academically published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research. His ideas about wellness and health technology have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, Mindful, mindbodygreen, and more. Named one of ten digital changemakers by HIMSS in 2020, he currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrucker

How Using Tools Provides Clinicians the Ability to Assess Healthcare Inequity

Andrew Stirling, Duke Health
Patti Gorgone, Duke Health
The Collaborative to Advance Clinical Health Equity [CACHE] is a Duke Health collaborative designed to systematically examine specific clinical outcomes for evidence of racial disparities, with the goal of identifying and eliminating factors that drive disparity. As foundational work for this large initiative we needed to standardize definitions of seven factors important to defining cohorts: age, race/ethnicity, gender, co-morbidities, access, insurance status, and a measure of social determinants of health. The focus of this presentation will be the steps taken to define these seven factors, curation of the data and visualizations created to be used for all cohorts.

Implementation of an intervention program in conjunction with Duke Community partners will address the disparities identified within the curated datasets, clinically relevant intelligence reporting, Tableau dashboards, and bio-statistical models. Standards have been implemented to have a common measurement of disparities (7 factors) across cohorts, examples of this would be Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and Elixhauser Comorbidities both are appended to the datasets to provide a fair and non-biased comparison amongst the cohorts. Several of our CACHE projects have identified significant disparities between ethnic groups, payor classes, geographical locations and the makeup of the patient’s neighborhood (ADI). Examples of implementation for gun violence and endocrine diabetes cohorts will be discussed.

Objectives:

• Define Duke’s Collaborative to Advance Clinical Health Equity [CACHE].
• List the 7 factors being used by Duke to define each of the clinical outcomes.
• Identify tools being used to identify the disparities and assist to identify implementation of intervention programs.

Andrew Stirling joined Duke in August 2017 as a business intelligence developer for the PORT team. He has a bachelor’s degree from Emory University. He has developed Tableau dashboard solutions for numerous projects, departments, and groups at Duke Health. He co-leads an open session group at Duke that aims to explore best practices and techniques with Tableau visuals, and share project work and ideas with other analysts. He has presented at many conferences and workgroups both within Duke and outside and was a co-author on two publications for JAMIA.

Patti Gorgone is a registered nurse with a background in critical care. Patti is currently employed by Duke University Health System in Duke Health Technology [DHTS] in the department Analytic Center of Excellence [ACE] and is IT manager for Collaborative to Advance Health Equity [CACHE] and ACE Research/Fee for Service teams. Patti’s background in Informatics has been liaison between IT and clinicians, application analyst and business analyst.

Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Workflows

Marina Yacoub, Duke University
Kristle Green, PharmaD., MMCi
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable tool in automating various aspects in clinical workflow, although its adoption in medicine is in its early stages when compared to other industries. In clinical workflows AI is primarily utilized for medical image analysis and decision support. The current use of AI is exhibited in radiology, dermatology, pathology, and ophthalmology where medical imaging plays an important role. Implementation of AI in these fields provided quantitative assessments that aided in accurate diagnosis and decision support.
In this presentation, learn about the application of AI in post operation management and areas in which AI can reduce redundancy, enhance efficiency, and improve patient experience. The attendees will hear about an analysis to understand what specific challenges and pain-points clinicians encounter in post operative management which may include but is not restricted to capacity management related to hospital beds, optimization of hours available for surgery, reducing complications and patient monitoring. Additionally, the presentation will explore the ethical considerations of using AI in the surgical setting and its responsible use while addressing issues with patient privacy, safety, and security. AI has the potential to optimize staffing resources, help assess post-surgical risks of complications, and increase efficiency post-operatively.

Objectives:

• Explore the application of AI in post-operative management in order to identify areas where we can reduce redundancy, enhance efficiency and improve the overall patient experience.
• Analyze the challenges and pain-points that clinicians encounter in post-operative management, including the capacity management, surgical scheduling, reducing complications, and patient monitoring.
• Investigate the ethical considerations of AI in a surgical setting while addressing the responsible use with patient privacy, safety, and security.

Marina Yacoub is currently working as a cell manufacturing technician at Carolinas Cord Blood Bank at Duke University while also finishing up a master’s in management in clinical informatics. Marina graduated from Arcadia University with a Bachelor of Science in biology with a psychology minor and is currently on a pre-medical track, with a variety of experiences in IT and research and an interest in the intersection of technology and healthcare.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinayacoub/

Kristle Green, PharmD., MMCi, began her career as a pharmacist working in the ambulatory care setting. Following this, she explored her passion for the intersection of health and legislation by transitioning to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During her time at the FDA, Kristle has served in numerous roles, including as a regulatory project manager in the Office of Generic Drugs, a health science project manager in the Office of Program and Regulatory Operations, and most recently as a consumer safety officer in the Office of Compliance where she is currently leading implementation efforts for the Drug Supply Chain Security Act requirements.

Kristle received her B.S. in psychology and chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Howard University College of Pharmacy, and completed her postgraduate pharmacy residency training at the University of Texas at Austin. Due to her passion for improving patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency by leveraging technology to transform healthcare delivery, Kristle chose to pursue a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics degree, which she obtained from Duke University School of Medicine in July 2023.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristlegreen

Technical Presentations

The State of Healthcare Cyber Attacks: Understanding Risks to Drive Improved Protections

Chad Holmes, Cynerio
In recent years healthcare environments have become a prime target for cybercriminals due to underfunding, lack of expertise and lagging cybersecurity practices. From WannaCry’s impact on NHS Trusts in 2017 to the HSE outage in 2021 to the hundreds of ransomware attacks that hit US hospitals on an annual basis, it is clear that cyber criminals have found a prime target.

One positive byproduct of these attacks is increased investigation into their root causes, impacts on patient care, resulting financial losses and a variety of other topics. Case studies which have examined healthcare environments as well as surveys that provide insight into the challenges they face will be discussed.

The presentation will also address the increasingly important topic of risks posed by medical devices including IoT, IoMT, OT and unmanaged IT. With quickly increasing adoption many healthcare providers are finding increased risks not just within the devices themselves, but also within their networks and broader environments. This expanding connectivity footprint is often a prime component in enabling widespread attacks that result in facility outages.

Objectives:

• Discuss attack patterns experienced by healthcare.
• Explain global and regional studies.
• Discuss anecdotes to complement data driven insights.

Chad Holmes has spent 20 years helping create, break and secure a variety of technologies while helping others learn to do the same. In his role as Cynerio’s Security Evangelist, Chad helps educate healthcare providers on the threats introduced by IoT, OT and Medical IoT devices throughout their organizations. As part of these efforts Chad discusses real-life incidents, attacker motives, remediation and mitigation techniques, how to balance risk with functionality, and achievable approaches to improve cybersecurity in healthcare. Prior to joining Cynerio Chad has held a variety of cybersecurity, development and marketing roles at companies including Red Hat, Accenture, Veracode and Security Innovation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadwik66/

Leveraging Technological Tools to Lower the Cost of Care in Value-Based Care Models

Christie Burris, NC Department of Information Technology
Dr. Siu Tong, Cary Medical Management
NC HealthConnex provides a central infrastructure for the collection of clinical data and provides interoperability solutions to bridge the gaps in current disparate clinical settings. This is no small task and requires continued focus and investment of stakeholders to be able to gather and collate timely and accurate health data from the wide variety of care settings working together in value-based care world.

Join the North Carolina Health Information Exchange Authority (NC HIEA) and Cary Medical Management (CMM) as they discuss how leveraging software robotic technology and the data within NC HealthConnex has led to an average 21.75% savings for Medicare and commercially-insured patients.

By its very definition, value-based care requires visibility into a patient’s entire path through the care continuum. Real time and accurate clinical data is a critical tool to providing appropriate care and closing information gaps. This session will provide a look into how Cary Medical Management is using the statewide event notification service, NC*Notify, to deliver better care coordination and the clinical portal to access a more comprehensive view of patients’ health status.

Speakers will explain use cases, provide an overview of the service, including technology and resources required, and share lessons learned.

Attendees will leave with an understanding of how NC*Notify and the clinical portal can be a valuable tool for care coordination in value-based care arrangements.

Objectives:

• Describe how to use NC*Notify and the Clinical Portal tools through the presentation of several use cases.
• Identify how to leverage data in the state-designated health information exchange, NC HealthConnex, to lower the costs of care in a value-based care setting.
• Discuss how to use NC*Notify, an event notification service, to deliver better care coordination.

Christie Burris joined the NC HIEA in April 2016. As the executive director, she maintains overall responsibility for the ongoing development of a strategy to not only fulfill a state mandate for data connections, but to develop a mature and modernized statewide health information exchange known as NC HealthConnex. Under Christie’s leadership, NC HealthConnex has seen tremendous growth in six years, multiplying its connected participant base by a factor of five.

Christie is an award-winning communications executive with experience developing and executing all aspects of programs for organizations. Her work experience has spanned numerous industries ranging from radio and television, public housing and insurance, to retail, grocery, pharmacy, and now health care. She is an active member of Civitas Networks for Health serving on the Nominating Committee and the Government Relations and Advocacy Council.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christie-burris-5bb25531

Dr. Siu Tong is a successful serial entrepreneur, who mixes a creative mind with an astute eye for filling clinical gaps using technology. Prior to Cary Medical Management, he founded both Smartlink Health and Infina Connect Healthcare Systems, which was one of the top 10 companies in the Wall Street Journal 2013 “Startup of the Year” series. He has received numerous awards and a ranking as the 178th fastest-growing technology company in U.S. and Canada. Dr. Tong was Chairman and founder of Optimum Technologies, GMA Healthcare, Engineous Software, and led a software development team at General Electric’s Global Research Center. Dr. Tong received a US Presidential Service Award.

Dr. Tong has a B.S. in engineering from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering and management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/siutong

Connecting Patients to Behavioral Health Care: Population Health Surveillance using Digital Mental Health Tools in Value Based Care

Colleen Russell, Alera Health
We’re losing the battle on mental health support. We find that hospitals and primary care need better intelligence on behavioral health patient referrals and referral patterns. HIEs may not provide all the information and analytics for that data. Integrations with every ambulatory care EHR are not feasible. Using a logic-based referral tool can assist caregivers to get their patients to the right care and services and can help maintain patients throughout the continuum of care.
Less than half of Americans who struggle with their mental health receive the treatment they need. The percentage of Americans citing anxiety and depression during the pandemic doubled, rising to 35-45% and a significant uptick in emergent mental health events was evidenced by both an increase of mental health emergency room presentations and an increase of opioid overdoses by 40%*.

The mental health market has experienced numerous shifts over the years from the move to managed care to increased community-based care. Organizations that can adapt to these changes are most likely to succeed.

Adoption of a logic-based tool decreased referral leakage (patient not attending the visit) reduced the total cost of care and decreased appointment wait times for specialty care. Research of facility profiles, patient demographics, HIT assets, network LOS, referral patterns and referral gap closure, care delay by specialty, and Medical Home activities for opportunities was built into a referral system working with a vendor to customize by expanding meta-, demographic-, and transaction data. This allows the program to serve as a population and network surveillance tool. It also translates patient needs into eligible BH services which are then “cross-walked” to the providers who operate those services, significantly minimizing the patient ‘bounce rate’ to other providers and lowering readmissions.

Objectives:

• Attendees will learn 3 different barriers to improving mental health care accessibility
• Attendees will learn an example of adopting digital tools that achieved positive outcomes in mental health continuity of care
• Attendees will learn how surveilling and improving gap closure for behavioral health referrals helps decrease cost and assist in value-based care.

Colleen Russell, Alera Health, is a former CCU and Electrophysiology nurse who came to HIT after using the technology in the EP lab. She moved to implementing leading Clinical Informatics departments during the time of Meaningful Use and beyond. She later moved to population health and served as CIO for a Performing Provider organization in NY as a part of DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Program) efforts to move from volume to value-based care. She currently serves as SVP, Information Technology for Alera Health, a behavioral health clinically integrated network, whose mission is to create integrated systems of care across the nation and thereby improve behavioral health outcomes using a multifaceted approach. Colleen has been in healthcare for 26 years, is an avid cyclist, equal partner to her husband, Barry, and co-parent of 2 very spoiled dogs.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenrussellmsn/

New Healthcare Technologies Are Helping to Drive Patient Outcomes, but They Are No Panacea

Richard Staynings, Cylera
Technology has transformed healthcare delivery and pharmacology helping to drive up patient outcomes and wellness. But our adoption has led to wide gaps in clinical safety and cybersecurity. Much of this transformation has been fueled by the development of artificial intelligence and IoMT, both of which are becoming ever more prevalent across North Carolina providers. In fact, IoT now accounts for more than 75% of connected hospital endpoints, while many new clinical applications are AI-enabled. Do we have a good understanding of the risks that new technology is introducing?

Clinical decision support, medical imaging, and precision medicine all rely heavily upon the use of AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Yet, AI requires vast lakes of PHI data for training, much of which cannot be de-identified for effective learning purposes. However, training data can be tainted, and AI models poisoned leading to model corruption, safety, and security concerns. AI has been applied in many positive ways, but it has also more recently been applied in some very nefarious ways, some of which may lead to significant cybersecurity, patient safety, and regulatory compliance concerns in the future.

This presentation will look at healthcare technology transformation and the development of offensive AI, while making the case for greater development of defensive AI cybersecurity tools. It will also examine the degree of implicit trust that clinicians have in their medical applications and devices and question whether new technology should require a higher level of security and safety training.

Objectives:

• Learn how new healthcare technologies are helping to drive improvements in patient and community wellness, leading to earlier diagnosis and more effective treatment of maladies.
• Consider the ‘Maturity Paradox’ and ‘Attackers Arbitrage’ – the gap between new technology being implemented and the security controls necessary to protect that new technology. What risks are we exposing ourselves and our organizations to?
• Learn about the arming of malicious bots and malware using AI and how this is leading to the development of ‘Offensive AI’.

Richard Staynings, Cylera, is a globally renowned thought leader, author, public speaker, and advocate for improved cybersecurity across the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry. He has served on various industry and international cybersecurity committees and presented or lectured on cybersecurity themes or concerns all over the world. This includes serving on the HIMSS International Cybersecurity Committee and the board of CHIME AEHIS.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardstaynings/

The Five Pillars: Applying the National Cyber Strategy to Modern Healthcare

Don Kelly, Fortified Health Security
In an era where the fusion of technology and humanity is paramount, the National Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan is a beacon guiding the way toward a secure digital frontier. In this talk, led by Don Kelly, we’ll delve into the foundational pillars of the strategy, shedding light on its vision and objectives as relates to the healthcare sector and providing insights into the future guidance designed to bolster the cybersecurity posture of healthcare.
Join us for this comprehensive exploration of the intersection of national cybersecurity initiatives and healthcare’s unique demands.

Objectives:

• Discuss foundational pillars of the National Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan as it relates to healthcare
• Identify and address healthcare’s unique challenges in adopting cybersecurity strategies
• Cover future guidance to enhance healthcare cybersecurity

Don Kelly, Manager, VISP & VISO, Fortified Health Security has more than 15 years in healthcare information security and communications, Don has extensive healthcare-specific experience developing and directing cybersecurity awareness and training programs, performing security strategic planning, incident response program development, risk analysis, and business impact assessments. He currently holds the GISP, GSTRT, GCCC, and CISSP certifications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-kelly-cissp-38ab9033/

Keynote Bios

David Michael, ECU Health Lifestyle Medicine Clinic
In addition to his role as clinical informaticist, Dr. David Michael is the Medical Director for the ECU Health Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Greenville, where he leads a clinical team of Lifestyle Medicine experts. As a provider, he specializes in services related to the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine: nutrition, exercise, sleep, substance abuse, stress management and healthy relationships.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-michael-08098b20/

Harold (Hal) Wolf, III, HIMSS
Harold (Hal) Wolf is the president and CEO of HIMSS, a global advisor and thought leader supporting the transformation of the health ecosystem through information and technology. Wolf is respected internationally as a healthcare and informatics leader, with areas of expertise in mHealth, product development, integrated care models, marketing, distribution, information and technology, and large-scale innovation implementation. Before joining HIMSS, Wolf served at The Chartis Group as director, practice leader, information and digital health strategy. Prior to The Chartis Group, he served as senior vice president and COO of Kaiser Permanente’s The Permanente Federation, representing more than 16,000 physicians. Wolf also held executive positions at MTV Networks and Time Warner, and served as senior advisor to McKinsey & Co.

Speaker Bios

C. Lucas Beal, Hutchison PLCC, has a passion for helping businesses successfully manage a wide variety of legal issues. His practice focuses on data privacy and security, employment law, contract negotiation and corporate law.

Prior to joining Hutchison, Lucas worked in the life sciences and clinical trial industry as in-house legal counsel for PRA Health Sciences. In this role, he drafted and negotiated commercial contracts and assisted PRA on regulatory compliance issues and privacy issues. Before his work at PRA, Lucas presided over unemployment benefits hearings while working with the North Carolina Division of Employment Security. He has practiced at other North Carolina firms advising clients on employment law and a variety of corporate transactions. Before attending law school, Lucas worked in the financial industry.

Lucas currently serves as an advisory board member for the Chapel Hill Public Library.
linkedin.com/in/c-lucas-beal-1670199

Jonathan Bell, M.D., MMCi, M.Eng., Director of Strategic Partnerships at nference. Jonathan’s expertise lies at the crossroads of medical practice and technological advancement. With degrees from Duke University in Medicine and Clinical Informatics, Jonathan blends medical expertise with technological innovation. His ability to apply insights to healthcare strategy is evident through his commitment over two decades.

As the Director of Strategic Partnerships at nference, Jonathan leads transformative healthcare data integration and management. Utilizing his scientific and technical acumen, he architects solutions for the seamless integration and transformation of vast multi-modal datasets, maximizing their potential impact. Collaborating closely with universities, health systems, and private research organizations, he ensures research efforts are well-aligned for collective effectiveness. Combining military and civilian experiences, Jonathan offers invaluable insights, shaping the future of healthcare strategy and data-driven decisions.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanlbell/

Dr. Mina Boazak is a psychiatrist and clinical informatics leader dedicated to improving mental healthcare through technology and innovation. As founder and medical director of a growing behavioral health practice, Animo Sano Psychiatry, he aims to provide quality, accessible behavioral health services patients in the United States. Dr. Boazak has served as a digital health consultant for Holmusk, supporting the strategic development of digital healthcare tools to enhance patient care. He completed his psychiatry residency at Emory University and a clinical informatics fellowship at Duke, where he focused on leveraging data to advance population health. His interests include machine learning, natural language processing, and designing systems to reduce provider burnout. Dr. Boazak is passionate about developing Animo Sano into the nation’s best employer for mental healthcare providers.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/minaboazak/

Christie Burris joined the NC HIEA in April 2016. As the executive director, she maintains overall responsibility for the ongoing development of a strategy to not only fulfill a state mandate for data connections, but to develop a mature and modernized statewide health information exchange known as NC HealthConnex. Under Christie’s leadership, NC HealthConnex has seen tremendous growth in six years, multiplying its connected participant base by a factor of five.

Christie is an award-winning communications executive with experience developing and executing all aspects of programs for organizations. Her work experience has spanned numerous industries ranging from radio and television, public housing and insurance, to retail, grocery, pharmacy, and now health care. She is an active member of Civitas Networks for Health serving on the Nominating Committee and the Government Relations and Advocacy Council.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christie-burris-5bb25531

Dr. Matt Cardwell joined IMO in 2010. He now serves as Senior Vice President, Client Services. Over the years, Matt built and led a variety of teams and products through the company’s rapid growth during Meaningful Use and the ICD-10-CM transition in the US. He now leads the company’s implementation, support, and customer success teams, working closely with IMO partners and customers to improve data quality through the deployment of IMO solutions. Matt completed his doctoral work in mathematics at Northern Illinois University.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcardwellphd/

Jeff Chesebro is a seasoned cybersecurity professional with over a decade of experience in various roles within the field. Currently working at Palo Alto Networks, Jeff advises hospitals large and small on their Cybersecurity Journey and how to keep patients safe in an increasingly hostile cybersecurity environment. His journey began with a degree in Information Technology from RIT and has since seen him excel as a practitioner, designer, and advocate for digital security. Jeff’s passion is to wrangle technology to make life easier for everyone, with a belief that technology should fade into the background and not be a burden. Beyond his professional life, he finds solace in outdoor adventures, including mountain biking, hiking, and camping. Inspired by Albert Einstein, who said “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself”, Jeff’s philosophy emphasizes the importance of simplicity in understanding complex concepts.
linkedin.com/in/jeff-chesebro

Jeff Fuller has had a 26-year career as a health innovator, strategist, data connoisseur, patient engagement advocate, and operator. He has helped lead strategic transformations at Atrium and UNC Health with his strengths in building meaningful partnerships and collaborating to achieve innovation and improvement evidence through real measurable results. Jeff has been a board-certified healthcare leader as a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2013 and has served on national committees for innovation and business intelligence for over 3 years with HIMSS.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefffuller/

Patti Gorgone is a registered nurse with a background in critical care. Patti is currently employed by Duke University Health System in Duke Health Technology [DHTS] in the department Analytic Center of Excellence [ACE] and is IT manager for Collaborative to Advance Health Equity [CACHE] and ACE Research/Fee for Service teams. Patti’s background in Informatics has been liaison between IT and clinicians, application analyst and business analyst.

Kristle Green, PharmD., MMCi, began her career as a pharmacist working in the ambulatory care setting. Following this, she explored her passion for the intersection of health and legislation by transitioning to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During her time at the FDA, Kristle has served in numerous roles, including as a regulatory project manager in the Office of Generic Drugs, a health science project manager in the Office of Program and Regulatory Operations, and most recently as a consumer safety officer in the Office of Compliance where she is currently leading implementation efforts for the Drug Supply Chain Security Act requirements.

Kristle received her B.S. in psychology and chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Howard University College of Pharmacy, and completed her postgraduate pharmacy residency training at the University of Texas at Austin. Due to her passion for improving patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency by leveraging technology to transform healthcare delivery, Kristle chose to pursue a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics degree, which she obtained from Duke University School of Medicine in July 2023.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristlegreen

Jason Hester has worked for UNC Health for over 10 years, starting as a reimbursement analyst and working his way to Practice Relations Director for Surgical Services. Prior to joining UNC, Jason worked for Duke University Health System’s Hospital Medicine Program and previously worked at UNC Hospital in Patient Relations. Jason’s work in revenue cycle has allowed him to help the departments and clinics he supports increase revenue. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Appalachian State University and an MBA from Ole Miss.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-hester-35664537/

Chad Holmes has spent 20 years helping create, break and secure a variety of technologies while helping others learn to do the same. In his role as Cynerio’s Security Evangelist, Chad helps educate healthcare providers on the threats introduced by IoT, OT and Medical IoT devices throughout their organizations. As part of these efforts Chad discusses real-life incidents, attacker motives, remediation and mitigation techniques, how to balance risk with functionality, and achievable approaches to improve cybersecurity in healthcare. Prior to joining Cynerio Chad has held a variety of cybersecurity, development and marketing roles at companies including Red Hat, Accenture, Veracode and Security Innovation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadwik66/

Tracey Hughes, MMCi, Sr. Director, Data Partnerships, Duke Health has been with Duke Health Technology Solutions for 12 years after a significant career in clinical engineering.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceykhughes/

Blake Jones, iMethods (photo attached)
As the Content Marketing Manager, Blake is responsible for taking the pen to paper and telling the stories of how the team at iMethods connects to the community and client partners by fostering deep relationships and creating meaningful work.

Before coming to iMethods, Blake connected his passions for live music, food and creative writing in the entertainment industry in Raleigh, NC. From blog posts about the best new bakeries to social media campaigns for a sold-out show, he believes there’s always a compelling story to tell and connection to be made. Blake grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina and has the mountaineering spirit as a graduate from Appalachian State University. He traded the mountain peaks for “the big city” of Raleigh and now resides in High Point NC.

Alex Jofriet, MHA, business operations and strategic services associate at Duke University Hospital (DUH) currently supports the DUH senior leadership team on a variety of operational and strategic priorities. Lately, much of his time is spent in the OR space improving utilization, driving volume, and increasing flexibility of OR staffing. Since joining Duke in 2021 as an administrative fellow, Alex has supported a system-wide implementation of weapons detection at all three Duke Hospitals; development of a standard monthly metric review to drive project accountability; and implementation of a process to reduce travelers at DUH.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexjofriet/

Don Kelly, Manager, VISP & VISO, Fortified Health Security has more than 15 years in healthcare information security and communications, Don has extensive healthcare-specific experience developing and directing cybersecurity awareness and training programs, performing security strategic planning, incident response program development, risk analysis, and business impact assessments. He currently holds the GISP, GSTRT, GCCC, and CISSP certifications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-kelly-cissp-38ab9033/

Greg Kuhnen helps lead UNC Health’s Enterprise Analytics and Data Services group and has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare technology leadership. Prior to joining UNC Health, he led the Advisory Board Company’s research practices for analytics, interoperability, and mobile technologies, serving hundreds of health system CIOs and health IT businesses around the world. Greg joined Advisory Board through the acquisition of Care Team Connect, now Crimson Care Management, where he was Chief Technology Officer. He served as Lead Architect for Axolotl (now Optum HIE), one of the first and most successful early Health Information Exchange platforms, as well as engineering leadership roles at Thomson Reuters Health and Oracle’s Health and Life Sciences division.

Greg holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and electrical engineering from MIT and is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association and the Association for Computing Machinery. His areas of expertise span interoperability, health information exchange, business intelligence, population health, IT infrastructure, and cloud computing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhneng/

Christopher Kunney, FACHDM, CPHIMS, Divurgent

Christopher Kunney currently serves as senior vice president of digital acceleration for Divurgent.  He is responsible for developing new business and expanding existing contracts. He recently served as chief strategist and business development for DSS, Inc.’s  Juno EHR product line.  As an experienced healthcare information technology executive and strategist, Kunney works with hospitals, health systems, accountable care organizations, clinically integrated networks, ancillary service providers, and physician-owned entities to provide guidance and insights specific to emerging healthcare technology offerings, compliance-related issues, and technology adoption.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherkunney/

Shereese Maynard, Digital Healthcare Strategist, NostraData Medical is the powerhouse behind NostraData Medical, a game-changing venture she co-founded, and AskShereese.tech, an innovative healthcare IT (HIT) strategy and marketing consultancy. In addition, Shereese wears the hat of chief marketing officer at HIT Like A Girl pod, a unique media and community platform that amplifies the voices of women in the health technology sector. Recognized as a Top 30 Healthcare Technology Influencer by Health Tech Magazine, a Top 10 Influencer by Pixel Health, and one of the Top Women to Know in Health IT (Becker’s, 2023), Shereese is no stranger to industry acclaim. With a career that spans roles from tech consultant to executive leadership, Shereese has honed her expertise in healthcare regulation, data governance, health IT strategy development, and marketing.

Rachini Moosavi, MHA, is the Chief Analytics Officer at UNC Health. She is passionate about empowering people, delivering value, and improving healthcare through analytics insights. Over her nearly twenty-year career in healthcare, Rachini has been a nursing assistant, patient throughput consultant, revenue cycle analyst and leader, and analytics executive. As the head of data & analytics at UNC Health and as a recent graduate of a Chief Data & Analytics Officer certificate program, Rachini leads the data and analytics enablement strategy for the health system; ensuring that healthcare transformation continues to be catalyzed by insights.
www.linkedin.com/in/rachini-moosavi

Dr. Eric Poon holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Cornell University and a medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School. He obtained his clinical training in the primary care track of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, and subsequently obtained his Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Poon currently serves as the Chief Health Information Officer for Duke Medicine. He also practices primary care internal medicine in Duke Primary Care. In his capacity as CHIO, he is responsible for the visioning and strategic planning of clinical and analytic information systems that impact patient care, research and education.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericpoon/

Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association. He has been academically published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research. His ideas about wellness and health technology have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, Mindful, mindbodygreen, and more. Named one of ten digital changemakers by HIMSS in 2020, he currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrucker

Allyson Russell is a leader within UNC Health’s Enterprise Analytics and Data Services group and has more than 15 years of experience building digital and data literacy across healthcare, technology, and retail industries. Prior to UNC Health, Allyson reskilled thousands of Cisco employees in data science and advanced analytics through the publication of five learning certifications, multiple data science competitions, and Cisco’s largest internal event for data scientists around the world two years running (~4k attendees). She was also the co-chair for Cisco’s Lean Six Sigma Standards Board, responsible for developing and implementing certification requirements.

Allyson holds a bachelor’s in apparel, housing, & resource management from Virginia Tech, and is an MBA candidate with a specialization in healthcare management from UNC Wilmington’s Cameron School of Business.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyson-russell/

Colleen Russell, Alera Health, is a former CCU and Electrophysiology nurse who came to HIT after using the technology in the EP lab. She moved to implementing leading Clinical Informatics departments during the time of Meaningful Use and beyond. She later moved to population health and served as CIO for a Performing Provider organization in NY as a part of DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Program) efforts to move from volume to value-based care. She currently serves as vice president of information technology for Alera Health, a behavioral health clinically integrated network, whose mission is to create integrated systems of care across the nation and thereby improve behavioral health outcomes using a multifaceted approach. Colleen has been in healthcare for 26 years, is an avid cyclist, equal partner to her husband, Barry, and co-parent of 2 very spoiled dogs.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenrussellmsn/

Rashaud Senior, MD, MMCI, Physician, Avance Care, is a board-certified family medicine physician providing primary care services within the Avance Care system. He obtained his medical degree from The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University with a focus on health policy, then completed his residency in family medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. Previously working as a healthcare data analyst, his interest in data systems and the improvements that artificial intelligence and machine learning may bring to our healthcare system grew during his training, prompting him to complete a Fellowship in Clinical Informatics at Duke University Health System. During that fellowship, he also obtained a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics degree. When he’s not thinking about how to save the world, Dr Senior enjoys traveling, weightlifting, playing soccer, cooking, visiting family, and catching up on his ever-growing Netflix queue.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashaud-senior-md/

Katie Seidler is a Strategy Manager at Cone Health in Greensboro, North Carolina. A physical therapist by training, her approach to strategy combines a clinician mindset with perspectives from prior roles in research, implementation science, and quality improvement. Katie champions clear structure and process as the foundation of successful strategy, and leverages connection between silos in large healthcare organizations to bridge gaps between strategic planning and execution. Before transitioning into strategy, Katie’s work focused on improving care for medically complex older adults in outpatient, skilled nursing, and home settings, as well as clinician continuing education and interdisciplinary collaboration at the Veterans Health Administration. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieseidler/

Dr. Mohammad Shahsahebi is a family medicine doctor in Durham, North Carolina and is affiliated with Duke University Hospital and Duke Cancer Institute’s Center for Onco-Primary Care and Supportive Care and Survivorship Center. He received his medical degree from University of California Irvine College of Medicine.

Janae Sharp is the founder of Sharp Index
https://www.linkedin.com/in/janaesharp/

Richard Staynings, Cylera, is a globally renowned thought leader, author, public speaker, and advocate for improved cybersecurity across the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry. He has served on various industry and international cybersecurity committees and presented or lectured on cybersecurity themes or concerns all over the world. This includes serving on the HIMSS International Cybersecurity Committee and the board of CHIME AEHIS.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardstaynings/

Andrew Stirling joined Duke in August 2017 as a business intelligence developer for the PORT team. He has a bachelor’s degree from Emory University. He has developed Tableau dashboard solutions for numerous projects, departments, and groups at Duke Health. He co-leads an open session group at Duke that aims to explore best practices and techniques with Tableau visuals, and share project work and ideas with other analysts. He has presented at many conferences and workgroups both within Duke and outside and was a co-author on two publications for JAMIA.

David Jinorio Swanson is a program manager for the Revenue Cycle Analyst Team at UNC Healthcare. He has over ten years of experience in the healthcare industry and is responsible for leading a team of analysts in developing and implementing revenue cycle data projects. David is passionate about using his skills to help healthcare organizations improve their revenue cycle and achieve their financial goals.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-jinorio-swanson/

Evan Taylor, CIC, NFP serves as a managing director for NFP’s Property & Casualty Group where he is responsible for client relationships throughout the southeast along with leading and growing NFP’s Atlantic Region team. Over his career, Evan has developed an expertise in a number of insurance disciplines to include workers’ compensation, cyber liability insurance and alternative risk financing for complex organizations. His client base primarily includes manufacturing, construction and distribution related businesses. He currently holds the professional designations as a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Authority in Workers’ Compensation (CAWC) and received both the Business Insurance 2020 Break Out Award and Risk & Insurance Manufacturing Power Broker Award in 2020. Evan began his career at the FBI, where he assisted in managing both cyber and counterintelligence investigations across North Carolina.
linkedin.com/in/evan-taylor-cic-22488866

Dr. Siu Tong is a successful serial entrepreneur, who mixes a creative mind with an astute eye for filling clinical gaps using technology. Prior to Cary Medical Management, he founded both Smartlink Health and Infina Connect Healthcare Systems, which was one of the top 10 companies in the Wall Street Journal 2013 “Startup of the Year” series. He has received numerous awards and a ranking as the 178th fastest-growing technology company in U.S. and Canada. Dr. Tong was Chairman and founder of Optimum Technologies, GMA Healthcare, Engineous Software, and led a software development team at General Electric’s Global Research Center. Dr. Tong received a US Presidential Service Award.

Dr. Tong has a B.S. in engineering from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering and management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/siutong

Jeffrey Weegar is the CFO at North Carolina Hospital Association. In addition to overseeing the administrative functions at NCHA, he oversees NCHAs financial services offered to members, which includes Medicaid oversight, guidance and assistance to member hospitals with billing, reimbursement and compliance issues. Jeff has been with NCHA for 11 years and was with Dixon Hughes Goodman (now Forvis) prior to NCHA. Outside of his responsibilities with NCHA, Jeff has 2 children and spends his spare time coaching his kids athletic teams, service with the Cub Scouts, and golfing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-weegar-cpa-303bb731/

Casey Williams, MIE, staffing optimization engineer for Duke University Health System (DUHS), currently supports performance improvement projects throughout the employee life cycle, from budgeting for a position to improving termination rates. Lately, she has been focusing on reducing labor costs through process redesign for supplemental staffing and improving retention by promoting knowledge sharing amongst leaders in the health system. Since joining Duke in 2019, Casey has led and supported metric-driven improvement projects, developed numerous dashboards providing visibility to staffing key performance indicators, and more recently implemented a new process for RN traveler reduction at Duke University Hospital.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-williams-38a33b27b/

Marina Yacoub graduated from Duke University with her Masters in Management in Clinical Informatics (MMCi) in July 2023. She obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and minored in Psychology from Arcadia University in May 2022. Marina is an aspiring MD/PhD with an interest in the intersection of technology & artificial intelligence in healthcare.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinayacoub/

Dee Young, MA, CISM, UNC Health is currently the Chief Information Security Officer for UNC Health system. UNC Health is a not-for-profit integrated health care system and currently comprises UNC Hospitals and its provider network, the clinical programs of the UNC School of Medicine, and fifteen hospitals and twenty hospital campuses with over 1000+ physician clinics.  Dee leads the UNC Health System Information Security teams responsible for cybersecurity, information and medical device security compliance, and cyber risk management efforts to secure and protect information important to UNC Health staff, patients, and partners, while ensuring the overall cyber resiliency of the system. 

Young’s twenty plus years in leadership positions within security and technology across healthcare, academia, and industry. Dee has held numerous technical certifications and currently is a Certified Information Security Management Professional (CISM) and has a master’s degree in organizational management. She is on the board for AEHIS and serves on national committees within cybersecurity and also the larger Healthcare sector. 

Dee has been a frequent national speaker for topics including cyber incident response, AI and emerging technologies, leadership, and mentoring, as well as medical device/IoT security. She is an active hiker, backpacker and loves scuba diving. She spends free time with her family exploring North Carolina where they reside.
linkedin.com/in/deeyoung1