HIMSS this week has unveiled the list of the first recipients of its 2021 HIMSS Changemaker Awards.

The awards, determined by public voting, are bestowed on "inspiring senior healthcare executives who rigorously challenge the status quo in their journeys to build a brighter health future," according to HIMSS (the parent company of Healthcare IT News).

The HIMSS21 Changemakers in Health Awards, meant to highlight leaders worldwide who are harnessing information and technology toward better outcomes, will be recognized at the 2021 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for August 9-13 in Las Vegas. They are:

Aysha Al Mahri
President, Emirates Nursing Association
Abu Dhabi, UAE

Al Mahri is also group chief nursing officer at Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, or "SEHA," where she was the first senior nursing leader to identify the importance of the nursing informatics specialty. In the United Arab Emirates, she established the Nursing Informatics Society at the nationwide level. 

Alison Connelly-Flores
Chief Medical Information Officer, Urban Health Plan
New York City

As CMIO of Urban Health Plan, a Bronx-based Federally-Qualified Health Center, Connelly-Flores has worked to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates via texting campaigns, online vaccine registration and other patient engagement projects focused on one of the areas in the U.S. hardest hit by the pandemic. She has also been focused on improving telehealth services and implementing remote patient monitoring for the most vulnerable and underserved patients.  

Sue Feldman, RN, PhD
Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Feldman is the director of the graduate programs in health informatics at University of Alabama at Birmingham, and PhD senior scientist in the Informatics Institute at UAB. She led the development of the Map it, Zap it coronavirus symptom tracker, adopted by nearly 100,000 community users, and helped develop GuideSafe, which enabled delivery of ongoing COVID-19 symptom monitoring across Alabama.

Damian Jankowicz
CIO and Chief Privacy Officer, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Toronto

Jankowicz is also VP of information management at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. With a PhD background in AI and machine learning, he has helped grow its electronic health record into an integrated platform. This helped the organization achieve HIMSS Stage 7 in 2017 – the first academic hospital in Canada to do so. He earned a HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence in 2018. Jankowicz also established CAMH’s Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics.

Dr. Stephanie Lahr
CIO and CMIO, Monument Health
Rapid City, South Dakota

As both CIO and CMIO at Monument Health, Lahr is working to change the way rural healthcare is delivered. That includes prioritizing an AI-powered omnichannel virtual assistant platform that will allow patients in her communities access to care and clinical and administrative services through Monument Health’s digital front door.

Karen Murphy, RN
Chief Innovation Officer, Steele Institute for Health Innovation at Geisinger
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

As founding director and chief innovation officer at Geisinger's Steele Institute for Health Innovation, Murphy works to transform care delivery with new data-driven approaches. Before joining Geisinger, she served as Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, where she developed an innovative payment and delivery model for rural hospitals. Before that she served as director of the State Innovation Models Initiative at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Isaiah Nathaniel
CIO, Delaware Valley Community Health
Philadelphia

Nathaniel serves as CIO of Delaware Valley Community Health, a community-based healthcare organization known for offering primary medical, dental and behavioral health services to patients, regardless of their financial standing. Nathaniel is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council and is the president of Calcom Technologies, using his expertise to improve technological adoption in his area.

Linda Reed
CIO and VP of IT, St. Joseph's Health
Paterson, New Jersey

With more than 25 years in healthcare information technology, Reed's leadership ability was put to the ultimate test during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as she saw the organization through the implementation of cutting-edge solutions that would aid SJH not only in its fight through the COVID-19 crisis, but as it forges ahead through the constantly evolving world of healthcare technology.

John H. Windom
Executive Director, VA Office of Electronic Health Records Modernization
Washington

Windom is leading the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' effort to modernize its IT systems and create an interoperable EHR shared among VA, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Coast Guard and community care providers. This new system facilitates the secure transfer of active-duty service members’ health records as they transition to veteran status, improving data analysis capabilities and leading to better health outcomes. 

Deanna Wise
CIO, Banner Health
Phoenix

Among her recent work, Wise is in the process of implementing an industry leading population health tool, has conducted a rapid rollout of an acute and ambulatory telehealth to meet the needs of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Wise has also introduced several robotic process automation bots and developed a new digital front door strategy for Banner Health's patients. She stays focused on cybersecurity standards, while continuing to advance cloud services for an array of Banner's operational needs.

Frans van Houten
CEO, Phillips
Amsterdam, Netherlands

As the CEO of Philips, van Houten serves and is committed to embracing and integrating information and technology across the health continuum, identifying and tackling healthcare challenges, and driving new technologies and digital transformation of healthcare to improve patients’ lives. Determined to deliver the full benefits of data-enabled care, he has stepped up Philips’ activities in informatics and data science significantly. 

Lifetime Achievement: George Halvorson

In addition to the 11 healthcare leaders listed above, the HIMSS Changemaker Lifetime Achievement Award has been awarded to George Halvorson, chair and CEO of the Institute for InterGroup Understanding. 

Before launching the institute in 2012, Halvorson served as CEO of six different healthcare delivery and financing organizations over three decades – most notably his tenure as chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, from 2002 to early 2014. Before that, he spent 17 years as CEO of HealthPartners, a cooperatively governed health plan and care system in Minnesota.

The HIMSS21 Changemakers in Health will be recognized at HIMSS21, which is scheduled to take place August 9-13 in Las Vegas.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.