Crystal Run CEO and Founder Hal Teitelbaum Joins Taconic Health Information Network and Community Board of Directors

Teitelbaum brings medical background and health care management expertise to THINC

FISHKILL, N.Y., Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC) announced that Hal Teitelbaum, MD, MBA, CEO and managing partner of Crystal Run Healthcare, has joined its board of directors. THINC is a Hudson Valley not-for-profit convening organization that sponsors research to advance improved patient care delivery models using health information technology; structures and implements pay-for-performance criteria associated with physician practice quality initiatives; and governs the region's secure health information exchange network.

Teitelbaum leads one of the largest and fastest growing medical practices in New York state. Crystal Run Healthcare, headquartered in Middletown, N.Y., is known for its advanced application of health IT to improve health care delivery. It is one of 11 Hudson Valley practice groups that participated in THINC's 2009 quality initiative that resulted in National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recognition as a Level 3 patient-centered medical home, the highest level achievable.

Teitelbaum completed his training in internal medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, and in medical oncology and hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. After beginning his career in full-time academic practice, Teitelbaum established a solo practice in 1982 and later established Crystal Run Healthcare in 1996. Teitelbaum earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and is currently enrolled in Columbia Law School. He has served as a trustee of Horton Medical Center and in numerous other capacities for the hospital, medical staff organization, managed care organizations and regulatory agencies. He is a recipient of the ADL Americanism Award, the Rhulen Award of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, and the Alliance for Balanced Growth's 'Golden Shovel Award' of the Orange County Partnership. He was recognized by the Medical Group Management Association as the 2006 Physician Executive of the Year. Crystal Run Healthcare was recently named the 2010 Top Leadership Team in Group Medical Practice by HealthLeaders Media.

"Dr. Teitelbaum's hands-on experience in practice transformation and his community focus on improving quality is a natural fit for the THINC board," said Susan Stuard, MBA, THINC's executive director. "As a community convener of diverse health-focused organizations, THINC emphasizes collaboration in all its activities. Dr. Teitelbaum adds to our board's breadth of expertise, and we admire his dedication to bringing more effective health to the people of the Hudson Valley."

THINC's board of directors includes leaders from across the health care spectrum—physicians, consumer groups, large employers and hospitals are all represented. The board oversees the work of four active committees composed of more than 60 community and national subject matter experts. THINC sponsors a pay-for-performance physician practice transformation project that rewards practices that achieve community-defined clinical and operational goals such as care coordination. THINC also sponsors the Hudson Valley Health Information Exchange and an EHR adoption program.

About the Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC)

THINC is dedicated to improving the quality, safety and efficiency of health care for the benefit of the people of the Hudson Valley region of New York. The primary purpose of THINC is to advance the use of health IT through the sponsorship of a secure health information exchange network, the adoption and use of interoperable EHRs and the implementation of population health improvement activities, including public health surveillance and reporting, pay for performance, patient centered medical home practice transformation, care coordination activities, public reporting and other quality improvement initiatives. For more information, go to www.THINC.org. THINC is part of the Hudson Valley Initiative, an effort to revolutionize health care delivery through a shared vision to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care in the community. To learn more, go to http://www.hudsonvalleyinitiative.com.

SOURCE Taconic Health Information Network and Community