Kaiser Permanente's Kathy Scheirman Named One of Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders

OAKLAND, Calif., May 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathy Scheirman, Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president and business information officer, corporate services, was named one of Computerworld magazine's 2013 Premier 100 IT Leaders. The list spotlights technology and business luminaries from a wide range of companies for their technology leadership and innovative approaches to business challenges.

"Kathy Scheirman is an extraordinary leader and an expert in using technology to benefit our expansive business functions," said Phil Fasano, executive vice president and chief information officer, Kaiser Permanente. "We are fortunate to have a leader with the powerful combination of technical knowledge, business acumen and innovative management skills to lead our corporate services IT work. Her accomplishments are making a real difference to our members, and to the future of Kaiser Permanente."  

Scheirman joined Kaiser Permanente in 2010 and leads the corporate services team, which delivers technology products and services that help the health care provider efficiently run many of its corporate functions. Working with business partners throughout Kaiser Permanente, her team is the backbone of its vital behind-the-scenes technology, spanning finance and supply chain to human resources and revenue operations.

"When these functions run smoothly we can spend more time focusing on the patient and the care experience," Scheirman said.

Under Scheirman's leadership, Kaiser Permanente recently deployed Oracle's PeopleSoft Financials and Supply Chain Management Enterprise Resource Planning platform. Having a standardized platform with a common set of financial and supply chain business processes helps Kaiser Permanente operate more efficiently, saving time and money. Today, the platform processes millions of transactions each month and has improved financial book-closing time significantly. 

Before joining Kaiser Permanente, Scheirman held senior management roles at AT&T and at American Express, where she served as the senior IT executive supporting various business units, delivering broad-scale technology capabilities domestically, as well as market-by-market rollout of international technology platforms. Ultimately serving on the American Express executive team, she led technology support for the corporate functions (strategy, application development and operations) as well as multiple transformational programs that improved the operational efficiency of internal IT processes.   

Scheirman has a bachelor of arts degree in secondary education/mathematics from Rutgers University and a master's degree in management from the Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University.

"I attended college with the intention of becoming a high school math teacher," said Scheirman. "As my student teaching assignment was ending, my career direction took a curve and I ended up beginning my IT career as a programmer for AT&T. What I enjoyed the most was using technology to solve business problems."

"The Premier 100 awards program showcases the exceptional work of a dedicated group of senior IT leaders who are driving huge change in their organizations," said Scot Finnie, editor in chief of Computerworld. "Every day, these exemplary business leaders make strategic technology decisions that track to their organizations' top priorities. These men and women keep a keen eye on the changing landscape of political, economic, regulatory and technology trends that are driving significant shifts in IT. We are very pleased to recognize the leadership and achievements of the 2013 Premier 100 honorees."

The Premier 100 awards ceremony was one of the highlights of Computerworld's annual Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference, held March 11-13, in Phoenix. The conference, attended by more than 350 senior IT managers, showcased honorees and other IT innovators as they discussed how to create competitive IT organizations.

About the Premier 100
The Premier 100 program was created in 2000 to spotlight individuals who have a positive impact on their organizations through technology. These are individuals who manage internal IT organizations, mentor and motivate their IT teams and business colleagues, create a positive work environment, envision innovative solutions to business challenges, and effectively manage and execute IT strategies. Each year nominees are invited to complete a survey that addresses a number of topics, including their background and experience and their attitude toward risk and innovation. Using Computerworld's IT Leader Index, which is a measurement of how closely an individual matches our definition of the IT Leader, we analyze the data. Each year, 100 honorees are selected to receive this lifetime recognition award. Information on previous honorees can be viewed at: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9065479/Premier_100_IT_Leaders   

About Computerworld
Computerworld is the leading source of technology news and information for IT influencers worldwide, providing peer perspective, IT leadership and business results. Computerworld's award-winning website (www.computerworld.com), biweekly publication, focused conference series and custom research forms the hub of the world's largest (40+ edition) global IT media network. In the past five years alone, Computerworld has won more than 100 awards, including Magazine of the Year by American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) awards in 2010, the 2009 Best Blog from the Neal awards, and 2006 Best Overall Web Publication from ASBPE. Computerworld leads the industry with an online audience of over 3.5 million unique, monthly visitors (Omniture, September 2011). Computerworld is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading media, events and research company. Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.

Contact:
Ravi Poorsina, Kaiser Permanente, 510-421-0557
Amanda Wardell, Kaiser Permanente, 510-292-0758

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente