KPMG Appoints Ashraf Shehata To U.S. Global Healthcare Center Of Excellence

NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, today announced the appointment of Ashraf W. Shehata as the newest U.S. member of its Global Healthcare Center of Excellence (CoE).

At KPMG, Shehata will provide executive leadership in healthcare IT, including meaningful use achievement, health information exchanges, longitudinal clinical records, cloud-based healthcare IT, and clinical and other healthcare business intelligence. 

"Healthcare's transformation from fee-for-service to value-based payment models must be accompanied by the successful adoption and integration of new information technology and data capture," said Ed Giniat, partner and national sector leader for KPMG Healthcare & Life Sciences. "Ash's deep healthcare IT expertise, especially with healthcare business intelligence, will greatly benefit our clients."

Before joining KPMG, Shehata served in several healthcare IT leadership roles with Cisco, WellPoint, and IBM, as well as the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Most recently, he served as senior executive director of healthcare focused on business transformation for Cisco's U.S., Canadian and Latin American operations. Before that, he was vice president of health solutions at WellPoint, where he led IT enabled health solutions for the company's fourteen health plans and specialty business, and vice president of IT shared services. At IBM, Shehata was a principal in the company's global services, providing business innovation services. Other prior roles include global chief operating officer at KGT Global Technologies, president of Digineer Inc., and senior manager at Accenture. Additionally, Shehata served as an administrator at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, responsible for the management of several departments including radiology, nuclear medicine, volunteer services, pastoral care, lab medicine, quality improvement, managed care, cancer center, pharmacy services and several university wide re-engineering initiatives.

"KPMG is at the forefront of helping leaders across the healthcare ecosystem implement new approaches and plans to successfully evolve and adapt healthcare IT to meet rapidly changing healthcare needs," said Shehata. "I look forward to using my experience in helping KPMG expand its services and help its clients successfully navigate this evolving landscape."

Shehata joins an internationally renowned team of colleagues in the KPMG Global Healthcare Center of Excellence including Drs. Cynthia Ambres and Richard Bakalar, U.S.; Janet Davidson, Canada; Prof. Marc Berg, Amsterdam, Prof. Hilary Thomas, UK; Dr. Soren Eichhorst, Germany; Dr. Wai Chiong Loke, Singapore; and Nigel Edwards, UK.

"The healthcare sector is in the midst of unprecedented transformation," said Dr. Mark Britnell, Chairman and Partner, KPMG Global Health Practice. "Ash possesses a depth of expertise in clinical administration and innovation, as well as IT leadership that is invaluable to health systems both in the U.S. and around the world."

Shehata holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, a Master's in Business Administration, and a Masters in Hospital & Health Administration, all from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Shehata is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

About KPMG's Global Healthcare Practice
Healthcare systems around the globe are facing more complex challenges than ever.  KPMG is committed to providing long term support to our clients as they tackle these challenges and seek to transform the way that healthcare is provided.

With deep industry experience, insight and technical support, KPMG firms are among the leaders in delivering a broad range of audit, tax and advisory services to meet the unique needs of healthcare policy-makers, providers and payers. 

KPMG has more than 2900 dedicated professionals in our healthcare team, with skills in strategy development, cost optimization, financial management, clinical performance improvement, market development, tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, commercialization and organizational development. We have one of the largest, best equipped and most experienced healthcare advisory teams.

About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International.") KPMG International's member firms have 145,000 people, including more than 8,000 partners, in 152 countries.

SOURCE KPMG LLP