Special Event Update: Dr. Karen DeSalvo and Other National Healthcare Information Technology Leaders to Speak at Connecting Michigan for Health Conference

LANSING, Mich., May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Karen DeSalvo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as Carla Smith and Tom Leary of the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in a special general luncheon session on Thursday, June 9: "A Conversation with the ONC and HIMSS North America on Public Policy." The speakers will discuss solutions for building community-based solutions to connect for public health, as a follow-up to Dr. DeSalvo's special evening session held at the conference the evening of Wednesday June 8.

About Connecting Michigan for Health
Healthcare thought-leaders and professionals from around the state and country will convene June 8-10 in Lansing to discuss the future of health information sharing. Connecting Michigan for Health 2016 is a three-day event dedicated to advancing the exchange of electronic health information between the patient, their preferred doctors and care team members.

The theme of this year's conference is "Constructing the Future of Health Information Sharing: Emerging Patterns for Innovation, Health Reform and Quality Improvement."

The conference features a lineup of prominent speakers from Michigan and the U.S. for this year's event.  A conference agenda is available at www.connectingmichigan.net and includes speakers such as:

Dr. Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc., Acting Assistant Secretary for Health and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) providing general luncheon session keynote. Dr. DeSalvo is a physician who has focused her career toward improving access to affordable, high quality care for all people, especially vulnerable populations, and promoting overall health. She has done this through direct patient care, medical education, policy and administrative roles, research, and public service.

Dr. John Halamka, Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center providing opening day keynote. In addition to his post at Beth Israel Deaconess, John D. Halamka is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN), co-Chair of the national HIT Standards Committee, co-Chair of the Massachusetts HIT Advisory Committee and a practicing Emergency Physician. Dr. Halamka is a well-known expert on health information exchange, and hosts one of the industry's most popular blogs - Geekdoctor: Life as a Healthcare CIO.

Dr. David Kendrick, Chief Executive Officer for MyHealth Access Network in Oklahoma providing second day keynote. David Kendrick, MD, MPH, FACP chairs the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Oklahoma's School of Community Medicine, and serves the OU Health Sciences Center as the Assistant Provost for Strategic Planning. Dr. Kendrick is the principal investigator and CEO of MyHealth Access Network, Oklahoma's non-profit health information network, which ensures that every Oklahoman's complete health record is securely available where and when they need it for care and health decision making.

Jitin Asnaani, the Executive Director for the CommonWell Health Alliance speaking on patterns emerging nationally in health information sharing. Jitin is the first Executive Director of CommonWell Health Alliance and is charged with stewarding CommonWell as it pursues its mission of building a scalable infrastructure that enables health data to follow the patient, regardless of where care occurs. Prior to CommonWell, Jitin was a director at athenahealth, where he focused on building the company's cloud-based interoperability platform and population health services, as well as programs to advocate for increased health IT interoperation across the industry.

Connecting Michigan for Health places special emphasis on progress in health information technology adoption, harnessing new data sharing capabilities, aligning quality improvement efforts, navigating the evolution of a learning health system, incorporating community and social determinants of health, and leveraging advances in clinical research to foster greater person-centered care. Speakers and attendees will discuss the developments and opportunities to make healthcare transformation a reality. The growing event hosted more than 400 attendees in 2015.

The conference agenda has been designed to create an environment for attendees to interact, learn from, and network with influential health information technology professionals, policy makers, clinicians, healthcare leaders, members of the state government, and the vendor community.

For more information about the conference or to register, please visit www.connectingmichigan.net.

A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are still available.

For any questions regarding the conference, please contact [email protected].

About Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN)
The Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) is Michigan's state-designated entity to improve health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety by sharing of electronic health information statewide, helping reduce costs for patients, providers, and payers.  MiHIN is a nonprofit, public-private collaboration that includes stakeholders from the State of Michigan, Health Information Exchanges that serve Michigan, health systems and providers, health plans/payers, pharmacies, and the Governor's Health Information Technology Commission. For more information please visit www.mihin.org.

CONTACT: [email protected]
1-865-7652261
Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN)

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SOURCE Michigan Health Information Network