Session Description:
Please join HIMSS NCA on February 18th from 12-1pm EST as representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs (confirmed), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (confirmed), and the Defense Health Agency (invited) discuss the various approaches and significance of Human Factors, User Experience & Design as it relates to enterprise-level modernization efforts at their agencies

Speaker (s):

Lauren Alexanderson
Deputy Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Health Delivery
Office of Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

Biography
Lauren Alexanderson is a human-centered researcher and product designer who has been helping government agencies develop user-driven products and services since 2008. Lauren currently serves as the Deputy Chief Technology Officer – Health Delivery, where she leads health experience design efforts to improve the experience that Veterans, caregivers, and clinicians have when interacting with the VA online. Since joining the VA in September 2017 through the United States Digital Service, Lauren has focused on establishing VA’s Office of the CTO’s human-centered design and research operations practice, leading agile health product teams, and helping VA to accelerate the adoption of high-impact technology solutions. Prior to joining the VA, Lauren spent a decade leading public health projects and initiatives nationally and internationally and two years working with health-focused nonprofit organizations. Lauren holds an M.B.A and a M.A. in Health Communication from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. from Brown University.

Jessica Weeden
Service Designer
U.S. Digital Service, Department of Health and Human Services

Biography
Jessica Weeden is a service designer with the U.S. Digital Service at the Department of Health and Human Services.  Jessica is currently leading a team in modernizing the Medicare claims processing system, which pays for the healthcare of 40 million Americans. Previously, she led design efforts to improve the asylum applicant experience with the USDS team at US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Jessica specializes in helping organizations have a holistic view of the large, complex, fuzzy problem spaces they work in so they can identify opportunities and define a way forward. She currently lives in Baltimore with her husband, son, two cats and always has a new book to recommend.

MAJ William "Brad" Marsh
Solution Owner
Federal EHR Modernization Office

MAJ William B. Marsh "Brad" is a former Air Defense Officer in the Army with service in Korea and Iraq.  After a tour as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Ohio State University, he transitioned to Army Nursing.  Currently, he has multiple roles within the Army, Defense Health Agency, and the Federal EHR Modernization Office. Common to the three roles he performs is the deployment of the Federal EHR MHS GENESIS. Once deployed, this EHR will serve the US Department of Defense, Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and the US Coast Guard. In 2018 "Brad" was awarded the honor of being one of the nation's top healthcare leaders and was named a "Rising Star" in Clinical Informatics. He is a former trauma nurse with Two master's degrees (MS Government Cyber Leadership, and MA in Leadership) in addition to BSN and a BA. He contributed to the US Healthcare Industry Cybersecurity Task Force Report to the US Congress, and a chapter in “Diabetes Digital Health” Edited by David C. Klonoff, MD. He is a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO), Certified Healthcare Information Security Leader (CHISL), and a Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN).

Moderator:

Jonah J. Czerwinski
Practice Lead, Federal Public Sector
ThoughtWorks

Jonah Czerwinski is a recognized leader in government modernization, technology, innovation, and federal public sector management. He has more than two decades of experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors developing strategy, driving transformation initiatives, and delivering results across large institutions.

Jonah is a Practice Leader at the global technology consultancy ThoughtWorks where he works with federal agency leaders to transform their organizations into modern digital enterprises.

Jonah served in government from 2009 through 2013 as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (SES). Jonah also founded and led the VA Center for Innovation (VACI), serving as its first Executive Director and managing a $65 million annual budget and a mission to develop, test, and evaluate new ways for the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system to reduce costs, increase quality, expand access, and improve the veteran experience.

As an executive in the Strategic Innovation Group of Booz Allen Hamilton, Jonah led projects focused on the application of emerging technologies to health care analytics, performance management, and quality outcomes. Jonah was Managing Director at The Advisory Board Company, leading new product development initiatives that developed, tested, and evaluated the use of remote patient monitoring, telehealth, and clinical decision support solutions.

Prior to his government service, Jonah was Managing Consultant at IBM and Senior Fellow at IBM's Global Leadership Initiative. He served as a Senior Fellow at George Washington University, on the Board of Directors of the Partnership for a Secure America, and as a member of the Task Force on National Laboratory Assets for 21st Century Security. Jonah was on the professional staff of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.

Jonah has testified before Congressional committees and has appeared in interviews on CNN and CNN International, as well as in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and other news outlets.

Jonah is on the Board of Directors of the Rural America Chamber of Commerce, the country's first membership-based organization dedicated to promoting and empowering rurally based entrepreneurs to positively impact rural economies, rural communities, and rural livelihoods.  He is also a member of the Board of Counselors of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.

Jonah earned his A.B. in philosophy from Salve Regina University and his M.B.A. from the University of Virginia. He is a native of Wisconsin and lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.