Speakers:

• Lieutenant Alison Murray, BAMC CMIO
• Nicholas Appolonia, HIT Group, CEO/CMIO
• Dr. Kevin Helmrick, Methodist Healthcare CMIO/VP Clinical Analytics

Bios

Nicholas Diaz-Appolonia

CMIO, CEO I HIT GROUP

Nicholas Appolonia “Nick” is a clinical informaticist, clinician in surgical medicine as a first assistant and SME. He brings medical experience, expertise, and knowledge to the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Military Health System (MHS), Veterans Health Administration, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), State Health Reform, local community and commercial healthcare environments. He has over 18 years of health care, health policy and health information systems experience both at the operational and corporate levels with his combination of technical skills derived from his military, civilian, clinical and administrative background in perioperative surgical nursing as a surgical first assistant and his experience in the arena of software design, development and implementation as a medical information officer.

Nick served eight years of military service in the United States Army as an Operating Room Nursing Specialist, and also as an Official Command Trainer for the 10th Mountain Division Army Training Brigade providing Medical Training Operations for Combat Medics and Convoy Operations. He is the former Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) and Principal of Healthcare Informatics with SAIC Health Solutions Business Unit supporting the Military Health System Operations, and programs to include the VA/DoD North Chicago Project (TC-2) managing interagency interoperability, UML initiatives and also sustaining the largest health record for the Department of Defense as lead systems integrator. He supported AHLTA, CHCS, the AHLTA Sustainment, AHLTA Integration project, VISTA, VistaWeb, and all Tricare Management Activity projects enhancing clinical delivery, readiness, interoperability and sustainment as a trusted advisor and partner. 

It is a personal mission objective for Nick to create workflow Information Management/Information Technology process enhancements (Software design/Integration/Services) to both private and public sector facilities, health systems, providers, administrators, and health policy subject matter experts that enhance clinical readiness, service member patient population health outcomes, and end user stakeholder effectiveness and use throughout the ever changing clinical and non-clinical IT arena supporting veterans, servicemembers and their families receiving care in the public and private sectors while advancing new concepts and developing new innovations for continued expanded access to care.  Nick today alongside with his team has recently advanced medical device integration by successfully developing a tool that integrates 3rd party cloud device health data, and clinical data repository data into the Defense Health Agency MED-COI Network for use in the service member population health record thus enhancing population health management and enhancing clinical workflow for our providers treating our service members and veteran patient population.

Lieutenant Colonel Alison C. J. Murray

Chief Medical Information Officer– Information Management Division

LTC Alison Murray received her commission as a Second Lieutenant in January 2002.  After completing the AMEDD Officer Basic Course, she was assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center where she served as a staff nurse on a multi-service surgical inpatient ward. She then served as a Clinical Nurse OIC of the Same Day Surgery and Phase II ward. Her subsequent assignments include Clinical Staff Nurse, Multi-Care Unit, 121st Combat Support Hospital, Yongsan, Korea; Assistant Chief, Clinical Education Division, 18th Medical Command, Yongsan, Korea; Commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Brook Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. 

Her most recent assignments include serving as the Strategic Analysis and Program Management Officer, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, and Chief, Clinical Investigations Division, Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, GA; and Chief Nursing Informatics Officer and Chief, Informatics Branch for the Information Technology Division at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. LTC Murray currently serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer for the Information Management Division at Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio, TX.

LTC Murray’s civilian education includes a B.S. in Nursing from Syracuse University, an M.S. Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University, and an M.S.N. in Clinical Informatics and Patient Care Technologies from the University of Washington.  Her military education includes the Army Medical Department Officers Basic Course and Captain’s Career Course , the Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties Course, Hospital Educators Short Course, and the AMEDD Head Nurse Leadership Development Course. She is also a graduate of Intermediate Level Education offered through the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School.

LTC Murray’s awards and decorations include:  the Joint Service Commendation Medal,  the Meritorious Service Medal (1 OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (3 OLC), the Army Achievement Medal (1 OLC), the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and the Overseas Service Ribbon.  

LTC Murray is married to Lieutenant Colonel Dwayne Murray and they have three children; Dwayne II – 18, Caleb – 5, and Malachi – 20 months.