Don’t Miss Out!

Education and Networking Events in Lansing on Sept. 20th & Plymouth on October 18th

Register Today for Lansing Event This Thursday

• Event: Case Study Presentation: Sparrow Health System and IT Advancements - A Journey to Revalidate EMRAM Stage 7
• Date/Time: Thursday, September 20, 2018 / 5-8 p.m.
• Location: Sparrow Health System at The James B. Henry Center for Executive Development, 3535 Forest Road, Lansing, MI 48910
• Registration: The event is free. Click here to register. 
• Speakers: Chris A. Nemets, MSN, RN, CNML, System Director and Chief Nursing Officer, Sparrow Health System and Michael Zaroukian, MD, PhD, MACP, FHIMSS, is Vice President, Chief Medical Information Officer and Chief Transformation Officer at Sparrow Health System (Lansing, MI)

Join us on September 20, 2018 to congratulate, Sparrow Health System , who was recently revalidated by HIMSS with an EMRAM standing of Stage 7. EMRAM is an eight-stage (0-7) model that measures the adoption and utilization of electronic medical record (EMR) functions. Stage 7 is the highest stage that can be met and puts Sparrow in the small percentage who have met and revalidated at this level. Hear how they are making advancements in the ever changing landscape of health IT.

Read more about the impact of Sparrow Health System implementation of the Michigan Opioid Safety Score (MOSS) tool into their EMR. 

Speaker Biographies

A. Nemets, MSN, RN, CNML, is System Director & Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Sparrow Health System and has twenty-two years of experience in a five-hospital community based academic medical center as an organizational leader. She is responsible for providing visionary leadership and establishing direction for a comprehensive informatics program, with a primary focus on care quality, nursing practice, administration, research and academic partnership in support of interdisciplinary patient-driven care. She develops and leads a training and informatics program for the entire health system with its focus on deploying operational improvements through technology with an emphasis on advancing clinical evidence-based practice. has been featured in articles reviewing technology and its impact on patient care including, The Hospitalist, “Are you getting the most out of your EHR?” and Epic “Power of the Peer”. has also spent time as a clinical instructor for nursing students at a local college and is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

Michael Zaroukian, MD, PhD, MACP, FHIMSS, is Vice President, Chief Medical Information Officer and Chief Transformation Officer at Sparrow Health System, as well as Professor emeritus of Medicine at Michigan State University. He is a practicing general internist and board-certified clinical informaticist, with deep experience in EHR implementation, optimization, usability and return on investment. Dr. Zaroukian is immediate past chair of the HIMSS Board of Directors and past chair of the HIMSS North America Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Virtual Health Data Trust Steering Committee, part of the National Academy of Medicine Leadership Consortium for a Value & Science-Driven Health System. He has also served on multiple ONC Health IT Policy and Standards Committee Workgroups and Task Forces, most recently including the Joint Task Force - CMS Quality Payment Program (MACRA/MIPS/APM).

Annual One Day Event - Thursday, October 18, 2018

• Date/Time: Thursday, October 18, 2018 / 8:00 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.
• Location: Inn at St. John’s, 44045 Five Mile Road, Plymouth, MI
• Registration: To register today, click here.  Event Fees (include continental breakfast, lunch and networking reception)
  • HIMSS Member - $75.00
  • Non-Member (event plus one year membership to MI Chapter of HIMSS) – $95.00
  • HIMSS Student Member - $35.00
  • Student Non-Member - $50.00

Presentations include:

• Healthcare disruption definition and impact
• Current programs impacting consumers and providers acting as disruptors of healthcare.  Speaker: Jeff Henkin, Corporate Account Manager, Google Health
• Healthcare disruptors technology innovations. Speaker: Dave Morin
• Healthcare Leaders Panel Discussion. Question for consideration: In an effort to provide high quality, cost efficient care with improved outcomes for Michigan citizens, it is necessary that all Michigan providers and plans are aligned. Currently there are disconnects among payers, physicians and provider settings that create challenges in achieving these desired outcomes. What do you think is the biggest challenge preventing the forward movement towards alignment of these outcomes? If we could make one change to meet these goals what would that change be?
  •  Speakers: Dr. Thomas L. Simmer, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer,  Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM); Dr. Forshee, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Priority Health; Mr. Sam Watson, Senior Vice President for Safety and Quality and Executive Director for MHA Keystone Center; Dr. Betty Chu, President, MSMS; Moderator Ms. Carla Smith, MA, FHIMSS, CNM, Executive Vice President for HIMSS North America

Speaker Biographies

Jeff Henkin, Corporate Account Manager, Google Health, is a cloud specialist at Google Cloud focused on Healthcare in the Midwest. Throughout Jeffrey's tenure at Google, he has held both engineering and business roles where he directly engages with healthcare providers and research institutions. Jeffrey is passionate about educating healthcare organizations on how Google's disruptive technology like artificial intelligence can improve patient health, research and clinical workflows.

David J. Morin is a healthcare technology serial entrepreneur, investor, advisor, national and international speaker as well as technology executive. Currently, he is a co-founder of Impellia, a data analytics company that is revolutionizing human performance by combining sensor and biometric data with scientifically-validated algorithms to easily and expertly understand human metrics for injury, rehabilitation and performance management.

As a very active participant in the technology startup community, he is the Chairman of the Board, Mountain Pass Solutions, a provider of human capital management workflow technology for higher education and healthcare organizations, a board member of AlertWatch, a healthcare analytics firm, the Director of the Department of Family Medicine Technology Acceleration Program at The University of Colorado-Denver, a board member at MichBio and an advisor for Tappan Hill Ventures, an angel investment fund. Prior to Impellia, Dave was the co-founder and CEO of Cielo MedSolutions LLC, an Ann Arbor, MI-based health care technology organization that was acquired by The Advisory Board Company. Finally, he is actively engaged in community-based social entrepreneurship for a variety of Detroit-area organizations and causes and is the Vice Chair of Samaritas, a Michigan-based organization that connects all people based on their individual circumstances with the families and communities that will empower them to live their fullest life possible.

Thomas L. Simmer, M.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, oversees Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s medical policy, professional payment policies and national programs to improve quality, cost and access to medical services.  Heis responsible for reimbursement to more than 25,000 physicians throughout Michigan. Under his leadership, Blue Cross introduced physician incentive programs to promote cost-effective ways to prescribe drugs and to provide consistent care for people with chronic illness. Dr. Simmer also provides leadership to the Michigan Quality Improvement Consortium. MQIC works with health plan medical directors across Michigan to create and put evidence-based guidelines into use. In 2010, Crain’s Detroit Business honored Dr. Simmer with a althcare Hero award. It recognized his work promoting health care transformation in Michigan through the Patient-Centered Medical Home initiative and other collaborative programs with doctors and hospitals throughout the state.

Prior to joining Blue Cross, Dr. Simmer served as vice president of Health and Medical Affairs for Health Alliance Plan. He also served as associate program director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Henry Ford Hospital and was the recipient of several Distinguished Service Awards.

Betty S. Chu, MD, MBA, is Chief Medical Officer and Vice-President of Medical Affairs at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. Her current responsibilities include patient care oversight and the delivery of quality treatment in an efficient and effective manner. Dr. Chu is also a member of hospital leadership contributing to the development and implementation of corporate strategy. In addition, she serves as President of the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) and, in June, 2018, was elected to the Council on Medical Service for the American Medical Association with responsibility for reviewing social and medical economic policy.

Prior to joining the Henry Ford Health System, Dr. Chu served as the President of the medical staff at Troy Beaumont Hospital. In 2010, she was named to Crain’s Detroit Business “40 under 40” as a result of her commitment to improving communication between physicians and simplifying both clinical and administrative data on the hospitals website. Finally, she is on the board of the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce and the Area Agency of Aging 1B as well as a member of the Michigan Delegation to the American Medical Association.

James D. Forshee, M.D., MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, at Priority Health. He will oversee medical policy and programming, as well as clinical strategies for the organization. Dr. Forshee is also responsible for leading the clinical and pharmacy departments and programs, the development and coordination of population health programs and chronic disease management strategies.

Dr. Forshee has over 25 years of health care experience, both as a physician and executive. His areas of expertise include patient care, medical management health care initiatives, population health, medical policies and clinical strategies, including government programs both state and federal. His community involvement includes the State of Michigan Drug Utilization Review, the Michigan State Medical Society, the Michigan Primary Care Transformation Steering Committee, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Association.

Sam R. Watson, MSA, MT(ASCP), CPPS, is Senior Vice President, Patient Safety and Quality, and Executive Director of the MHA Keystone Center. Since coming to the MHA, Watson has led multi-state efforts to improve patient safety and quality including federally funded Hospital Engagement Networks, Hospital Improvement Innovation Network and the inauguration of several statewide quality initiatives including surgery, obstetrics, hospital-associated infections, emergency department, sepsis, falls, pressure ulcers, venous thromboembolism and care transitions. This body of work has resulted in the receipt of the Eisenberg Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality Award and the Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award for healthcare improvement. Most recently, Watson was named one of Becker's Hospital Review, 2018 50 experts leading the field of patient safety. Prior to leading the MHA Keystone Center, Watson was in the MHA Data Services Corporation where he oversaw the national launch of the core measures clinical data collection system.

Prior to coming to the MHA, Watson was director of Quality and Pastoral Care where he was responsible for leadership of a hospital quality program, including the development of a health system patient safety scorecard. He is a board member with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Spectrum Health – Pennock Board of Directors, Christian Life Services Board of Directors, and the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety certification expert oversight committee.

Carla Smith, MA, FHIMSS, CNM, is Executive Vice President of HIMSS, a global organization focused on better health through information and technology. HIMSS leads efforts to optimize health engagements and care outcomes using information and technology. As a HIMSS executive, Smith leverages her thought leadership, and extensive experience in nonprofit management, to achieve HIMSS’s mission and maintain its financial health.

Smith has 30 years of experience in the information and technology field, two-thirds of it focused on healthcare. She champions transformational innovations in the health sector, ensuring the right knowledge is available to the right people at the right time to make the right health- and care-related decisions. In addition to her responsibilities at HIMSS, Smith holds an appointment to CMS’s Outreach and Education Federal Advisory Committee, Chairs the Advisory Board of the Global Center for Health Innovation, serves as an advisor to the University of Michigan’s Health Informatics and Learning Health System programs, and is a publicly-elected official for the Village of Barton Hills, Michigan.

Chapter Sponsors

We would like to thank our Chapter Sponsors who make this and other events possible through their generous support. For more information about Sponsorship opportunities, contact Mary Anne Ford. maford@mafconsulting.org

Premier Sponsor 

Executive Sponsors

Associate Sponsor

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