At HIMSS 2013, I joined with my peers across a handful of health IT companies to launch an idea centered around the simple notion that a patient’s data should follow them, regardless of where care occurred. That idea was CommonWell Health Alliance. It was germinated by our Godfathers Dr. David McCallie of Cerner and Arien Malec of RelayHealth, and then systematically cultivated into something very tangible by a group of professionals who willingly collaborated across corporate boundaries in the pursuit of the greater good.
Many were instrumental in the launch and foundational years of the Alliance, such as: Jennifer Smith, Dan Schipfer, Scott Stuewe and Chris Straight from Cerner; Nick Knowlton and Tone Sutherland from Greenway; Robert Cruz, Bob Humphrey and Kristal Speller from CPSI; Sean Cavaliere, Holly Spring and John Voith from athenahealth; Kelly Leo, Jennie Smith, Debra Vercellotti, Paul Clip, Andrew Wright, Lauren Lisher and Chas Fuller from RelayHealth; Nastran Anderson and Walter Reid from McKesson, as well as countless others who have participated along the way and have contributed meaningfully to CommonWell and its bold vision and mission. Make no mistake: this is one of the highest performing teams in all of health IT. I am thankful each and every day for the pleasure and honor of being a part of it.
And as shared in our June blog, this team is about to get further bolstered as CommonWell hires new full-time employees to help drive the Alliance to greater heights—a relative luxury that will undoubtedly complement an already highly-effective, volunteer-led effort. One of those new employees will be a new Executive Director. As we near Thanksgiving, my seven-year run from launching to leading the Alliance will wind down, leaving me some downtime at the end of the year to reflect on a tremendously satisfying run and allowing me to shift my focus towards a new adventure—whatever and wherever that may be.
In my final months, I will remain focused on driving CommonWell forward—while setting the stage for someone new to transition into this immensely impactful and satisfying role. CommonWell is in solid shape and operationally prepared to embrace a new leader. We also have more innovative offerings on the horizon, so I’m confident CommonWell will continue to build off the incredible progress its accomplished to date.
With that all said, CommonWell is initiating an active search for a new Executive Director. The Alliance is seeking someone who is passionate about driving forward our vision and mission to make interoperability ubiquitous nationwide. That new leader will need to have the mental agility, the diplomacy, the tenacity, and the domain knowledge to run a national interoperability organization. That individual will have the honor and pleasure of working with intelligent and effective people, while fostering solid relationships with the surrounding community of industry participants, in a truly collaborative effort. Just as importantly, that person will also have the opportunity to build a great team and get support from a knowledgeable Board and a long line of CommonWell alumni (including me), who will always be there to help.
It takes a Village to do what CommonWell does. Today, the Village kicks off its search for a new Chief.
To inquire about the Executive Director role, please contact John Lankford at jlankford@theparnassusgroup.com.