Geisinger CEO to urge long-term commitment to electronic health records at World Health Care Congress

April 10, WASHINGTON, D.C. — Glenn Steele, Jr., M.D., president and chief executive officer of Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania and chair, section for health care systems for the American Hospital Association, will offer two presentations urging adoption of and long-term commitment to electronic health records at the 3rd Annual World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. 

Dr. Steele will present a keynote address: Wiring the Nation on Tuesday, April 18, in conjunction with moderator Elizabeth McGlynn, Ph.D., director, Center for Research on Quality in Health Care, RAND; and panelists David Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., National Health Information Technology Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services; Robert Pearl, M.D., CEO, The Permanente Medical Group; and Ron J. Ponder, Ph.D., former executive vice president and CIO of WellPoint Inc.

Dr. Steele will also discuss Patient-Centered Electronic Health Record Implementation with colleagues Dr. Pearl and Martha M. Marsh, CEO, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, at a second session later the same day.

“Implementing successful healthcare information systems and electronic health records requires a long-term commitment and substantial resources,” states Steele. “Effective electronic health systems give an organization an opportunity to transform the way they care for patients. Our country’s leaders and patients must remain steadfast in supporting this important effort.”

Steele’s Geisinger Health System has spent $70 million over the past ten years to create an integrated electronic health record providing real-time access to critical information about a patient’s health to doctors and other healthcare providers throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Geisinger offers patients confidential access to portions of their electronic health record and secure and regulatory-compliant electronic messaging with their doctors’ practices. Geisinger is conducting research studies on the quality and efficiency enhanced by an electronic health record; additional studies are under development.

Steele joined Geisinger from the University of Chicago where he served as the dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at the Pritzker School of Medicine and vice president of medical affairs and the Richard T. Crane professor in the department of surgery. Previously, he was the William V. McDermott professor of surgery, chairman of the department of surgery, and president and chief executive officer of Deaconess Professional Practice Group at the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston.

Recognized internationally for his research into the cause and treatment of primary and metastatic colorectal cancer and surgical interventions, Steele is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a past chairman of the American Board of Surgery.  He also serves on the editorial boards of numerous prominent medical journals. A prolific writer, he is the author or co-author of more than 450 scientific and professional articles. Steele also serves on the U.S. Department of Health’s National Advisory Committee on Rural Health.

Geisinger Health System is one of the largest rural healthcare providers in the nation. Founded in 1915, it is now one of the nation’s leading fully integrated healthcare providers. Serving more than two and a half million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led organization is at the forefront of the country’s rapidly emerging electronic health records movement. With three major regional medical centers and a 650-member group practice, the pioneering system is home to a health insurance company (including an HMO) that is frequently recognized for its disease management programs and the Center for Health Research & Rural Advocacy—dedicated to creating innovative models for patient care, efficiency, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.

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