Physician/healthcare information technology expert joins Geisinger

Ron Paulus, MD, will identify ways to deliver care to patients, market Geisinger's initiatives

Aug. 2, 2005 DANVILLE - Ronald A. Paulus, MD, MBA, a physician who is nationally recognized for his expertise in healthcare services, health information technology and quality improvement, has joined Geisinger Health System and its venture group, Geisinger Ventures. Dr. Paulus will serve as chief healthcare information technology venture officer and special assistant to President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Steele Jr., MD. Paulus will help explore new and better ways to deliver healthcare to patients, building upon Geisinger's clinical relationships with physicians and healthcare organizations. He also will identify Geisinger's innovative projects - for example, health information technology, research and outcomes data, and disease management programs - that can be marketed to return income to the health system for investment in its core patient care, education and research missions." Ron has a national reputation as one of the best minds for understanding how to commercialize and grow healthcare technology companies," Steele said. "Geisinger leads an emerging trend among healthcare delivery organizations to form venture capital groups that can nurture new businesses that advance medical knowledge and expertise, as well as generate income that can enhance the community service mission of non-profit healthcare service organizations." "I look forward to identifying ways that Geisinger's remarkable capabilities can be transferred to the broader market. I believe that we can capitalize on Geisinger's unique attributes as an integrated clinical delivery model and its advanced utilization of its electronic health record," Paulus said.

Paulus co-founded CareScience Inc., a company that commercialized healthcare technology developed at the University of Pennsylvania. He jointly built and grew CareScience to nearly 200 hospitals and health system clients in more than 30 states nationwide. Under his leadership as president and later CEO, CareScience pioneered the nation's first company that provided an Internet-based quality-management software solution to healthcare organizations and also created one of the first regional clinical data sharing networks, a precursor to the current interest in Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). CareScience, a NASDAQ company, was acquired by Quovadx Inc. of Evergreen, CO, in September 2003. Paulus was chief health care officer at Quovadx before joining Geisinger.

"In my experience, Geisinger is one of the best examples of physician and executive collaboration -- working together to determine how the organization can provide the best quality care to patients in the most cost-effective and safe manner possible," Paulus said.

Paulus received both his Master of Business Administration and his MD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania before undergoing training in internal medicine at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He holds an active California medical license, has been published in numerous medical journals and speaks nationally on healthcare management issues.

Geisinger Health System is an integrated, physician-led healthcare services organization that serves more than two million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania. It includes a 600-member multi-specialty physician practice, a tertiary/quaternary medical center and an acute-care community hospital, adult and pediatric trauma centers, a nationally acclaimed alcohol and chemical dependency treatment center, heart and cancer institutes, a neurosciences program, two research centers, 41 community practice offices and one of the largest not-for-profit rural HMOs in the country. Geisinger Ventures was launched in 2003 to incubate for-profit businesses that can stimulate economic growth, particularly in the areas of clinical trials, healthcare information and genomics.