EHR Summit

Nelly Connolly, 30 years focused on digital transformation initiatives across Life Sciences, Real World Evidence, Payers, and Affordable Care Act (Healthcare.gov). Big data enthusiast and artificial intelligence speaker for Adverse Event Monitoring (FDA Sentinel and BEST) and mitigating risk for Fraud, Waste and Abuse (CMS Federal and State Programs). Drives transformation by building engagement layers across communities of service – citizens, commercial and Federal Healthcare networks. Active member in CDISC, PHUSE, OHDSI, Gates Foundation and Women in Technology PHARMA.

Career Highlights:

IQVIA – Real World Evidence and Technology Director
MarkLogic – HHS and Life Sciences Global Director
Norkom Technologies – Artificial Intelligence Director

Dr. Gundlapalli, a physician and informatician, is the Chief Public Health Informatics Officer of the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services. In this role, he leads an interdisciplinary team to meet the evolving data and information needs of public health, thereby enhancing informatics capability. The Public Health Informatics Office (PHIO) aims to innovate and streamline routine and emerging public health action through collaboration and partnerships across CDC, other federal agencies, and external stakeholders.

Prior to coming to CDC, Dr. Gundlapalli was the Chief Health Informatics Officer for the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and infectious diseases staff physician in Utah. He was a tenured professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine and a physician at University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics. He is board certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and clinical informatics. His clinical and research interests include infectious diseases, clinical immunology, bio-surveillance (and biodefense), preparedness for public health emergencies, infection prevention and hospital epidemiology, and healthcare for vulnerable populations.

Dr. Gundlapalli received his medical degree from the Madras Medical College in Madras (now called Chennai), India. He received further training at the University of Connecticut Health Center where he earned a PhD in immunology and completed an internal medicine residency. In Utah he completed a three-year clinical and research fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Utah School of Medicine and a master’s degree (with a thesis) in biomedical informatics.

Lynelle Johnson is the acting chief medical officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM). In that role, Johnson serves as the clinical champion for VA’s electronic health record (EHR) solution, setting national clinical standards to transform the delivery of Veteran health care. Her responsibilities include oversight of change management, training, deployment, process reengineering, clinical interoperability, data strategy and innovation for the EHR.

Johnson has served VA for more than a decade. She joined OEHRM in 2018 as its chief nursing informatics officer and associate chief medical informatics officer. In those positions, Johnson advocated for the clinicians who will train on and use the new EHR. Previously, she served as chief health informatics officer for the Cincinnati VA Medical Center and Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 10. Prior to joining VA, Johnson worked as a surgical nurse.

Johnson is a registered nurse. She holds an associate degree and Bachelor of Science in nursing from Northern Kentucky University and a Master of Science in healthcare informatics from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Alexandra Mugge is the Deputy Chief Health Informatics Officer at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where her team leads the interoperability and health IT efforts for CMS. She has been with CMS since 2010 and during that time she has maintained a focus on health IT policy. Before joining the Office of the Administrator in her current role, Alex served as the Deputy Director of the Division of Health IT, where she and her team lead the overhaul of the Meaningful Use Programs to create the Promoting Interoperability initiatives.

Alex earned her Masters of Public Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University where she specialized in Public Health Policy.

Dr. Belinda Seto was appointed deputy director of the ODSS in January 2020. A former deputy director of the National Eye Institute and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position. After earning her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue University, Dr. Seto completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Stadtman Lab of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. She researched hepatitis B and vaccine development at the FDA. She oversaw the analysis and reporting of NIH grants data and trends through the Office of Extramural Research. Her experience in database management, analysis and extramural grants policies led her to serve on the NIH Scientific Data Council and the Scientific Data Policy Council.

Dr. Paul Tibbits has more than 35 years’ experience leading change management, process re-engineering, and IT initiatives that support federal healthcare programs. He developed and implemented two worldwide medical record systems in the Department of Defense (DOD), restructured IT management, and regularly represented IT projects to senior government and private sector executives and Congress. Among them was the first and largest change management program in support of DOD’s first and largest medical IT program. In December 2006, Dr. Tibbits began his career with the Department of Veterans Affairs where he served as deputy CIO for enterprise development; deputy CIO for architecture, strategy and design; and program executive officer for the Financial Management Business Transformation program, prior to his current position. He currently serves are executive director for the OIT Office of Technical Integration. Dr. Tibbits is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Tibbits is a veteran, having served 26 years in the U.S. Navy, and was qualified in undersea medicine. He was a member of the Navy Acquisition Corps and was a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act trained acquisition professional.

Mr. William J. Tinston serves as the Director for the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office. In this role, he oversees the FEHRM’s efforts in implementing a single, common federal electronic health record (EHR) with the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). The FEHRM enables joint decision-making and drives federal solutions for optimizing EHR implementation and operation.

Mr. Tinston has three decades of experience in defense acquisition program management, portfolio and investment management, and enterprise information technology. He previously served as the Program Executive Officer for the Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS). In this role, he led the deployment of DOD’s EHR. Additionally, he worked with VA and USCG to assist their transition to the same EHR as DOD, ensuring progress toward a single, common record for every beneficiary.

Prior to PEO DHMS, Mr. Tinston held senior executive positions at the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), most recently serving as the Program Executive Officer. In this role, he was responsible for the management and oversight of DLA’s Major Automated Information Systems programs and special interest programs and was the milestone decision authority for DLA’s less-than-major programs. He was the corporate provider of acquisition management services and provided overall direction and guidance for the development, acquisition, testing, systems integration, product improvement and fielding for assigned DLA programs.

Mr. Tinston holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Information Systems. He is Defense Acquisition University-certified at level three in Program Management and Information Technology. His honors include the DLA Meritorious Civilian Service Award and a Federal Computer Week Federal 100 Award. As a testament to his work, the Defense Information Systems Agency recognized him as an Outstanding External Contributor.

Micky Tripathi is the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he leads the formulation of the federal health IT strategy and coordinates federal health IT policies, standards, programs, and investments. He also serves as acting chief AI officer for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Tripathi has over 20 years of experience across the health IT landscape. He most recently served as Chief Alliance Officer for Arcadia, a health care data and software company focused on population health management and value-based care, the project manager of the Argonaut Project, an industry collaboration to accelerate the adoption of FHIR, and a board member of HL7, the Sequoia Project, the CommonWell Health Alliance, and the CARIN Alliance.

Mr. Tripathi served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC), a non-profit health IT advisory and clinical data analytics company. He was also the founding President and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange, a statewide HIE partnered with the Regenstrief Institute, an Executive Advisor to investment firm LRVHealth, and a Fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

He holds a PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University, and an AB in political science from Vassar College. Prior to receiving his PhD, he was a Presidential Management Fellow and a senior operations research analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, DC, for which he received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.

Ms. Holly Joers serves as the program executive officer for the Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS). The mission of PEO DHMS is to transform the delivery of healthcare and advance data sharing through a modernized electronic health record for service members, veterans and their families. Ms. Joers oversees and provides guidance to multiple pro gram offices, including the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization’s delivery of a single, common, federal record; the Joint Operational Medicine Information Systems’ delivery of operational medicine capabilities; and the Enterprise Intelligence and Data Solutions targeting data innovation. Ms. Joers continues to fulfill her deputy PEO role in overseeing acquisition lifecycle management framework implementation, program management, tracking requirements, personnel and resource management, metrics and contract management.

Ms. Joers most recently served as the interim deputy director for the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office. She led program office activities, including efforts to establish an organizational structure, staffing and priorities to ensure that FEHRM responsibilities, mandated by both the National Defense Authorization Act 2020 and the FEHRM Charter, are carried out effectively. Before joining PEO DHMS and FERHM, she served as the Chief of Strategic Sourcing for the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Management and Deputy Chief Management Officer. She was responsible for initiation and governance of the Air Force’s Category Management Program aimed at proactively and strategically managing costs. She also had oversight of the Headquarters Air Force contracted support services portfolio, ensuring disciplined governance, performance management, identification of efficiencies and implementation of con tinuous process improvement activities.

She began her career at Eglin Air Force Base, where she held several positions of increasing responsibility, including logistics management specialist; integrated product team lead; chief, Director’s Action Group/PEO Execution Group; and flight chief, Full-Scale Aerial Targets. Her experience spans multiple functional areas, including logistics, test, and program management, at multiple program levels, ranging from ACAT 1D to ACAT III weapons systems. She also served as the deputy director, F-35 Lightning II Production, F-35 Joint Program Office.

Ms. Joers holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech, a Master of Business Administration from University of West Florida and a Master of Science in National Security and Resource Strategy from National Defense University. Her professional certifications include Acquisition Corps Membership; DAWIA Level III, Program Management; and DAWIA Level III, Life Cycle Logistics. She completed courses at several defense colleges. She holds numerous awards and honors, including the Air Force Civilian Achievement Award, Air Armament Center Acquisition Logistician of the Year, Exemplary Civilian Service Award, Air Force Program Manager of the Year and OSD Exceptional Civilian Service Award.
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