Philip Fasano Promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Kaiser Permanente

Reinforces Kaiser Permanente's Health IT Leadership - Past, Present, and Future

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Dec 15, 2010, 01:30 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente announced today that Philip Fasano, chief information officer, has been promoted to executive vice president and CIO of the organization.

"Kaiser Permanente has made the largest resource investments of any health care organization in the world on health information technology," said George Halvorson, chairman and CEO. "We now have entirely paperless hospitals and clinics that treat more than 8 and a half million patients. We need the IT systems our caregivers use to care for our members to be well designed, well implemented, totally integrated into our operational strategy, and dependably available. We are succeeding in all these areas. IT is extremely important to our organization."

Since Fasano arrived in 2007, Kaiser Permanente has achieved significant milestones and has become recognized as a national leader, shaping expectations for health information technology. Kaiser Permanente successfully completed the rollout of the world's largest privately funded electronic health record to 489 facilities. To date, 34 Kaiser Permanente hospitals have reached HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 status, which honors hospitals achieving the highest level of paperless care delivery.

"I am honored for this personal recognition and proud to be part of an outstanding team of health care leaders," Fasano said. "I am particularly proud of the significant contributions of every member of our team as we lead the way – through innovation, interoperability of electronic records, and standards of technology excellence – to better health for our nation's population and across the world."

Fasano's work toward real-time, personalized health care extends to the implementation of a broad set of technologies, such as the population care tools implemented in every Kaiser Permanente region. These and other technology tools in the hands of experienced, caring physicians and clinical staff connect people to their care teams and health information in a way that results in better health outcomes and more efficient care.

"I feel privileged to partner with a team of visionaries to improve the lives of Kaiser Permanente members through the strategic use of technology," Fasano added.

Fasano was a key advocate of the organization's recent decision to open access to its internal medical terminology (Convergent Medical Terminology) as a major step toward accelerating the adoption and interoperability of electronic health records, and improving the use of health information technology across the country. He joined U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra in announcing that gift to the country.

Under Fasano's leadership, the Kaiser Permanente IT organization was recognized in 2010 as number 27 on the Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT. Additionally, the organization received a CIO 100 Award for the first-of-its kind Mobile Health Vehicle, which increases and extends access to critical health care services for patients who would otherwise lack access to these services.

Fasano's steadfast focus on the reliability and availability of Kaiser Permanente's technology infrastructure has been transformative. Kaiser Permanente has been recognized by the Uptime Institute for 100 percent availability at three of Kaiser Permanente's primary data centers and maintains the highest standard of availability for all life-critical systems.

"Phil has led an IT organization that is winning awards for its work in the field of health information technology," added Halvorson. "The magnitude of Phil's impact and contribution to our organization makes the position deserving of executive vice president status and recognition, and he personally deserves the promotion."

About Philip Fasano

Philip Fasano, newly named executive vice president, was named one of Computerworld's 2010 Premier 100 Information Technology Leaders for exceptional technology leadership and effectively managed IT strategies. Fasano serves as co-chair for CIO Leadership Network's San Francisco CIO Executive Summit, a community developed for the specific needs of chief information officers and senior IT leaders. Fasano provides technology and health care industry leadership as a member the Board of Directors of NCIRE - The Veterans Health Research Institute, the Oracle CIO Customer Advisory Board, and Sierra Ventures CIO Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Fasano served in information technology leadership roles in some of the nation's top finance companies including Capital One Financial Group, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Financial Services, a division of Deutsche Bank. Fasano earned his MBA from Long Island University and his bachelor's degree in computer science from the New York Institute of Technology.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente