New Ambulatory Chair at the Helm of HIMSS Electronic Health Record Vendors Association (EHRVA)

A membership vote on November 16 placed Donald Schoen, CEO of ambulatory EHR provider MediNotes, at the helm of the EHRVA, with Hugh Zettel, Director, Government and Industry Relations, for enterprise vendor GE Healthcare, as co-chair for the vendors’ organization.

(CHICAGO) November 21, 2006 – Marking the vendor association’s first transition of leadership, HIMSS EHRVA today announced the election of two current executive team members into chair and co-chair positions. As the terms close for inaugural chair Charlene Underwood, Director of Government and Industry Affairs for Siemens Medical Solutions, and cochair Andrew Ury, MD, CEO of Practice Partner, the membership voted Donald Schoen and Hugh Zettel into one-year terms at last week’s second anniversary meeting. Balanced leadership by ambulatory and enterprise vendors is central to the EHRVA charter, and the association anticipates an ongoing momentum on its joint interoperability focus.

“Assuming the chairmanship of the EHRVA is a tremendous honor,” said Schoen. “Our organization is unique in that it provides all vendors equality in the decision-making process surrounding EHR. My election as chairman reinforces the association’s ideal of giving equal voice to small and large ambulatory and enterprise vendors. In the coming year, we will lead the EHRVA to meet and exceed the goals established at our national association meeting.”

Schoen formed MediNotes in 1995 to provide best-of-breed EHR solutions to small physician practices. Schoen will work closely with Zettel to maintain EHRVA’s progress toward accelerating EHR interoperability. The association will also focus its efforts on health IT certification and advocacy aimed at EHR market education and adoption.

“The EHRVA is the leading voice in the vendor community, and our goal is to provide stewardship to our members as we collectively navigate the challenges of achieving our goals,” said Zettel. “We will also continue to support the American Health Information Community in its efforts to bring health IT into the national arena.”

Since 1982, Zettel has held several global leadership positions with GE Healthcare. In his current position, he is responsible for healthcare IT adoption strategies focused on government and industry advocacy, standards, EHR certification and health information exchange. In addition to the appointment of Schoen and Zettel, three new members were elected to the EHRVA executive team: Steve Starkey, Healthcare Management Systems; Justin Barnes, Greenway Medical Technologies; and Michael McCoy, MD, digiChart.

About HIMSS EHRVA

HIMSS Electronic Health Record Vendors Association (EHRVA) is a trade association of EHR vendors that joined together to lead the HIT industry in the accelerated adoption of electronic health records in hospital and ambulatory care settings in the US. Representing an estimated 90% of the installed EHR systems in the US, the association provides a forum for the vendor community to speak with a unified voice relative to standards development, the EHR certification process, interoperability, performance and quality measures, and other EHR issues as they become subject to increasing government, insurance and provider driven initiatives and requests. Membership is open to HIMSS corporate members with legally formed companies designing, developing and marketing their own commercially available EHRs with installations in the USA. The association, comprised of more than 40 member companies, is a partner of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and operates as an organizational unit within HIMSS. For more information, visit http://www.himssehrva.org