CHIME Honors Liz Johnson With Federal Public Policy Award For CIO Leadership

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has named Liz Johnson RN-BC, BSN, MS, FCHIME, CHCIO as the recipient of the organization's second annual Federal Public Policy Award for CIO Leadership. Johnson is Chief Clinical Informaticist and Vice President of Applied Clinical Informatics at Tenet Healthcare in Dallas, Texas. 

Johnson is being acknowledged for her active role at the Federal level in educating policy makers on the value of health IT and her commitment to furthering the advancement of EHR adoption. Johnson's commitment extends to her service as a member of the Health Information Technology (HIT) Standards Committee, under the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). Appointed to the position by former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Johnson also co-chairs the HIT Standards Committee Implementation Workgroup, bringing the provider perspective to standards setting and implementation. 

"Liz has demonstrated thought leadership and policy acumen over the past several years for CHIME, contributing significantly to the policy positions we've developed," said CHIME Vice President of Public Policy Jeffrey Smith, MBA. "She has also been instrumental in bringing the voice of CIOs to policy decision makers in Washington." 

The award recognizes policy leadership by a CHIME member for a range of activities, including demonstrating leadership in educating policymakers on the value of health IT, testifying before federal workgroups or Congressional committees, visiting representatives, and providing feedback on federal initiatives. 

"Liz has given selflessly of her time to help CHIME, her CIO colleagues, and the entire industry," said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO. "Her vision, leadership and enthusiasm have helped to greatly advance our efforts with policy stakeholders and improve the digital transformation of healthcare. I'm thrilled that we are able to acknowledge her efforts with this award." 

Johnson has been a CHIME member since 2003 and has served in several volunteer and advisory roles for the organization, whose membership includes CIOs and other healthcare senior IT executives. 

Johnson expressed appreciation for the award, emphasizing the need for organizations to be proactive in advocating for healthcare IT and healthcare delivery among lawmakers and policy makers. 

"In today's rapidly changing and complex healthcare environment - with factors such as Meaningful Use, provider consolidations, outcomes-based reimbursement, technological advances, patient engagement and security concerns - it is imperative that healthcare organizations have a voice in shaping the policies that govern our health systems and affect our patients," Johnson said. 

"CHIME gives us this voice by putting us at the table with the decision-makers to provide our input and advice. I am very proud to be a part of one of the strongest advocacy groups that is clearly geared toward representing the strategic leaders in our industry, such as our chief information officers, chief clinical informatics officers, chief security officers, and others."

Johnson was honored during yesterday's awards ceremony as part of National Health IT Week in Washington, D.C. 

About CHIME 
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 140 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, visit www.cio-chime.org.