March 24, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Patrick Louis or Sharlene Finkelstein
(513) 531-0267
Ahmad Named Chair of Health Information Technology Workgroup
Effort Part of Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality: A Regional Market Project
The Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati recently named Yousuf Ahmad, DrPH, senior vice president and CIO of Mercy Health Partners, chair for its Health Information Technology Workgroup. The workgroup represents a significant component of the Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality (CAF4Q) project that aspires to improve the quality of health care for people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, depression and heart disease.
The Health Information Technology (HIT) Workgroup will collaborate with HealthBridge – a Collaborative subsidiary and one of the country’s leading regional health information organizations (RHIO) – to help improve the ways health care providers organize and communicate information. Based on the regional HealthBridge infrastructure, the HIT Workgroup will develop and implement tools to advance the way health care consumers receive quality health care.
"I am honored and humbled to be selected as the chair of this workgroup,” Ahmad said. “There exists tremendous opportunity in our Tristate, and across the country, to address the prevalence and incidence of chronic diseases and technology that will be front and center as an enabler to addressing this need."
“This is an important step for Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality” said Craig Brammer, senior research associate at the University of Cincinnati and director for CAF4Q. “We are extremely grateful for Yousuf’s commitment to this work. His knowledge and leadership will help us leverage technology to improve care and better inform consumers.”
In February 2007, Cincinnati was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as one of 14 regional health care markets prepared to accelerate improvement of care for chronically ill patients. CAF4Q, a Collaborative project, pulls together consumer groups, health plans, physicians, employers, federally qualified health centers, the regional health information exchange (HealthBridge) and others in a coordinated effort to provide tools, data and infrastructure that can be used by all to improve care.
Ahmad joined Mercy Health Partners in 2004. Preceding that, Ahmad served as vice president and chief information officer for Group Health Associates in the Tristate region where he implemented the region’s first electronic medical record (Epic). He is the past chair and present board member of HealthBridge, holds a doctorate degree in Public Health from the University of Kentucky, and master’s degrees in Health Administration and Business Administration from Xavier University.
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