California eHealth Collaborative Announces Katherine Tavitian as New CEO

SAN FRANCISCO, April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The California eHealth Collaborative (CAeHC) today announced that Katherine R. Tavitian has been named chief executive officer. Tavitian succeeds Michele Kang, who has served as Interim CEO since 2009.

As a nationally recognized healthcare industry leader, Tavitian brings with her deep industry knowledge and acumen and a long record of launching and leading new organizations in both the for-profit and non-profit healthcare sectors.

"We are thrilled to have Kathy come on board," said Lori Hack, Board Chair of CAeHC. "Her extensive organizational background and her vision for the potential of interoperability and data exchange are strongly aligned with the initiatives that CAeHC is committed to developing in California."

When founded in February 2009, CAeHC partnered with the stakeholders in the California communities and across the nation that were actively pursuing health information technology and exchange as a strategy to improve the access, quality and efficiency of patient care in California. In 2010, CAeHC will carry on the work of achieving a vision for health information technology's role in supporting care improvements and cost reductions in California.

"I am honored to lead CAeHC at such a critical time for HIE in the State of California and believe that CAeHC will play a major role in transforming healthcare," states Tavitian. "I have been extremely impressed with the depth of industry knowledge and commitment the CAeHC coalition has shown in advancing HIE and the meaningful use of HIT in California, and appreciate all that Michele did to advance CAeHC's interests over the last several months."

Tavitian has served as CEO of the National Coalition for Health Integration (NCHI) since 2009, where she was founding CEO and Board Member of a start-up non-profit organization in health care information technology. Prior to her work at NCHI, Tavitian was Senior Vice President for Healthcare Business Development at Walgreen Co., where she led new healthcare businesses that improved patient engagement, care coordination and access to care.

About California eHealth Collaborative

The California eHealth Collaborative (CAeHC) is a nonprofit collaborative of stakeholders whose mission is to provide an open and inclusive approach for eHealth activities in California that will drive the development of secure access to clinically-relevant information at the point of care. www.CAeHC.org

SOURCE California eHealth Collaborative