This health IT 'trailblazer' from Intermountain named CIO of the year by CHIME, HIMSS

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare is on the front edge of leveraging advanced technology and innovations.

The health system is moving the needle on virtual care, having launched one of the largest virtual hospitals in 2018. The 22-hospital system is also leading efforts to use artificial intelligence in clinical care, such as its use of algorithms to improve treatments for patients with chronic kidney disease.

Intermountain's health IT efforts are led by industry pioneer Marc Probst, who was named Thursday the 2019 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

“Marc has been a transformation leader blazing the trail in advancing technology to improve health and care,” said HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf in a statement. “His work exemplifies what it means to be a changemaker—an innovator who rigorously challenges the status quo and empowers others to follow suit in the journey to providing better health for everyone, everywhere.”

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Marc Probst (Intermountain)

Probst has been a leader in IT and healthcare services for the past 20 years and has served as chief information officer and vice president at Intermountain Healthcare for the past 17 years.

For more than three decades, Probst has been at the forefront of change in the healthcare IT industry, according to CHIME and HIMSS officials. "He has inspired those around him to think strategically and act boldly to improve health and care," the organizations said.

Probst was chosen for recognition not only for his work at Intermountain but also for his broader efforts advocating for and leading the health IT industry.

When CHIME was poised for significant transformation and growth, members chose Probst to provide the vision and guidance. A prominent advocate for HIMSS, he helped support the organization from its earliest days onward.

Probst credits his participation with CHIME and HIMSS when he assumed his Intermountain CIO role for his success. “My HIMSS and CHIME memberships have been very valuable to me. That education, those relationships, that support when things get really tough is invaluable," he said in a statement.

The CHIME-HIMSS award is given annually to a CIO who has shown significant leadership and commitment to the healthcare industry during his or her career. 

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“Marc has contributed to our community in countless ways,” CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell said. “He has been instrumental in CHIME’s growth, domestically and internationally."

Marc taught at CHIME's first program in India and continues to be an ambassador for CHIME around the world, Branzell said. "He piloted our first innovation initiative and helped make Intermountain the home for CHIME Innovation. The list goes on and on, and he has done this all while running a spectacular digital enterprise at Intermountain.”

Probst's roles in the industry include serving as a member of the CHIME Innovation Advisory Board. He served as chair of the CHIME board of trustees in 2016, chair of the CHIME Foundation board in 2017 and chair of CHIME’s public policy steering committee in 2017.

In 2009, he was appointed to serve on the federal Health IT Policy Committee, which helped develop health IT policies for the federal government. 

Probst also has been involved in international outreach for both the health IT association and Intermountain. “Having been to other countries and worked with healthcare leaders, particularly on the technology side, in these other countries, I know there is a boatload we can learn from each other,” Probst said.

The award is named for John E. Gall Jr., who pioneered health information systems in the 1960s. Last year's honor went to Ed Kopetsky, Stanford Children's Health's CIO.

Probst will be honored on March 9 at the 2020 CHIME HIMSS CIO Forum in Orlando, Florida, and officially receive the award at the HIMSS20 conference that runs March 9-13 in Orlando.