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Beth Kutscher, senior news editor for healthcare at LinkedIn, explains how the social networking platform is developing digital health content and what it believes it can do to address the disconnect between technology and care delivery.

Pamela Dixon of SSi-Search on the emerging CDO role and how it differs from traditional CIOs, CTOs and other executive positions.

Oakland, California-based Alameda Health System has named its new chief information officer. Mark Amey will relocate to the Bay Area from San Diego, where he was most recently associate CIO at University of California San Diego Health. Alameda Health appointed Amey in the same week that Sanford Health named former VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, as its chief innovation officer. Much like Shulkin, Amey brings considerable familiarity with electronic health record implementations. Alameda cited its work to roll out a $200 million Epic EHR across the five-hospital public health system as among the reasons it brought Amey onboard. Amey has been working in health IT for more than two decades. Before his stint at UC San Diego, he served as Chief Technology Officer during another Epic rollout at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital-Stanford Health. Prior to that, he also held CIO positions at University of Southern California Health, Ascension Health and Adventist Health. In San Diego, his day-to day responsibilities included oversight of its infrastructure teams, the project management office and security operations. It was at UCSD that Amey helped transition its on-premise Epic system to a hosted cloud model. The mover not only helped the health system be more agile and maintain disaster recovery capabilities, he explained at the time, but "by creating greater operational efficiencies, we can invest more time and resources in patient care." Other areas of expertise include management of outsourced IT vendors, conversion of services to in-house operations and more. "I am excited to join Alameda Health System at this pivotal time in the history of the organization," said Amey. "Having gone through similar projects in the past, I know this implementation will transform the care we provide, including the exchange of information and communications with patients and medical colleagues." Alameda Health partners with five other health systems in the Bay Area on an interoperability project designed to reduce emergency department usage but also boost the ED care that is delivered. With its new Epic rollout, it's hoping to spur easier data sharing among its own five hospitals. "Mark’s in-depth knowledge and impressive experience align with the future direction of Alameda Health System," said Alameda's CEO Delvecchio Finley in a statement. "As CIO, we are confident he will guide the organization through a smooth transition to electronic health records that will enhance our commitment to serve our patients with highest-quality care." Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

Former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, MD will join Dakotas-based Sanford Health as chief innovation officer. Shulkin will serve as lead innovation administrator, focusing on research and Sanford’s Imagentics, Chip, Profile and World Clinic, the system said. He’ll also continue the development of the health system’s clinical development and will serve as strategic advisor on national growth strategy and public policy. Shulkin will also join the Sanford International Board as a director and serve as an ambassador for Sanfords’s domestic and international projects. Sanford’s CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft called Shulkin “one of the most talented healthcare leaders in the country.” “His unique perspective, clinical expertise and powerful voice will further Sanford Health’s continued development and diversification, which is so critical to our ability to bring new treatments and cures to the patients we serve,” Krabbenhoft said in a statement. President Donald Trump fired Shulkin in March, after months of turmoil within the agency and reports Shulkin had fallen from Trump’s graces. His removal came amid a broader staffing shakeup within the presidency, including the removal of National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. However, in his brief tenure, Shulkin helped to pass 11 Congressional bills that were all designed to bring much-needed change to the VA. He also launched a 24-hour hotline for veterans’ complaints, created an online platform that allows patients to track wait-times at the VA and jumpstarted the Anywhere to Anywhere telehealth program. Shulkin said Sanford was an “obvious choice” for its innovation and clinical integration around precision medicine. He received his MD from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, completing an internship at Yale University School of Medicine and a residency and fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. .jumbotron{ background-image: url("https://www.healthcareitnews.com/sites/default/files/u2231/Innovation-month-jumbotron.jpg"); background-size: cover; color: white; } .jumbotron h2{ color: white; } Focus on Innovation In September, we take a deep dive into the cutting-edge development and disruption of healthcare innovation. Twitter: @JF_Davis_ Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

Cerner President Zane Burke, who first joined the company in 1996 and held several executive roles there before being named president, will step down on Nov. 2. John Peterzalek, Cerner's executive vice president of worldwide client relationships, will take on Burke’s responsibilities, with the title of Chief Client Officer, the company said. Over his two-decades at Cerner, Burke had a range of executive positions, ranging from sales and finance to technology implementation and support. He was named president five years ago, reporting to Cerner founder and CEO Neal Patterson, who died in 2017. Brent Shafer, former CEO of Philips North America, was named CEO of Cerner early this year. In recent years at Cerner, Burke was instrumental in helping the company win two massive electronic health record modernization contracts, from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. In addition to helping grow the company's client base, he's also helped innovate its technology, whether it's by partnering with Apple to help move the needle on patient engagement and interoperability or touting the value of open APIs, a focus on consumerism or more innovative strategies for revenue cycle management. "We thank Zane for his contributions to Cerner across more than two decades," said Shafer in a statement. "Zane leaves the company with a strong client focus and commitment to continued innovation, partnership and sustainable growth deeply ingrained in our culture and leadership philosophy." Burke added that is he pleased with the disruptive accomplishments and positive change Cerner and its clients have achieved. "Complex and evolving challenges remain, and Cerner is positioned to continue innovating for the good of consumers and health care providers," Burke said.   This past week, the Kansas City Business Journal reported that Burke had exercised options to sell almost $10 million in company stock. Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

Why Asha Strazzero-Wild decided not to become a doctor but, instead, focused on using tech to improve the patient experience.

An executive recruitment firm Buffkin/Baker partner predicts more CEO roles for women in the near future; to position themselves women should focus on finance -- and commanding an audience.

Omkar Kulkarni, innovation chief at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, says adoption of tech requires commitment, focus.

It turns out text messages are much better than the phone or e-mail for contacting healthcare workers such as nurses when trying to fill positions.