Our monthly session for October will focus on the topic of 'IT Strategies to Improve Health Equity'. Achieving equity in health care often means strategizing for how we can reduce, and eventually eliminate, the barriers to receiving care regardless of one's: race, ethnicity, age, ability, nationality, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and more. Federal and State agencies across the country are strategizing for how they can leverage IT systems and IT initiatives to satisfying equitable healthcare - and this month we will give perspectives on how they have been doing that, and what their future strategies hold. Join us in listening! 

5:30 - 6:15pm - Networking

6:15 - 6:30pm - Welcome & Announcements

6:30 - 7:30pm - Program

7:30 - 9:30pm - Networking

Location: LMI Building

7940 Jones Branch Dr. Tysons, VA 22102

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Moderator:

Mr. Patriek Karayil, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, ARPA-H

Strategist, Collaborator, Executive-in-Residence, and a supportive leader.

Patriek is a C-level executive with strong experience in Digital Transformation. He has been a career CMO with an established track record of taking large enterprises through innovative growth phases - from immersive experiential models, to better decision making, to game changing efficiencies, to modernizing operations, and to redefining customer-centricity; all on the backs of disruptive digital technologies.

He holds a Bachelors in Computer Science from Arizona State University and an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Speakers:

Ms. Valerie Rogers, MPH, Director, Government Relations, HIMSS
  
Valerie Rogers serves as a senior director on the HIMSS Government Relations Team.  I have no conflicts of interest.
HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) is a global member-based society.  Our mission is to reform the global health ecosystem through the power of information and technology.  HIMSS has served the global health community for more than 60 years. Our members include more than 110,000 individuals, 480 provider organizations, 470 non-profit partners, and 650 health services organizations.

Valerie leads engagement with state, local, and tribal health officials on health information and technology policy development. She supports a nationwide network of advocates addressing state/federal legislation/regulations that may impact all health information and technology.  Valerie recently co-authored a funding report for a $36.7 billion investment for public health systems transformation across HHS program silos. She currently sits on the CDC Data and Surveillance Workgroup (DSW), where she provides input to the Advisory Committee to the CDC Director on activities related to the scope and implementation of the CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative (DMI).

For over 18+ years, Valerie has led and managed cross-cutting government functions, including interoperability across the spectrum of care, environmental health systems, and health equity programs, specifically maternal health. Previously, Valerie worked on health system transformation and integration as the Senior Director of Integration at the Association of State & Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). She also served as the Chief of Staff for the Baltimore City Health Department, where she had oversight of the Department’s clinical information systems. Prior to her time in Baltimore, Valerie also worked for the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) as the Director of Public Health Informatics, where she helped expand partnerships among clinical care and public health stakeholders to support the adoption of digital health records and health information exchange.   
Valerie holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from Tulane University and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Hampton University.

Ms. Evelyn Gallego, CEO & Founder of EMI Advisors LLC,

Ms. Evelyn Gallego, MBA, MPH, CPHIMS, is the CEO and Founder of EMI Advisors LLC, an 8(a) certified Economically and Socially Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business. EMI was started to further Evelyn’s mission of delivering value-driven health data management advisory services to her government and commercial clients. Evelyn is a trusted advisor in helping her clients bridge the gap between health information technology policy and standards and business requirements. 

Ms. Gallego provides specialized expertise in digital health interoperability and health policy with a focus on the alignment of regulatory, technical, and process improvement requirements to enable the effective adoption and use of technology. She is a thought leader in the areas of care coordination, social determinants of health (SDOH), health IT policy analysis and development, health information exchange and interoperability, and health IT standards development. 

Ms. Gallego is the co-founder of the Gravity Project, which develops nationally recognized consensus-based data standards for social care integration, and currently serves as the Program Director for leading interoperability and workforce development projects across the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Ms. Gallego is an active HIMSS member and currently serves on the HIMSS SDOH Committee and IHE USA Board. Previously, she served on the HIMSS NCA Board, HIMSS Interoperability & HIE Committee, and the HIMSS LTPAC Committee.

Mr. Luis Belen, Chief Executive Officer at the National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved 

Luis Belén is a health and health policy executive leader with experience catalyzing change at the highest levels of government and industry by building coalitions, influencing policy, supporting entrepreneurship and implementing solutions at the intersection of technology and health equity.

Belen is the Executive Director of The National HIT Collaborative for the Underserved, Inc. (NHIT®), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, established in 2008 by the Federal Government. NHIT is the nation’s pre-eminent organization focused on achieving health equity and build thriving communities through catalyzing the development and use of health information technology through the organization’s five pillars: Workforce, Innovation, Policy, Research, and Community. 

He is responsible for leading the NHIT Care Campaign® in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, stakeholder engagement efforts with the White House, Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS), Capitol Hill, public/private/community organizations; NHIT’s national initiatives, and key convening’s such as the Annual Conference, Wall Street Summit, and Congressional Briefings. 

Belen obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University in New York, NY and attended the A Better Chance program.