Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL), the private non-profit organization that operates Vermont’s health information exchange network, today announced the election of a new board of directors.
Seating the new board of 11 directors successfully concludes a five-month process to examine VITL’s governance structure and recompose the organization’s board of 21 directors. The process was undertaken at a time when VITL’s focus is shifting from start-up operations to implementation and long-term sustainability.
“When VITL incorporated in July 2005, the board was selected to achieve buy-in from a large number of stakeholders for the concept of a statewide health information exchange network,” said VITL President Gregory Farnum. “The smaller board will help us concentrate on developing strategies for network build-out, and the collaborative policy development process will continue as well.”
Key stakeholder groups continue to be represented on the new board, including hospitals, physicians, health plans, consumers, state government, and employers, Farnum noted. “VITL’s board of directors remains well balanced,” he said.
“The members of VITL’s Governance Committee have worked tirelessly to review VITL’s governance structure and develop a process for making improvements,” said Cy Jordan, MD, VITL’s outgoing board chairman. “As a result of the Governance Committee’s hard work, VITL remains an independent organization that Vermonters can trust to protect the privacy of their health information.”
Even though VITL’s new board is smaller in size, the amount of input into the decision-making process has increased. Board-level advisory committees for health care providers and health care consumers have been created. “Each of those advisory committees will be chaired by a VITL board member, who will be responsible for presenting recommendations of the advisors to the full board for consideration,” said Don George, vice president for managed health systems at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont. George will serve as the chair of the new board.
“The new board will be strategic, results oriented and customer focused, and will work to strengthen the public-private partnership among the organizations and stakeholders critical to VITL’s success,” said George.
VITL operates as a partnership between the public and private sectors. VITL receives funding from government sources, but it is incorporated in Vermont as a private non-profit company. VITL is accountable to the public, providing frequent reports to legislators and state officials. Board of directors meetings are open to the public and minutes of those meetings are posted on the VITL website. Legislation that created Vermont’s new Health IT Fund gives the state substantial oversight of VITL’s spending, as it facilitates the adoption of electronic health records systems by physicians and operates Vermont’s statewide health information exchange network.
“It is essential to Vermont’s hospitals that VITL remain a public-private partnership,” said Bea Grause, president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. “The composition of the board elected today, along with the state’s required oversight of Health IT Fund spending, will provide plenty of accountability and maintain VITL’s independence. Vermont’s hospitals support the continuation of this balanced partnership between public and private interests and believe that this balance is an essential ingredient for keeping VITL as a national leader in the development of health information exchange networks.”
VITL’s new board of directors is as follows:
Health Care Providers Paul Harrington*
Executive Vice President
Vermont Medical Society
Andrea Lott*
CIO, Vice President Information Services
Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital
Chuck Podesta
Chief Information Officer
Fletcher Allen Health Care
Bea Grause
President and CEO
Vt Association of Hospitals and Health Systems
Health Plans Don George
Vice President, Managed Health Systems
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont
Business Community Lisa Ventriss*
President
Vermont Business Roundtable
Physician Paul Reiss, MD
Academy of Family Practice
Consumer Gertrude Hodge*
Legislative appointee Jim Hester*
Director
Commission on Healthcare Reform
Governor’s appointee Craig Jones, MD*
Blueprint for Health Executive Director
State of Vermont
Open Seat Judy Higgins
Associate CIO
Office of Vermont Health Access
* Terms continuing to September 2009
Officers:
Chair: Don George
Vice Chair: Lisa Ventriss
Treasurer: Paul Harrington
Secretary: Bea Grause
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