Sajid Ahmed is the chief information and innovation officer of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles. He is leading the new hospital’s $70 million health information technology initiative and launching an innovation hub on the 42-acre MLK Medical Center Campus.

Mr. Ahmed is a true innovator and pioneer in healthcare information systems. He has unparalleled experience in all aspects of using computer technology and web-based applications to deliver the best quality of medical care to patients, facilitate collaboration among multiple and diverse medical care providers and systems, and increase the efficiency of healthcare environments. He is also a highly respected consultant on innovation, and frequently lectures about entrepreneurism and information technology for healthcare environments.

 

Mr. Ahmed was formerly the director of health information technology and innovation for L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public plan serving more than one million Los Angeles County residents through free or low-cost health insurance programs. He was responsible for coordinating, managing and integrating healthcare information technology and eHealth initiatives among multiple users and partners. This includes all medical care providers, community organizations, government agencies, vendors and other health information technologies. He served as vice chair of the organization’s Technical Advisory Committee. One of his most significant contributions to L.A. Care is the creation of HITEC-LA (Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center for Los Angeles County) for electronic health record adoption and implementation for providers throughout L.A. County.

 

Before leaving L.A. Care, Mr. Ahmed created and launched eConsult in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. eConsult is an innovative telehealth system that allows for virtual consultations and collaboration with specialists. As eConsult expands throughout California and accumulates thousands of end users, it is becoming a national model for the standard for care coordination and access to specialty care in the U.S.

 

Prior to eConsult, Mr. Ahmed was the visionary behind SelfMD™; developed the ELICIT™ concept (emulating logical inferences of cognition and intuition theory), and was instrumental in getting the U.S. Military Medical Command to adopt advanced diagnostic technologies and electronic health records systems. He also served as co-chair on health IT committees for California’s Health and Human Services Agency, helping to draft the state’s $38.8 million Health Information Technology strategic plan.

 

Mr. Ahmed has lectured at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Fielding School of Public Health, and as a guest lecturer at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), University of Southern California (USC) and CalState LA. He was honored for his teaching at the USC Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and also was a finalist for the Advanced Business League (ABL) Innovative Leadership Award on Healthcare. Currently he is an advisory board member of the California Health eQuality Initiative based at the University of California, Davis.

Adrienne Edens, LCHIME, FCHIME, CHCIO, VP, Education, CHIME
 

 

Dr. Cris V. Ewell is the Chief Information Security Officer at UW Medicine, one of the largest healthcare systems in the Puget Sound region. UW Medicine entities include: Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine (SOM), Airlift Northwest and other affiliates.

 

As the senior leader in the Information Security program, Dr. Ewell has strategic and operational oversight for building and managing the information security framework, teams, and programs to decrease exposure, drive awareness, and minimize risk for the organization. Prior to joining UW Medicine, he served as the Chief Information Security Officer at Seattle Children’s, Director of Information Security Operations at the University of Washington, Chief Security Officer for PEMCO Corporation, and Chief Technology Officer for Breakwater Security.

 

Dr. Ewell holds several information security certifications as well as serving as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Washington and Senior Lecturer at Norwich University. His current research area includes information security risk management and he has a bachelor’s and master’s in Information Technology and a Ph.D. in Computer Information Systems with a concentration in Information Security.

David Finn, CISA, CISM, CRISC, Health Information Technology Officer, Symantec
 

David Finn, CISA, CISM, CRISC is the Health Information Technology Officer for Symantec.  Prior to that role he was the Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Services for Texas Children’s Hospital, one of the largest pediatric integrated delivery systems in the United States.  He also served as the Privacy and Security Officer for Texas Children’s.  Prior to that Mr. Finn spent 7 years as a healthcare consultant with IMG/Healthlink and PwC, serving last as the EVP of Operations for Healthlink.

 

Mr. Finn has more than 30 years’ experience in the planning, management and control of information technology and business processes.  He is focused on creating and maintaining trust in and value from information and information systems.  Mr. Finn’s key skills include IT Governance and Control, Project Management, Systems Selection and Implementation, Business and IT Partnering, and IT Audit, Control and Security.

 

Mr. Finn has presented nationally and internationally on such topics as project management, professional leadership and staff development, and privacy and security. He has contributed to or written articles on IT Management, Disaster Recovery and Security for such as journals as CIO Digest and Baseline.

Finn holds a BA degree from the University of North Dakota and an MA from Angelo State University. He currently serves on the CHIME Board of Trustees and on the Information Systems Audit and Control Association’s (ISACA’s) Professional Influence and Advocacy Committee (PIAC).  During 2014, Mr. Finn worked closely with CHIME management to create and initiate the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS).  In the past, he served on the national Board of HIMSS. He also is a long-time Board member of Healthcare for the Homeless - - Houston (2 FQHCs) and is Vice President of the Primary Care Innovation Center in Houston.

Sean Murphy is the Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer for Premera Blue Cross (Seattle, WA).

 

He is responsible for enhancing an enterprise-wide security program that minimizes risk, and further strengthens the health plan company’s security posture. He works closely with Premera’s leadership team to establish and maintain a comprehensive program to protect associates, assets and technologies and mature the corporate culture from security awareness to accountability.

 

He’s a healthcare information security expert, with more than 20 years of experience in the field. Sean retired from the U.S. Air Force (Medical Service Corps) after achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. He has served as CIO and CISO in the military service and private sector at all levels of healthcare organizations, but his proudest professional accomplishment was his service as a senior mentor to the Afghan National Police Surgeon General’s Office in 2008–2009 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

Sean has a master’s degree in business administration (advanced IT concentration) from the University of South Florida, a master’s degree in health services administration from Central Michigan University, and a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from the University of Maryland. He’s also an adjunct professor and Fellow at Saint Leo University and is a contributing author for the Excelsior College National Cybersecurity Institute. Sean is a past chairman of the HIMSS Privacy and Security Committee. He is also a noted speaker at a national level and the author of numerous industry whitepapers, articles, and educational materials, including his recent book, “Healthcare Information Security and Privacy,” published in 2015.

Ben Smith is the Chief Information Security Officer of MultiCare Health System and is committed to protecting the information that is entrusted to MultiCare by the communities he serves.  In support of MultiCare’s goals, Ben oversees the Information Security and IT Risk Management vision, strategy and security systems implementation for the Health System.

 

Over the course of his career, he has been dedicated to building world class Information Security and IT Risk Management Organizations within the healthcare industry.  Prior to MultiCare, Ben served as the Manager of Information Security and Information Security Officer for Rochester Regional Health System in Rochester, NY.  As the first leader responsible for implementing a centralized information security strategy across the organization, he worked with RRHS leaders to form an Information Security Governance Structure, drove the successful adoption of the HITRUST CSF and built an integrated security architecture to help strengthen the visibility of security systems across the network.

Ben earned his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and his Master of Business Administration from the Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  He has also achieved the CISSP, CISM and CPHIT certifications.

Timothy Torres is the deputy chief information security officer in the office of general counsel, overseeing the valley operating unit and corporate client services at Sutter Health.  As the functional CISO for these business divisions, he is responsible for strategic planning, risk management, data loss prevention, and operations for one of the top healthcare systems in the United States.

 

Mr. Torres has over 18 years’ experience in technology, business relationship management, and information security. With over 15 years in healthcare, Torres has built world-class information security programs from the ground up, and has a wealth of experience integrating security from the point-of-care to the boardroom. Mr. Torres is an innovator and thought leader, and is a frequent speaker and writer on the topics of security and technology.

 

Mr. Torres holds numerous certifications and credentials, including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Information System Security Management Professional (ISSMP), Certified Information Security Manger (CISM), Healthcare Information Security and Privacy Practitioner (HCISPP), and Information Technology Infrastructure Library Version 3, Foundation (ITILv3).  Torres is a member of ISSA, ACHE, ISACA, OWASP, InfraGard and other local information security organizations.

 

Mr. Torres holds a BS from Azusa Pacific University and an MBA from USC.

Chris Williams, Chief Cybersecurity Architect, Leidos Health
 
Mr. Williams has been involved in the IT security field since 1994 in a combination of commercial and military positions.  He is a co-author of the book “Enterprise Cybersecurity: How to Build a Successful Cyberdefense Program Against Advanced Threats,” published in May, 2015.  He also holds a patent for e-commerce technology issued in 2008.  He has been with Leidos (formerly SAIC) since 2003 focusing on enterprise cybersecurity, defense against advanced threats, and regulatory compliance.  He has worked with the Defense Health Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Army, Defense Information Systems Agency, Department of State, Defense Intelligence Agency, and numerous commercial companies designing integrated solutions to protect against modern cyber threats.  He has presented on these topics at HIMSS, RSA, MILCOM, (ISC)2, ISSA, the Smart Card Alliance, B-Sides and other forums.  He is a former ranger-qualified paratrooper, and hold degrees in computer science engineering and information assurance from Princeton and George Washington Universities.