Russell P. Branzell is the CEO and President of CHIME and its affiliate associations, AEHIS,  AEHIT and AEHIA. In addition to his position at CHIME, he serves on the faculty at Columbia University, where he teaches executive classes in health information technology. He also is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a position that was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. 

Russ joined CHIME as president and CEO in April 2013 after being an active member for 15 years. He served on the CHIME Board of Trustees from 2004-2008, as chair of the CHIME Education Committee from 2004–2008 and as chair of the CHIME Education Foundation. He is currently a faculty member of the CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp.

Prior to taking his position at CHIME, he was the CEO at the Colorado Health Medical Group; Vice President of Information Services and CIO for Poudre Valley Health System; President/CEO of Innovation Enterprises (PVHS’ for-profit IS entity); and Regional Deputy CIO and Executive Director of Information Services for Sisters of Mercy Health System in St. Louis, Mo. He served on active duty in the United States Air Force and retired from the Air Force Reserves in 2008. While on active duty, he held numerous healthcare administration positions, including CIO for the Air Mobility Command Surgeon General’s Office.

A native of San Antonio, Russ earned an undergraduate degree in business administration, specializing in human resource management and labor relations, from the University of Texas. In addition, he earned a master’s degree in Aerospace Science from Embry-Riddle University with an emphasis in management.

As senior vice president and chief information officer, Dr. Zafar Chaudry provides vision and leadership for the development of technology initiatives and enterprise-wide information systems and services for Seattle Children’s. His goal is to enable clinicians with the best technology to deliver safe and excellent care to our patients.

Chaudry, who began his career as a physician, brings to Seattle Children’s over 25 years’ worth of experience in healthcare informatics with a strong technical, business and international standards–based approach to IT. He has worked in senior IT roles in startups globally and served as faculty at the City Colleges of Chicago. He then became CIO of Europe’s largest women’s hospital (Liverpool Women’s) and its largest children’s hospital (Alder Hey), both in Liverpool, England. He moved on to serving as research director for global healthcare at Gartner. Most recently, he was CIO at Cambridge University Hospitals in the United Kingdom.

Chaudry earned his MD from Ross University. He subsequently earned his MS in healthcare management and policy from the University of Birmingham, his MIS in information systems management from the University of Salford and his MBA from Aston University, all in the U.K.

Edens has a rich 25-year history as a CIO and has more than 40 years of health IT experience. She was named CIO of Sutter Health Valley Area in August 2015. Prior to that, she was CIO for Sutter Health’s East Bay Region. Before joining Sutter Health in 2012, Edens spent four years as system vice president and CIO at St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, ID. She’s also served in leadership positions at Kaiser Permanente and Dignity Health.

As health IT plays a more pivotal role in transforming the care delivery system, Edens has helped to raise the stature and visibility of CIOs across the industry. An active CHIME member, one of her primary areas of focus has been education and professional development. She was part of the faculty for CHIME’s Information Management Executive series in the 1990s. The leadership training program graduated nearly 1,000 participants during the decade. Later, Edens became a faculty member of CHIME’s highly successful Healthcare CIO Boot Camp.

“My passion has always been educating and teaching,” Edens said. “We are seeing so much change in the industry as new payment and care delivery models come into play. CHIME is in the position to help CIOs not only understand the skills that they need to be effective leaders today, but also position themselves for success in the future. The education, networking and best practice sharing that CHIME offers has been critical to my success as a CIO and a leader.”

Health Data Management named Edens to its “2016 Most Powerful Women in Healthcare” list. She was also recognized this year by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of its “100 Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know.” Edens has a Master’s Degree in applied psychology from the University of Santa Monica and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California-Davis. She is a CHIME fellow and past board member and has served on the HIMSS board.

Keith Fraidenburg has more than 20 years of experience working within the healthcare IT industry, including nearly 16 years of association management experience. In his role as Executive VP and Chief Strategy Officer, he is responsible for providing overall leadership and tactical execution of the organization’s strategic plan while identifying and cultivating new growth opportunities in support of the organization’s long-term strategic goals. He also maintains primary responsibility for the organization’s advocacy and public policy efforts and its platform of education programs and services. In doing so, he works closely with senior healthcare IT executives, key industry leaders, and industry association partners, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and others to keenly understand the issues, concerns, and needs of healthcare information executives.

In his previous role as VP of Education and Communications for CHIME, Mr. Fraidenburg was responsible for leading the education, marketing and communications programs and services available through CHIME.

In addition to his responsibilities within CHIME, Mr. Fraidenburg is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

George Hickman is Executive Vice President and Systems Chief Information and Analytics Officer for Albany Medical Center in New York’s Capital Region. He is responsible for overseeing all information technology, biomedical engineering and data analytics activities throughout the academic health sciences system, its hospitals, physician faculty practice and medical college. Prior to joining Albany Med, he was a healthcare IT partner with Ernst & Young LLP.

This is Hickman’s third academic CIO post. He also has worked with Price Waterhouse Coopers and started his career as a hospital project engineer. He has worked with health provider organizations across the US as well as for the Ministry of Health in Singapore and the UK Health Authority and publishes frequently on healthcare IT and operational change topics.

He was awarded the 2007 CHIME/Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year.

Hickman is a former board chair, former Foundation board chair, a charter member, former Education Foundation board chair, and is a Life member and Fellow of CHIME. He is also a CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp™ faculty member.

He is past board chair, past executive compensation committee chair, and a Life Fellow member of HIMSS. He is also a HIMSS Analytics past board member.

Hickman is the board secretary for MedAllies, the service delivery organization Hudson Valley area HIE and a national HISP for Direct exchange, and a past board and executive committee member for the Health Information Exchange of New York (Hixny). He sits on the Cerner Corporation CIO Strategic Advisory Council and the Allscripts Touchworks Executive Forum. He also serves on his organization’s regional Medicaid Reform (DSRIP) board of directors. He is an advisory board member emeritus for KLAS and sits on the editorial advisory board for healthsystemcio.com as well as several associational, local, state and vendor industry committees.

He is a frequent speaker and lecturer on a variety of health IT related topics and has published extensively on a variety of health IT-related topics, including co-authoring, “The Healthcare IT Planning Fieldbook.”

He holds a BS and an MS in engineering from the University of Tennessee.

Tressa Springmann has been Chief Information Officer for Lifebridge Health since 2012. Further, she has had responsibility as Senior Vice President over Performance Improvement including the organization’s Lean transformation work (prior) and currently over the systems HIM function as well as the system’s Call Centers in Maryland, the Philippines and Israel. LifeBridge Health, a over $2.2B in revenue not for profit system, consists of Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, Carroll Hospital, Bon Secours Hospital, Baltimore and Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, and its subsidiaries and affiliated units, With nearly 13,000 employees and a vast physician network, LifeBridge Health provides patients with a continuum of care as a partner for lifelong health with various joint ventures in Assisted Living, Subacute, Retail Pharmacy, Urgent Care, Fitness Centers, etc. As one of the largest and most comprehensive providers of health-related services to the people of Maryland, LifeBridge Health has the technology, skills and expertise of an academic system with the warmth and personal attention of a community continuum of care.

Tressa is chairman of the technology committee for CRISP, Maryland’s State Health Information Exchange (HIE), and a member of the Premier Member Technology Committee (MTIC). She is also currently on The Healthcare Management Program Advisory Board for Towson University and is an adjunct professor at Mount St Mary’s University previously teaching Healthcare Information Technology as part of their Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) program. She is the Past President of Maryland HIMSS (MDHIMSS), is a certified professional in Health Information Systems Management (CPHIMSS) and has attained her certification as a Healthcare CIO. (CHCIO) and a CHIME Fellow. Tressa has served multiple years on the AHA ‘Most Wired’ Selection Committee, is/as been a question writer for both the CPHIMSS and CHCIO exams. In 2019, Tressa joined the CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp™ Faculty. She holds her Masters from The Johns Hopkins University and her BA in Biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. In 2019 she completed her certificate in wine production from The Penn State University.

Prior to joining LifeBridge Health, Tressa Springmann served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) of Towson, Maryland, which includes a 300 bed acute hospital, an employed and community physician organization and the region’s largest hospice provider. Ms. Springmann has also held information technology positions at Integrated Health Services (IHS), Georgetown University Hospital, Dimensions Healthcare System, CMC Occupational Health, Pharmacia Diagnostics, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Liz Johnson is the nationally recognized and award-winning Chief Information Officer, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics for Tenet Healthcare. Liz provides the strategic vision and tactical planning for all clinical, patient management, imaging, productivity and supply chain systems used across Tenet’s acute care hospitals nationwide. As a pioneer in nursing and nurse informatics, Liz led the most aggressive and successful electronic health record (EHR) implementation effort in the nation. Due to her leadership, Tenet Healthcare is now a national model of healthcare reform, using quantifiable data to transform clinical practice to enhance care delivery and improve patient outcomes through the use of EHR systems.

Liz is also honored to serve in various elected, assigned and philanthropic positions at the national level that include serving as the College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME) Board Chair for 2017; board member for Health Level 7 (HL7) International; and appointee to the Health Information Technology (HIT) Standards Committee of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) from 2009 – 2016.

Liz is the recipient of the 2016 University of Texas at Arlington Distinguished Alumni Award and has been recognized in the industry as one of “20 People to Watch in Healthcare IT in 2017” and as one of the “50 Leading Healthcare IT Experts” by Health Data Management (HDM), highlighting the national leaders that are expected to make large contributions to the discussion on HIT in 2017 and provide guidance on where the industry needs to go. Liz is a Fellow of CHIME and HIMSS and is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Sarah Richardson is transformative, innovative, and results-driven healthcare and technology executive within large-scale healthcare environments. She attains aggressive goals, catalyzes change, and advances sustainability by designing and executing high performance-based strategies. Sarah cultivates top-tier talent, infuses expectations, and accountabilities, instills customer-centric practices, accelerates innovation, and forges collaborative cultures.

Through comprehensive, human centered design, she enables digital and organizational transformation of multiple organizational domains utilizing proven methods of engagement resulting in improved experiences across the continuum.

With a B.S. in Hospitality Administration, a Master’s in Business, and a certification in Healthcare Administration, Sarah currently serves as the SVP & CIO for Tivity Health. At Tivity Health®, we work hand-in-hand with members, clients and healthcare partners to create everyday opportunities for long-lasting health and vitality. Our flagship brand SilverSneakers®, along with Prime® Fitness, Wisely WellTM and WholeHealth Living®, are sought after by consumers and organizations alike. Tivity Health is focused on becoming the modern destination for healthy living, with solutions that help adults live better and improve health outcomes while reducing healthcare costs.

She has built award-winning teams and has been recognized by The Kansas City Business Journal as a ‘Woman Who Means Business’, a “Next Gen Leader’ and ‘Rising Star’ by KC Business Magazine, and an ‘Outstanding Executive’ by Advancing Women in Technology.

Sarah is an active member of CHIME as a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO), board and faculty member, and fellow. Sarah regularly publishes industry relevant content on her website at www.conciergeleadership.com. She is an Associate Certified Coach with the ICF and Distinguished Toastmaster, as well as Vice Chair for the SoCal Chapter of the Society for Information Management (SCSIM). She hosted the HIMSS SoCal Podcast featuring top health information technology and leadership topics with keynote guests from 2017 – 2020. She is an avid scuba diver with a passion for conservation.

Ryan Smith is the CIO and Vice President at Intermountain Healthcare, an integrated delivery network based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ryan is nationally and internationally recognized as a CIO and is a frequent speaker on the topics of healthcare IT strategy, digital transformation, enterprise data and analytics strategy, IT governance, strategic vendor alignment and consumer digital experience.

Ryan has been involved with information technology for over 25 years. Prior to Intermountain, Ryan was Senior Vice President and Executive Advisor at Health Catalyst, where he advised healthcare executives on enterprise data and digital strategies. He was previously Senior Vice President and CIO at Banner Health, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare systems, where he helped create the organization’s recognized digital business capabilities. He spent 19 years in various IT and digital business leadership roles at Intermountain, where he started his professional career. Ryan has significant interest in promoting the digital transformation of the U.S. healthcare system by leveraging integrated technology, data intelligence, reimagined workflows and organizational leadership.

Ryan has served as a board member at Health Current, Arizona’s statewide health information exchange, while also serving on numerous advisory boards across the high tech and HIT sectors. He participates in multiple healthcare industry organizations, including CHIME and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Ryan received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Utah and later a Master’s of Business Administration from Western Governor’s University.

Timothy Stettheimer, PhD, is Vice President of Education for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), a 2,400-plus member professional organization.  In this role, Dr. Stettheimer leads all education strategy for members and affiliate associations, as well as international efforts. Education initiatives include CHIME’s Fall and Spring Forums, CIO Bootcamps, Leadership Academies as well as other summits, workshops and symposia.

Dr. Stettheimer has previously served as a healthcare CIO for two decades and has worked with healthcare information technology and healthcare leaders for twenty-five years.  He most recently served as the Regional Chief Information Officer (RCIO) for the South and Central Region of Ascension Information Services (AIS), which is made up of seven geographic markets as well as all senior living locations and all medical groups. As RCIO, Dr. Stettheimer was the regional leader responsible for AIS service delivery and technology visioning. He also guided governance models, served on Ascension-level committees, and supported diverse AIS functions such as goal sponsorship, compensation committee efforts, IT general control oversight, infrastructure governance, and AIS Model Community Survey action planning.

Prior to his Ascension role, Dr. Stettheimer served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for St. Vincent’s Health System, Birmingham. In this role, he was responsible for managing the Health Ministry’s technology strategy, portfolio, and operations, while serving as the Health Ministry’s technology service delivery senior escalation point. He has also served in leadership roles at Adventist Health System and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Dr. Stettheimer earned a doctorate in information services focused in medical informatics, information theory and design, and information policy and management from the University of North Texas in Denton. He holds a master’s degree in applied cognition and neuroscience from the University of Texas in Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Dr. Stettheimer is a fellow with both the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (FCHIME). He is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), holds the Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) credential, is a certified professional in healthcare information management systems (CPHIMS), and is a member of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). He served as a fellow through a National Institute of Health grant during his doctoral studies. Dr. Stettheimer has held faculty positions with the University of North Texas and the University of Alabama at Birmingham and serves on a number of non-profit boards.

Dr. Stettheimer has earned the Certified Healthcare CIO distinction from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). He also served as the CHIME 2010 Board Chair, the 2011 CHIME Foundation Board Chair and the 2013-1014 CHIME Education Foundation Board Chair. Dr. Stettheimer and his wife Carol live in Birmingham, AL and are the parents of four children.