U-M Hospitals' Sue Schade named CIO of the Year

Sue Schade has been selected as the recipient of the 2014 John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year Award, which is presented by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Schade is chief information officer at University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in Ann Arbor.

The award recognizes healthcare IT executives who have made significant contributions to their organization and demonstrated innovative leadership through effective use of technology, according to a release. The boards of directors for both organizations annually select the recipient of the award, which is named in honor of the late John E. Gall Jr., who pioneered implementation of the first fully integrated medical information system in the world at California's El Camino Hospital in the 1960s. Schade will receive the award on April 14 at the 2015 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago.

"I am very honored to receive this award," said Schade. "I am passionate about my work in healthcare and IT. With talented and dedicated IT teams over the years, we've been able to make a positive difference in the lives of so many people. I'm happy to be able to give back, both personally and professionally through organizations like CHIME and HIMSS where we are developing the next generation of HIT leaders."

Schade's distinguished career in the healthcare IT industry spans 30 years, 15 of which have been spent as a CIO. She joined University of Michigan Health System in November 2012 to oversee the launch of its new EHR system. Prior to joining U-M Health System, Schade spent 12 years as CIO at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of Partners HealthCare and a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Under her leadership, Brigham received national recognition for its Balanced Scorecard initiative--a widely adopted best practice by provider organizations around the country. Schade previously served leadership roles with organizations including Advocate Healthcare in Chicago and Ernst and Young.

"Sue is truly one of the great and influential forces in health IT," said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. "Her vision and passion for healthcare transformation have made an enduring impact on our industry, and she continues to serve as a vital and credible source of knowledge and inspiration to her peers. It is with great pleasure that we are able to recognize her many career accomplishments, and honor her leadership, dedication and contribution to the field."

With her leadership, the U-M Health System reached, in August 2014, Stage 6 on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM)™, an eight-step process for organizations to analyze their progress on EMR adoption, chart their accomplishments and track their progress against other healthcare organizations. In addition, during her tenure at Brigham, the hospital system also achieved Stage 6 on the EMRAM scale.

Schade has been nationally recognized by several publications and in 2014, Schade launched "Health IT Connect," an enlightening leadership blog dedicated to sharing lessons learned and developing the next generation of health IT leaders.

Schade holds an MBA degree from Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle, Ill.