Cancer center names first chief digital officer
Memorial Sloan Kettering, the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center, has named it first-ever chief digital officer, following a trend of major providers welcoming the role of technology in the healthcare field.
Claus Torp Jensen, PhD, has been appointed to the position after the center conducted a national search to lead the integration of its data and technology resources. MSK, based in New York City, has more than 18,000 physicians, scientists, nurses and staff and has been around for 130 years.
Jensen will direct the operations of the center’s core technology information technology ecosystem components, including the information systems, health informatics and data products departments. This area of MSK encompasses around 800 employees.
Jensen will report to MSK’s chief operation officer and work to design, create and optimize digital solutions with other leaders at the center to benefit patients, researchers, clinicians and administrators. According to MSK, Jensen has more than 20 years of experience, joining the organization from CVS Health and Aetna where he served as chief technology officer.
“Under his leadership, this critical work will better enable us to meet patients’ expectations for more convenient, personalized, and affordable care,” Kathryn Martin, chief operating officer at MSK, said in a statement. “It will also support us in changing how we work across the enterprise by creating greater data integration and computing power, easing administrative burden, and facilitating more-efficient workflows.”
MSK joins a handful of other major healthcare companies adding a digital officer. Kaiser Permanente, a California-based, non-profit health system, as well as New York’s Mount Sinai hospital network added the role to their organizations this year.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."