BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) announce the appointment of Don E. Detmer, MD, MA as the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the association. “We are pleased that such a distinguished fellow of our college of informatics and a world renowned physician will be leading AMIA in these exciting times,” stated Charles Safran, MD, Chairman of the Board.
“Our members in the field of medical informatics, the experts in the use of information technologies in health care, will be the key in the coming transformation of health care. Now a full time leader will represent our organization in these exciting times of possibility and challenge,” said Safran during the announcement of the new position today.
“I am delighted and honored to assume this new role at AMIA,” said Detmer. “It is a great organization of committed talented health professionals who have offered unbiased expert advice to the nation for many years while also offering excellent research and educational leadership.” Detmer will assume his role immediately for AMIA.
In his first action as President and CEO he spoke of his vision for the association. “Today we face virtually unlimited opportunities to create a national and global health information infrastructure and with it come the corresponding challenges. We have too few experts to lead the effort, limited funding to pursue substantial research questions, and pressing needs to educate citizens and both entry level and practicing health professionals. Our goal is to build upon AMIA’s excellent reputation nationally and throughout the world and enhance crucial linkages with academic centers that comprise the diverse branches of biomedical, clinical, and nursing informatics as well as relevant stakeholder groups and organizations. The Institute of Medicine said it well when it asserted that without real commitment to communications and information technology, our capability to reach new levels of performance in health care is limited. Simply working harder won’t create the needed changes; only changing the system of care will. I intend to do all that I can to move this agenda forward and I am very excited about our prospects to make a difference.”
Don E. Detmer, MD, MA, will retain his position of Professor Emeritus and Professor of Medical Education in the Department of Health Evaluation Sciences at the University of Virginia. He is also Senior Associate of the Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge, a trustee of the Nuffield Trust of London, and a fellow of Clare Hall at Cambridge. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a lifetime Associate of the National Academies, and a fellow of AAAS, Academy Health, and the American Colleges of Medical Informatics, Surgeons, and Sports Medicine. From 1999-2003 he was the Dennis Gillings Professor of Health Management and Director, Cambridge University Health at the Judge Institute of Management, Cambridge’s business school. Prior to the years in England, he was Vice President for Health Sciences at the Universities of Virginia and Utah and on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is immediate past chairman of the Board on Health Care Services of the IOM as well as the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. He has also chaired the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine.
Dr. Detmer received his Doctor of Medicine in 1965 from the University of Kansas with subsequent training at the National Institutes of Health, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Duke University Medical Center, the Institute of Medicine, and Harvard Business School. In 1979 he received a Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His bibliography is extensive and spans a number of fields relating to healthcare delivery and policy. He received a Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge in 2002.
American Medical Informatics Association is the premier organization for leaders shaping the future of health information technology. AMIA links the developers and users of health information technology, creating an environment that fosters advances that revolutionize health care. Complete information on the association is available at: http://www.amia.org/.
CONTACT: Mary Ellen Doran of the American Medical Informatics Association, +1-301-657-1291, ext. 105, or maryellen@mail.amia.org.
American Medical Informatics Association
CONTACT: Mary Ellen Doran of the American Medical InformaticsAssociation, +1-301-657-1291, ext. 105, or maryellen@mail.amia.org
Web site: http://www.amia.org/
