CHITA 2024
The Conference on Health IT and Analytics (CHITA)
The 14th Annual Conference on Health IT and Analytics (CHITA 2024), at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., concluded on May 4, 2024. The conference was vibrant, engaging and inspiring.
Every year, CHITA brings together the best and brightest – scholars from over 40 top research institutes and leading figures in policy and practice. This summit serves as a critical platform for exploring the latest advancements in the design, implementation, and management of health information technology and analytics. Our objective is to promote a deeper understanding of strategy, policy, and systems in health IT and analytics, fostering innovations that make real-world impacts in business and policy.
As an ideal setting for fostering collaboration among leaders in academia, government, and industry, CHITA, in its 14th iteration, drew over 130 participants, offering a unique opportunity for networking and in-depth discussions.
Hosted by the Center for Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence, CHITA receives support from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
We thank you for your engagement with CHITA 2024, for sharing your insights, creating deep and meaningful connections, and shaping the future of health IT and analytics. We look forward to seeing you at CHITA 2025 in Austin, TX.
Keynote Speakers
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Aneesh Chopra, President, CareJourney
Aneesh Chopra is the President of CareJourney, an open data and analytics platform delivering a trusted, transparent provider ratings system anchored on value-based care measures. He served as the first U.S. CTO (2009-2012) and authored "Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government” (2014). He serves on the Boards of IntegraConnect, UpStream Care, Virginia Center for Health Innovation, and Chairs the George Mason Innovation Advisory Council. He earned his MPP from Harvard Kennedy School and BA from The Johns Hopkins University.
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David Sontag, Co-founder and CEO, Layer Health
David Sontag is co-founder and CEO at Layer Health and a Professor at MIT in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and von Helmholtz Professor in the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES). He is also a principal investigator in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. Dr. Sontag's research interests are in machine learning and artificial intelligence. As part of IMES, he leads a research group that aims to transform healthcare through the use of machine learning.
Speakers
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
Roy Adams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on the development of new computational methods for working with observational health data – especially electronic health record (EHR) data – and the application of these methods to improve our understanding of and care for dementia and other psychiatric conditions. This includes work on a variety of computational problems in healthcare including risk predication, measurement error modeling, bias and fairness, and the adoption, impact, and reliability of clinical decision support tools.
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
Roy Adams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on the development of new computational methods for working with observational health data – especially electronic health record (EHR) data – and the application of these methods to improve our understanding of and care for dementia and other psychiatric conditions. This includes work on a variety of computational problems in healthcare including risk predication, measurement error modeling, bias and fairness, and the adoption, impact, and reliability of clinical decision support tools.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Information,
University of Michigan
Dr. Lorraine Buis is an Associate Professor in the University of Michigan (UM) Department of Family Medicine where her research focuses on the use of communication technologies for health promotion and chronic disease self- management. She is currently the Faculty Lead for the Telehealth Research Strategic Initiative in the UM Institute for Health Policy & Innovation and she also serves as Editor- in-Chief of the journal JMIR mHealth & uHealth. Dr. Buis completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Ann Arbor VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence after obtaining her PhD in Mass Media from the Michigan State University Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media.
Additionally, she holds a Master’s of Science in Information degree with a specialization in Human Computer Interaction from the University of Michigan School of Information, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Michigan State University.
Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Information,
University of Michigan
Dr. Lorraine Buis is an Associate Professor in the University of Michigan (UM) Department of Family Medicine where her research focuses on the use of communication technologies for health promotion and chronic disease self- management. She is currently the Faculty Lead for the Telehealth Research Strategic Initiative in the UM Institute for Health Policy & Innovation and she also serves as Editor- in-Chief of the journal JMIR mHealth & uHealth. Dr. Buis completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Ann Arbor VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence after obtaining her PhD in Mass Media from the Michigan State University Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media.
Additionally, she holds a Master’s of Science in Information degree with a specialization in Human Computer Interaction from the University of Michigan School of Information, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Michigan State University.
Managing Director, Accenture Federal Services
Joan Horenstein is a Managing Director with Accenture Federal Services with 36 years’ experience delivering and leading Information Technology programs for government and commercial clients. Joan currently leads Accenture’s work for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is Accenture’s Program Manager for CMS’ Federally Facilitated Exchange (FFE) program. FFE is the backbone of Healthcare.gov, processing over eighteen million enrollments annually and managing over 130 TB of data.
Throughout her career, Joan has led programs totaling over $3B and led teams of over eight hundred personnel from over thirty companies. Prior to leading Accenture’s work at CMS, Joan served as the commercial director for Accenture’s rapidly growing Federal Civilian Portfolio. She has worked across Federal Government, Financial Services, Health Insurance, Consumer Products, and Public Utilities markets. Her roles have included programming, testing, database design, IT strategy, finance, contracts, dispute negotiation, sales, and program leadership. Joan received a B.S. in Systems Engineering, with a concentration in Information Systems from the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Managing Director, Accenture Federal Services
Joan Horenstein is a Managing Director with Accenture Federal Services with 36 years’ experience delivering and leading Information Technology programs for government and commercial clients. Joan currently leads Accenture’s work for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is Accenture’s Program Manager for CMS’ Federally Facilitated Exchange (FFE) program. FFE is the backbone of Healthcare.gov, processing over eighteen million enrollments annually and managing over 130 TB of data.
Throughout her career, Joan has led programs totaling over $3B and led teams of over eight hundred personnel from over thirty companies. Prior to leading Accenture’s work at CMS, Joan served as the commercial director for Accenture’s rapidly growing Federal Civilian Portfolio. She has worked across Federal Government, Financial Services, Health Insurance, Consumer Products, and Public Utilities markets. Her roles have included programming, testing, database design, IT strategy, finance, contracts, dispute negotiation, sales, and program leadership. Joan received a B.S. in Systems Engineering, with a concentration in Information Systems from the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Keila N. Lopez, a native of Chicago, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois, and then completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago. She subsequently completed the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health in Minority Health Policy and Healthcare Management in Boston, Massachusetts. She completed her medical training by completing a fellowship in pediatric cardiology with a focus on cardiovascular imaging at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX where she now resides.
Dr. Lopez’s research portfolio reflects a longstanding commitment to addressing health disparities and public health initiatives. She has presented nationally on health disparities, leading teams to conduct multidisciplinary work using large databases and GIS mapping to better understand the connection between health, socioeconomic status, neighborhood level factors and access to quality healthcare. She has participated in several community initiatives to help underserved populations, and was the only Latina and pediatrician appointed to Houston Mayor Turner’s COVID-19 Health Equity Response Task Force.
Given her public health and health policy background, she serves as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Rice University and serves as a co-investigator for the Texas Children’s Policy and Advocacy Center. She is the creator and Director of the pediatric cardiology Transition Program, screening knowledge and transition skill gaps for youth with congenital heart disease to improve their ultimate transfer to adult care. Her NIH early career award created a mobile application that is a “portable transition program” to reduce health disparities during the transition process in patients with congenital heart disease and includes a transfer summary and activation tool. This project is now in a pilot testing phase to determine its acceptability, feasibility, and usability.
Dr. Lopez seeks to incorporate cardiology, public health, and minority health policy in order to develop research initiatives that directly inform health policy and improve the health care of minorities and underserved populations. She hopes to identify strategies to enhance and prolong the lives of those with CHD through surveillance, population-based research, education, health promotion, advocacy, and policy development.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Keila N. Lopez, a native of Chicago, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois, and then completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago. She subsequently completed the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health in Minority Health Policy and Healthcare Management in Boston, Massachusetts. She completed her medical training by completing a fellowship in pediatric cardiology with a focus on cardiovascular imaging at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX where she now resides.
Dr. Lopez’s research portfolio reflects a longstanding commitment to addressing health disparities and public health initiatives. She has presented nationally on health disparities, leading teams to conduct multidisciplinary work using large databases and GIS mapping to better understand the connection between health, socioeconomic status, neighborhood level factors and access to quality healthcare. She has participated in several community initiatives to help underserved populations, and was the only Latina and pediatrician appointed to Houston Mayor Turner’s COVID-19 Health Equity Response Task Force.
Given her public health and health policy background, she serves as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Rice University and serves as a co-investigator for the Texas Children’s Policy and Advocacy Center. She is the creator and Director of the pediatric cardiology Transition Program, screening knowledge and transition skill gaps for youth with congenital heart disease to improve their ultimate transfer to adult care. Her NIH early career award created a mobile application that is a “portable transition program” to reduce health disparities during the transition process in patients with congenital heart disease and includes a transfer summary and activation tool. This project is now in a pilot testing phase to determine its acceptability, feasibility, and usability.
Dr. Lopez seeks to incorporate cardiology, public health, and minority health policy in order to develop research initiatives that directly inform health policy and improve the health care of minorities and underserved populations. She hopes to identify strategies to enhance and prolong the lives of those with CHD through surveillance, population-based research, education, health promotion, advocacy, and policy development.
Chair and CEO, Arena
Mike has dedicated his career to restructuring our economy and our society to enable pathways of socioeconomic mobility, economic security, and dignity for every individual.
Mike founded and is the Chair and CEO of Arena Analytics, which applies AI to labor markets. Arena’s platform is used by 3.1 million unique healthcare employees and job applicants, or about 15% of the US healthcare workforce, increasing by about 600,000 people per year. Arena provides insights and predictive power into the likelihood an individual will achieve an outcome in a job, and in doing so improves employee retention, identifies candidates not otherwise known to an organization who would thrive there, helps determine optimal compensation and career trajectories, while reducing implicit bias based on race, class, and gender in hiring and promotion by 92%-99%.
Mike also founded and is the Executive Chair of Catalyte, a company that uses AI to build primarily tech workforces for large enterprises and governments. Catalyte’s platform identifies the most exceptional individuals without relying on resumes and other poor signals of quality, and unlocks their potential to thrive in technical and other roles. The average income of an exceptional professional identified by Catalyte prior to being identified is $25,000 per year, and 5 years later is $98,000 per year, with the average age when identified of 31.
In 2021, Mike ran for the Democratic nomination to be the next Governor of Maryland, with the vision of restructuring the state’s economy to enable a pathway to dignity for everyone. He dropped out of the race in November 2021, and since then has been working to change the underpinnings of the state’s political system to enable a bolder transformation around jobs and pathways into jobs in Maryland.
Prior to starting Catalyte and Arena, Mike received an Irving R. Kaufman Fellowship to support his work building the first version of what is now Catalyte and Arena’s respective analytics engines for talent selection. Earlier in his career Mike was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics at Harvard Law School and served at the White House as an economist. In addition to his academic work around what became Catalyte and Arena, Mike’s publications and research focused on the application of data to the most subjective areas of human endeavor. He has also served on a variety of civic and national boards related to race, poverty, and economic mobility, including Johns Hopkins University, the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Task Force, and the Baltimore Museum of Art, for which he chaired the search committee that drove its strategy of being a platform for underrepresented voices.
Mike lives in Baltimore with his wife and two daughters. He has a JD from Harvard Law School, an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA from Harvard College, and from 1999-2000 he clerked for the Hon Diana Gribbon Motz on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Chair and CEO, Arena
Mike has dedicated his career to restructuring our economy and our society to enable pathways of socioeconomic mobility, economic security, and dignity for every individual.
Mike founded and is the Chair and CEO of Arena Analytics, which applies AI to labor markets. Arena’s platform is used by 3.1 million unique healthcare employees and job applicants, or about 15% of the US healthcare workforce, increasing by about 600,000 people per year. Arena provides insights and predictive power into the likelihood an individual will achieve an outcome in a job, and in doing so improves employee retention, identifies candidates not otherwise known to an organization who would thrive there, helps determine optimal compensation and career trajectories, while reducing implicit bias based on race, class, and gender in hiring and promotion by 92%-99%.
Mike also founded and is the Executive Chair of Catalyte, a company that uses AI to build primarily tech workforces for large enterprises and governments. Catalyte’s platform identifies the most exceptional individuals without relying on resumes and other poor signals of quality, and unlocks their potential to thrive in technical and other roles. The average income of an exceptional professional identified by Catalyte prior to being identified is $25,000 per year, and 5 years later is $98,000 per year, with the average age when identified of 31.
In 2021, Mike ran for the Democratic nomination to be the next Governor of Maryland, with the vision of restructuring the state’s economy to enable a pathway to dignity for everyone. He dropped out of the race in November 2021, and since then has been working to change the underpinnings of the state’s political system to enable a bolder transformation around jobs and pathways into jobs in Maryland.
Prior to starting Catalyte and Arena, Mike received an Irving R. Kaufman Fellowship to support his work building the first version of what is now Catalyte and Arena’s respective analytics engines for talent selection. Earlier in his career Mike was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics at Harvard Law School and served at the White House as an economist. In addition to his academic work around what became Catalyte and Arena, Mike’s publications and research focused on the application of data to the most subjective areas of human endeavor. He has also served on a variety of civic and national boards related to race, poverty, and economic mobility, including Johns Hopkins University, the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Task Force, and the Baltimore Museum of Art, for which he chaired the search committee that drove its strategy of being a platform for underrepresented voices.
Mike lives in Baltimore with his wife and two daughters. He has a JD from Harvard Law School, an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA from Harvard College, and from 1999-2000 he clerked for the Hon Diana Gribbon Motz on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and Faculty Co-Director, AI at Wharton
Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe is an Associate Professor in the OID group at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Co-Director of AI at Wharton. His official Wharton website can be found here: https://oid.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/tambe/.
His research is focused in two key areas:
- Economics of technical (IT) labor markets: Studies the market for software developers, as well as how competition in these markets affect employment and innovation outcomes.
- Algorithms and HR: Studies how new, digital algorithms and data signals are being used in all aspects of HR, from hiring to retention.
His published papers have analyzed Internet-scale data from online job sites, career platforms, and other labor market intermediaries that collect fine-grained information on workers’ skills and career paths and on employers’ job requirements. This research has been published in a number of academic journals including Management Science, Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, California Management Review, Communications of the ACM, and Information Economics and Policy.
Professor Tambe received his S.B. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and his Ph.D. in Managerial Science and Applied Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and Faculty Co-Director, AI at Wharton
Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe is an Associate Professor in the OID group at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Faculty Co-Director of AI at Wharton. His official Wharton website can be found here: https://oid.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/tambe/.
His research is focused in two key areas:
- Economics of technical (IT) labor markets: Studies the market for software developers, as well as how competition in these markets affect employment and innovation outcomes.
- Algorithms and HR: Studies how new, digital algorithms and data signals are being used in all aspects of HR, from hiring to retention.
His published papers have analyzed Internet-scale data from online job sites, career platforms, and other labor market intermediaries that collect fine-grained information on workers’ skills and career paths and on employers’ job requirements. This research has been published in a number of academic journals including Management Science, Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, California Management Review, Communications of the ACM, and Information Economics and Policy.
Professor Tambe received his S.B. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and his Ph.D. in Managerial Science and Applied Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
CHITA 2024 was produced in partnership with the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, with support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).