Albany Med’s Hickman Receives National CIO of the Year Award
ALBANY, N.Y., February 26, 2008 - In recognition of his leadership in health care information technology, George Hickman, senior vice president and chief information officer at Albany Medical Center, has received the John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year Award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), national organizations with more than 21,000 members.
“As a dedicated HIMSS and CHIME volunteer and experienced CIO, George Hickman has shared his time and expertise not only with the Society, but with the industry,” said H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president and CEO. “HIMSS and all of our members congratulate him on receiving this award.”
The award, now in its 19th year, is named in honor of John E. Gall, Jr., who pioneered the implementation of health care information systems at El Camino Hospital in California in the 1960s.
Hickman, a nationally known expert in health care information systems, came to Albany Med in 2003 after serving in two academic health systems CIO roles and as a partner with Ernst & Young LLP. At Albany Med, he is responsible for overseeing all information and clinical technology activities throughout the institution including managing the Medical Center’s $100 million, 10-year investment in evolving its electronic health record.
“Albany Medical Center is committed to adopting health care information technologies to advance quality of care and patient safety,” said James J. Barba, president and chief executive officer of Albany Medical Center. “We are fortunate to have someone of George’s caliber leading this important effort. On behalf of the Board, senior leadership and staff at Albany Medical Center, we applaud this well-deserved accomplishment and thank him for his continued service and energy.”
Hickman recently served as chair of the board at HIMSS, which is focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of health care information technology and management systems. He has been a member of the organization since 1981, and currently sits on the executive council for the editorial advisory board of the journal, ADVANCE for Health Information Executives. He is a charter member of CHIME.
Hickman serves on the nominating and education/communications committees of the New York eHealth Collaborative. He is a planning committee chair for the Capital Region’s health data collaborative, which is the Health Information Exchange for New York. Hickman earned M.S. and B.S. degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee.
He will be recognized at the HIMSS Awards and Recognition Banquet on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, FL. The banquet takes place during the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition.
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Beth Engeler
