Our Experts

HITECH Answers partners with leading EHR consulting experts in system implementation, HIPAA data security and more to present our webinars.  The information presented in our webinars by these experts will help educate you and your staff on the implications of this act on your practice or organization.

Bill Oravecz, WTO AssociatesWm. T. Oravecz, Chief Analyst

Wm. T. Oravecz is Managing Partner of WTO Associates LLC and Chief Analyst for HITECH Answers. “Bill” has developed a program management practice focused on effective implementation and support of the various facets of healthcare IT initiatives, including EHR selection/implementation strategy, planning and management, Healthcare Information Security audit and certification compliance, HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10-CM/PCS transition/compliance.  Bill has 26 years of experience, holding various senior management positions with major IT solutions and healthcare technology firms. He holds a MBA from University of Connecticut and a SM in Radiology from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago.  Read his full bio or contact him at: woravecz@wto-associates.com or woravecz@hitechanswers.net

Bob Chaput, HITECH Data Security Expert

Bob Chaput is president of HITECH Security Advisors LLC and Data Mountain LLC.  HITECH Security Advisors helps Covered Entities and Business Associates meet stringent HIPAA-HITECH Security Rule requirements and address one of five health outcomes policy priorities in the Meaningful Use Stage 1 guidelines dealing with privacy and security.  Data Mountain offers Iron Mountain Digital’s online data backup and recovery services.  Bob is no stranger to protecting large amounts of healthcare data – his experience includes managing some of the world’s largest healthcare databases, requiring the highest levels of security and privacy while a senior executive at GE, Johnson & Johnson and Healthways, Inc. Read his full bio or contact him at: bob.chaput@HIPAASecuityAssessment.com or bob.chaput@DataMountain.com

William Hersh, M.D., Informatics Expert

William Hersh, M.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology in the School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Hersh is a leader and innovator in biomedical informatics both in education and research. In education, he developed and serves as Director of all of OHSU’s graduate biomedical informatics education programs, including the Master of Science, the Master of Biomedical Informatics, the Graduate Certificate, and the Doctor of Philosophy.  He also conceptualized and implemented the first offering of the American Medical Informatics Association 10×10 (“ten by ten”) program, which aims to educate 10,000 health care professionals and others in biomedical informatics.  Dr. Hersh also maintains the Informatics Professor blog. Read his full bio or contact him at: hersh@ohsu.edu

Jim Tate, EMR AdvocateJim Tate, HITECH EHR Certification Expert

Jim Tate is Founder and President of EMR Advocate, LLC, a company that offers extensive consulting services to physicians, EHR vendors, developers and other stakeholders in the Health Information Technology industry. He has supported more than 25 Ambulatory and Inpatient EHR vendors in their CCHIT Certification projects since 2006.  He  has presented at numerous national HIT conferences including TEPR and HIMSS. Specialties include EHR implementation, the physician/EHR interface, EHR Certification projects and Health 2.0 technologies. He is currently involved in the development of an intuitive PHR (Personal Health Record).  Read his full bio or contact at: jimtate@emradvocate.com
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Additional Contributing Experts
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Mark R. Anderson

Mark Anderson is CEO of the AC Group is one of the nation’s premier IT research futurists dedicated to health care. He is one of the leading national speakers on health care and physician practices and has spoken at more than 350 conferences and meetings since 2000. He has spent the last 30+ years focusing on Health Care – not just technology questions, but strategic, policy, and organizational considerations. He tracks industry trends, conducts member surveys and case studies, assesses best practices, and performs benchmarking studies. He can be contacted at: mra@acgroup.org.

Bill O'Toole, O'Toole Law GroupWilliam O’Toole

William O’Toole founded the O’Toole Law Group, specializing exclusively in healthcare information technology, following his long tenure as Corporate Counsel at Medical Information Technology (MEDITECH).  Known and respected by executives, attorneys and consultants throughout the healthcare industry, O’Toole now represents healthcare provider entities and technology companies in all aspects of technology acquisition, development and distribution.  O’Toole’s primary focus is representing the client or provider side of the industry.  Absent any conflict, he also represents technology vendors in structuring or negotiating their agreements and assisting in complex production and distribution matters.  Read more or contact him at: wfo@otoolelawgroup.com

Roger Ramsey, HITECH Data CentersRoger Ramsey

Roger Ramsey is co-founder of  HITECH Data Centers, a turnkey provider of IT facilities. Roger and HITECH Data Centers’ co-founder Dave Goerke, have over 30 years each in the design, construction, installation and commissioning of mission critical data center/IT facilities. This experience has focused on the IT buildings, the Electrical and Mechanical systems, the critical path of IT Power, and computer equipment layout.  They work directly with and as Owner’s Representatives to accomplish the design and build out of their mission critical facilities. Read more about them or contact them at: roger-ramsey@sbcglobal.net or dgoerke@sbcglobal.net.

Kevin Richardson, Ph.D.

Kevin Richardson is currently the Director of Research at Electronic Ink. He received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology in 1991 from the State University of New York at Buffalo. After two years designing interactive training systems for the U.S. Air Force, Kevin spent nearly nine years working at AT&T Bell Labs. He has experience leading usability and design teams for both domestic and international applications and websites. Since joining Electronic Ink, Kevin has led projects for such clients as Penske Truck Leasing, Bloomberg News, EDF Energy, Willis Insurance, and the Premier Healthcare Alliance. Read his full bio or contact him at: krichardson@electronicink.com

Jeff RickmanJeff Rickman

Attorney Jeff Rickman focuses his practice on employee benefits and general employment matters.  He assists clients in drafting HIPAA privacy and security policies and procedures, health and welfare plans, and various 401(k) and defined benefit documents.  Mr. Rickman also assists clients with compliance issues related to HIPAA, ERISA, FMLA, FLSA, and other federal and state statutes. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgia State College of Law and received his Master’s degree from Duke University. He can be contacted at: JeffRickman@gmail.com.

Dr. Nick van Terheyden, M*Modal
Dr. Nick van Terheyden

Dr. Nick van Terheyden is currently Chief Medical Officer for Nuance. A graduate of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London, Dr. van Terheyden is a pioneering creator in the evolution of healthcare technology and brings a distinctive blend of medical practitioner and business strategist to the realm of healthcare technology. In addition to writing and lecturing on futuristic trends in healthcare technology, his advice and counsel is sought by hospitals, physicians and other allied healthcare professionals. He has also worked as a business leader in one of the first speech recognition Internet companies. Read his full bio or contact him at: nvt@nuance.com

Alex Zaltsman, Experior DataAlex Zaltsman

Alex Zaltsman is the CEO of Experior Data Security and Encryption. Experior specializes in implementing and supporting on-premise and on-demand data encryption solutions for regulatory compliance, including HIPAA and the HITECH Act within ARRA.  Experior is a silver partner with PGP Corporation and implements PGP products like Whole Disk Encryption, NetShare, E-Mail, Portable, and Universal Server. He provides to clients and business associates expertise on wide range of topics from network infrastructure and security, data encryption, virtualization, cloud computing, and mobile software. Read his full bio or contact him at alex@experiordata.com
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