Chief Information Officer, Beth Israel Deaconess

John D. Halamka, M.D., is chief information officer of the Beth Israel Deaconess health care system, senior vice president of information systems at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and a practicing emergency physician. He is also chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN) and a full professor at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Halamka completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, where he received a degree in medical microbiology and a degree in public policy with a focus on technology issues. He attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco while simultaneously completing graduate work in bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley focusing on technology issues in medicine. He completed his residency at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine.

In his role at BIDMC, Dr. Halamka is responsible for all clinical, financial, administrative, and academic information technology, serving approximately 3,000 doctors, 12,000 employees, and one million patients per year. As chairman of NEHEN, Dr. Halamka oversees clinical and administrative data exchange among the payers, providers, and patients in Massachusetts. He has also served the George W. Bush administration, the Obama administration, and national governments throughout the world planning their health care information technology strategy.

Dr. Halamka has authored five books on technology-related issues, hundreds of articles, and thousands of posts on the popular Geekdoctor blog. He runs Unity Farm in Sherborn, Mass., where he serves as caretaker for 150 animals, manages 15 acres of agricultural production, and operates a cidery/winery.