The Permanente Federation, which leads the work of the eight regional Permanente Medical Groups and their nearly 23,000 physicians, has named a new chief quality officer and chief information officer. The Permanente Medical Groups, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals together comprise Kaiser Permanente.
Nancy Gin, M.D., has joined the leadership team as executive vice president and chief quality officer, and as co-chair of the Kaiser Permanente National Quality Committee. In addition to her new national role, Gin serves as the regional medical director for Quality and Clinical Analysis for Southern California Permanente Medical Group.
In her most recent role as area medical director for Kaiser Permanente Orange County, Gin led more than 1,000 physicians caring for 600,000 patients at two hospitals and 25 medical offices. She succeeds Michael Kanter, M.D., who is assuming leadership responsibilities with the new Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine.
Edward Lee, M.D., is assuming a new role as executive vice president and chief information officer. In addition to his current role as associate executive director with the Permanente Medical Group in Northern California, Lee assumes a broad set of governance and leadership responsibilities for care delivery information technology. Lee also will serve as the principal spokesperson for Permanente technology and as the technology liaison to internal and external organizations, stakeholders and partners. He succeeds Patricia Conolly, M.D., who retired from the position at the end of March.
In a press release, the organization noted that Lee has developed and operationalized many technologies that transform the way Permanente physicians practice medicine. Examples include "The Toolbar" that allows physicians to more easily navigate the electronic health record. Dr. Lee also led the development of several app-based technologies, including "Clinician Connect," an app that allows doctors to consult with available specialists using a smart phone, and "Back Office," an app that allows doctors and staff to communicate via a smart phone.
"We lead the nation in providing technology-based innovations that help us to deliver best-in-class medical care," said Richard S. Isaacs, M.D., the Permanente Federation's co-CEO, in a statement. "Dr. Lee's extensive experience and passion for this work will accelerate our ability to harness the power of our integrated care delivery system, to leverage our data, and to drive innovations that take us to the next level of excellence."
