2008 VIP Award Judges

Kent L. Gale is founder, managing partner and executive director of KLAS Enterprises, LLC, in Orem, Utah. Gale formed KLAS Enterprises in 1996 to improve the delivery of healthcare information technology (HIT) software and services by measuring the performance of healthcare software suppliers. He teams up with IT executives and healthcare professionals to gather HIT vendor performance data from provider organizations and offers reports and consulting services based upon the research data. Prior to founding KLAS, Gale held various leadership positions within vendor and provider healthcare IT organizations in the United States and abroad. He was most recently honored with the 2006 Lifetime Achievement award from CHIME and credits much of this accomplishment to his colleagues at KLAS.

Jackie Lucas is vice president and chief information officer for Baptist Healthcare System in Louisville, Ken. Ms. Lucas holds a master’s degree with a concentration in accounting information systems from the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lambuth College in Jackson, Tenn. Currently she’s a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the CIO Executive Council and CHIME. She serves on both the McKesson Strategic Advisory Council and AT&T Healthcare Executive Advisory Council. Ms. Lucas is a member of Leadership Louisville 2008 and the Junior League of Louisville where she served as a Co-Chair for the Louisville Race for the Cure. She has spoken nationally on Program Management, Operational Efficiency, Vendor Partnership and Change Leadership.

Alden Solovy is executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN) and associate publisher for Health Forum, including H&HN's Most Wired Magazine and Trustee. He is also a widely published author and a frequent speaker on the evolution of the healthcare economy and on the nation’s Most Wired health systems. He has written four books, and edited two others, on healthcare finance and strategy. Prior to joining H&HN, Solovy served as director of market and business analysis for Premier, Inc., and as a consultant in capital finance for Health Facilities Corp., where he specialized in capital planning and debt transactions.

Janet Stanek is Vice-President, Support Services & CIO at Stormont-Vail Healthcare in Topeka, Kan. Stanek is responsible for the organizational strategic planning process and the planning and deployment of strategic information systems that support the organization’s mission and vision throughout the system. She holds a BS Degree from the SUNY College of Technology, Utica, NY and an MBA from Alfred University, Alfred, NY and is a member of CHIME, AHIMA and HIMSS. Ms. Stanek will serve as the Insight User Group President in 2008 and holds the credentials of RHIA, FHIMSS, CPHIMS and FACHE-designate.

Scott Wallace is former president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT). He was appointed by President Bush to chair the federal Commission on Systemic Interoperability, a congressionally chartered advisory panel focused on accelerating the pace of health IT adoption. He was named three times to Modern Healthcare magazine’s annual list of the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.” Wallace earned a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, a master’s degree with honors in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University.