On October 28, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) awarded its 2015 Sullivan Award to Walter G. Suarez, MD, MPH, Executive Director of Health IT Strategy and Policy at Kaiser Permanente, according to a press release.
The Sullivan Award honors those for their exemplary leadership and efforts to improve the state of health IT and to increase the quality and efficiency of healthcare.
Suarez expressed not only gratitude for the honor, but also explained the personal connection he has to the award.
“I have known Dr. Sullivan since his days as HHS Secretary. His work and his life truly inspired me throughout my 30-year journey in clinical care, public health, health care administration and health information technology,” Suarez said.
Louis W. Sullivan, MD, the award’s namesake, created WEDI in 1991. Since then, the organization has helped facilitate improvements to healthcare delivery and efficiency through health IT. In 2001, Sullivan received the first Sullivan Award, as WEDI honored him for the contributions he has made to the healthcare industry on behalf of the organization.
Suarez’s past accomplishments make him an ideal recipient of the award. He has served as CEO of the Institute of HIPAA/HIT Education and Research, CEO of the Midwest Center for HIPAA Education, and CEO of Minnesota Health Data Institute.
Suarez was also appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to serve on the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) in 2009, serving as co-chair of the Standards Sub-Committee and member of the Population Health and the Privacy and Security Sub-Committees. Most recently, he has been appointed the chair of the NCVHS.
Aside from receiving the Sullivan Award, Suarez has received Minnesota’s “Most Influential Health Care Leaders” in 1997 and 1998, the WEDI Distinguished Service Award in 2004, 2006, and 2007, and WEDI’s “Andrew H. Melczer” Excellence in Volunteerism Award in 2005.
