Information Services Leadership Profiles

Prior to becoming CIO, Dr. Wolf was pathologist-in-chief and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at CHOP from 2001 to 2008, where he was responsible for the day-to-day clinical operations of the department as well as for laboratory systems implementations. Dr. Wolf was also a leader in diabetes research with an emphasis on islet biology.

Dr. Wolf developed a deep understanding of data and information systems, a skill that was critical to running CHOPs laboratories. When the CIO position opened up 2008, the combination of his clinical, technical and leadership experience made Dr. Wolf a logical choice for the promotion.

Today, he is responsible for all Information Services infrastructure and applications for the CHOP enterprise. Dr. Wolf has this to say about CHOP IS: "We're mission focused and the mission is glorious — we're taking care of the frailest and sickest patients. That's why we invest in the future of our people through training and knowledge. We want to retain these people so they can reach their goals and develop a passion. That can only help us meet our goals."

Bartelt says he was in the right place at the right time. CHOP’s chief information officer needed someone who could focus on process, IS metrics and the way CHOP reported information. Bartelt had the skills the organization was looking for and was soon promoted to manager of service operation and improvement. Another promotion in 2009 made Bartelt the director of infrastructure, giving him ownership over the data center, networking and platforms that support the organization.

When Bartelt was named chief technology officer in 2011, he became responsible for all client service teams in the Hospital, and all of the hardware used to support operations and patient care. He also provides direction and oversight for technical decisions for the Hospital – a critical role considering the speed at which technology changes today.

CHOP has been important to Bartelt’s IS career because of CHOP’s commitment to information services and technology. CHOP invests in technology because it’s important to making patient care the best it can be. IS is a nonclinical department, but the work done by this team directly impacts the clinician’s ability to deliver the best possible experience and outcomes to patients and families. And the way IS works with the clinical teams is special – it’s a partnership with the singular goal of improving care.

Bartelt says that a major benefit of working for CHOP is how often things change in the Hospital. As service lines constantly grow and adapt, so does the need for technology. As a result, his work is always changing, keeping him in touch with the leading edge of the industry.

His career advice: Go the extra mile. Pay attention to customer service. Deliver complete solutions. And expose yourself to as many people and tasks as you can, because opportunity will follow.

Beech first came to CHOP in 2006 as an information security analyst. In this role, her responsibilities were flipped – it was now her job to put security policies and procedures in place, perform risk assessment, and design and manage processes to measure compliance against regulatory requirements. Her past as an IT auditor made her the perfect fit for the job.

When Beech began her career at CHOP, the chief information security officer was looking for his replacement – someone who understood how to protect data. And in 2009, just three years after coming to the Hospital, Beech was appointed to the CISO role.

As CISO, she’s responsible for the information security program management functions, including governance and regulatory compliance, risk management, awareness of threat and vulnerability, security administration, and security awareness and training. She has oversight of the entire information security program for the Hospital. One of the key responsibilities of the CISO is ensuring CHOP complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the law that ensures that all health information remains private. HIPAA requires strict information security policies organization wide.

Her career advice: Be known for your work ethic, and stay focused on leaving a place better than it was when you arrived. Move operations forward to make your mark on an organization.

Yogel showed she had a talent for understanding the value of process while working as a respiratory therapist. In addition to her clinical work with patients at CHOP, Yogel worked to improve the process by which care was delivered to infants and children with respiratory problems. She wrote a policy and procedure manual, implemented training plans, designed a community outreach program, and presented research to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Since then, she’s translated her skill for process management throughout the Hospital. A connection she made while teaching a communications class for CHOP employees alerted her to an opportunity to become a quality improvement analyst. It was a job where she could put her talent to work improving the systems and processes that provide care across the entire Hospital. In this position, Yogel worked to streamline many different areas of CHOP operations, including the development of many of the early clinical pathways.

From there, Yogel was recruited to IS, where she was once again recognized for her valuable understanding of the process by which things get done. She got her start in IS working on the team that implemented Epic, an electronic medical record system used throughout the CHOP Care Network. It was the largest go-live event in the department’s history. And as CHOP IS grew over the years, Yogel grew with it. In just over 10 years she moved up through the ranks, from systems analyst to where she is today – director of quality programs.

Her career advice: Get involved as much as you can. Broaden your network of contacts within an organization to get better perspective on where things have been and where they’re going. This will help you find avenues for growing your career.

Without any formal training in information services and technology, Smith made it her mission to master the field. During the early years of her information services career, she was in various analyst roles, both in-house and on the vendor side. Smith worked her way up to a leadership position as an application manager, overseeing the design and development of clinical and business practice management systems for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

At the same time, she was pursuing master’s degrees in healthcare administration and healthcare information services. One of her professors was the chief information officer at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and the connection introduced Smith to CHOP’s Information Services department (IS).

It was 2001 when she first accepted a job with CHOP IS as a lead analyst in the Physician Information and Networking Group (PING). She moved into a new position as application coordinator in 2005, and was responsible for overseeing and performing the build of a new professional billing application within the Hospital’s electronic medical record system, Epic Patient Access and Revenue Cycle (PARC).

In 2007, Smith was promoted to Business Support Manager for PARC Support in Information Services. One of her new responsibilities was to develop the new business advisor role to provide high touch customer service to internal clients, a role that has been adopted across other departments at the Hospital. Smith has since been promoted to director of the Epic PARC/HIM Support department, which was expanded to include Health Information Management (HIM).

Smith says the things she loves most about her job are the diversity of her days and the ways her work touches the clinical world and patient care. Her position provides a big picture view of the entire Hospital, which is an organization that understands the value of investing in IS, and gives the department a seat at the table during important decision-making processes.

Her career advice: Don’t be afraid of new or undefined territory. Whether it’s a field you’re unfamiliar with, or a service that you have to build from the ground up, taking risks means creating opportunities to change the course of your career.