Professional Experience

Over fifty years of managing, designing; developing and implementing advanced information and telecommunications technology. Combined expert hands-on technical qualifications with equally strong performance in needs assessment, system planning, budgeting, staffing, technology acquisition and operations planning.

First started with computers at the age of thirteen writing computer programs at Yale University's computer center in 1973. Participated with the installation of Yale's first digital connection to ARPAnet.

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) VISN 1, 3, 4, 10, 16 / Region 4, 2 / National - 10/2001 to Present

U.S. Federal Goverment / VHA
Background Investigation Certified / Secret / High Risk / Public Trust Position /
HIPAA & Privacy Compliance Administrator

Developed a national Coordinated Care Tracking System (CCTS) for cirrhosis and oncology Teams Nation wide (130 hospitals). The CCTS management tool's tracks timely, efficient, oncology and cirrhosis care via timelines between suspicion, diagnoses, and treatment.

Radiology reports are text mined (based on open-source Natural Language Processing tools) to automatically code cancer alerts for potentially malignant nodules and displayed to the oncology teams. Internal audits have shown under-coding of cancer alerts, demonstrating the need for automated coding. Alerts are forwarded to cancer care coordinators who manage surveillance and treatment of the nodules.

The CCTS provides a web based integrated work space for multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate, coordinate, and actively facilitate patient care via to-do, follow-ups and reporting tools that data mines the VHA's VistA and CDW data systems for high risk patients, days, average days, and standard deviation per lesion and or per clinical procedure provided by the cirrhosis and oncology teams.

Development of Precision Oncology Research Program (POP) at Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC). POP is a new cancer research program designed to create a database that includes genetic and medical information from a large number of patients to help improve the treatment and quality of cancer care of Veterans. By setting up a central location to track this information, we hope to improve our understanding of cancer biology, identify clinical trial opportunities and share information with others that may lead to the development of new cancer treatments.

The patient population will be those diagnosed with lung cancer through pathology results in local VistA. Additional data will be extracted from other VA data sources including the Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), and other available data sources.

Developed a method of interoperability between The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO) SNOMED-CT data set and the VHA's VistA system. SNOMED is a data set of Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine -- Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) with over a million medical Concepts. Researchers query a web based UI with clinical nomenclature or specific ICD9 terminology and return patient specific or aggregated data sets of patient data.

Developed VistA / InterSystems Cache datamart integration solutions work directly with VISN 1 and VISN 4 Chief Information Officers. Wore many hats providing the following services: Business Analyst, System Analyst, Database Analyst, Database Administrator, System Administrator, and lead web applications programmer

Developed a XML metadata solution, expanded InterSystems Mumps / Cache with ETL functionality that auto updates a Microsoft SQL 2005/2008 Server VistaA datamart representing over half a million patients data (over one billion rows of data).

Developed and maintained a library of SQL objects for data conversion extraction routines that resides on both sides of the SQL gateway (SQL Server & Cache), along with objects that manage permissions, indices, data synchronization, etc... This is no easy task since MUMPS is an un-constrained non-hierarchal DBMS and SQL Server is a highly constrained RDMS. VistA contains vast amounts of poorly managed data prior to 2002 and was (and is) built and maintained ad-hoc.

Developed Best Practices and proper security requirements for managing data.

Developed VISN 4's VHA Performance Measure System data tracking system as mandated by the Office of Quality & Performance (OQP). Required development of specialized routines and shadow servers gateway functions that journaled VistA data in real time as a read only system along with establishing best practices for a SQL gateway to Cache architecture. This system has been adopted and has moved forward by Region 4 of the VHA to implement this system in VISN's 1, 2, 3, and 5.

Developed the Care Management Information System (CMIS) that provided patient specific data and aggregated patient costing data to both the VHA's administrators and care mangers. The CMIS system is an XML browser based GUI pointing to a SQL Server gateway connected to VistA that required development of specialized encryption solutions for passing web based patient information into common Microsoft user applications (Access, Excel, Outlook) along with user authentication schemas to ensure usage of the data meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requirements and 508 compliance.

Sarco Communications Company - New Haven, CT.
Chief Information Officer 1997 to 2001

CIO of an independent sales agent of a local telecommunications carrier, Southern New England Telephone (SNET) / SBC Communications, with sales exceeding Fourteen Million dollars per year, staffed with 20 network sales specialists trained in all aspects of telecommunication.

Projects Include:
Internet based ordering system for business telecommunications network sales, I.E.: Centrex Services, Toll Plans, Frame Relay, ISDN, DDS, ADSL etc...

Installations and sales of computer learning labs to Civic, religious and school organizations. NT and Unix based, supporting 40 to 80 simultaneous users per learning lab. Configured with dedicated Internet Distance Learning (IDL) capable of supporting up to an additional 100 simultaneous users.

Web Solutions - Woodbridge, CT.
Chief Information Officer 1995 TO 1997

CIO of a Internet Presence Provider (IPP) & Internet Service Provider (ISP) servicing the New England area. Oversaw day-to-day functions of a 1,000 seat network, providing network connectivity as distant as Singapore. Developed custom Internet related database-driven solutions for the architectural community; clients included Cesar Pelli & Associates, Ballinger-AE two of the largest architectural firms in the world.

Additional history provided upon request