Spotlight: How Carol Steltenkamp influences the use of IT

Health Data Management has announced the honorees in its program to recognize the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT. All will be recognized at our event May 12 in Boston. In leading up to that event, HDM editors are highlighting some of the honorees—today, we feature Carol Steltenkamp, MD, who is chief medical information officer for University of Kentucky HealthCare, and chair of the HIMSS board of directors.

Name: Carol Steltenkamp, MD

Title: Chief Medical Information Officer, University of Kentucky HealthCare; Chair, HIMSS Board of Directors

Previous/current responsibilities:

• Professor of pediatrics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
• Director, Kentucky Regional Extension Center
• Chief Medical Information Officer, University of Kentucky HealthCare
• Chair, HIMSS Board of Directors (Vice Chair HIMSS North America 2013/2014)
• Chair, Kentucky eHealth Network Board

Job Responsibilities:
A practicing pediatrician, Steltenkamp is an instrumental leader in the advancement of Health Information Technology throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond. As the CMIO of UK HealthCare, she is responsible for the leadership and management of all clinical information systems. These initiatives provide the foundation for the strategic goals of the organization. She uses her skills as a clinician, educator, and researcher to further the goal of better health through the use of information technology. This is quite evident through her work with the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Achievements:

• Chairperson of the Kentucky eHealth Network Board, which successfully launched and maintains the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE)
• Primary Investigator of over $10 million in HIT related grant funding including the foundational grant from HHS/ONC establishing the Kentucky Regional Extension Center
• Led UK HealthCare (a $1.3 billion academic medical center) transition to an all-electronic health record across all inpatient and ambulatory sites
• Original course director/developer for nursing doctoral course: “Technology for Transforming Nursing and Health Care”
• Board certification in Clinical Informatics

Impact on HIT:

Steltenkamp began her career in HIT rather innocently. After having practiced pediatrics in a private practice setting, she returned to academic medicine at the University of Kentucky. A life-long learner, Steltenkamp went back to school and received her MBA. It was during those studies that she was exposed to information technology and her passion for its use in health care was ignited. As the first CMIO at the University of Kentucky, she began with the early selection and ultimately the implementation of an electronic health record across the clinical enterprise at her organization. Steltenkamp then moved beyond her organization, becoming a leader for HIT in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She was named the chair of the Kentucky eHealth Board, a position that she still holds today.

Working with colleagues across the Commonwealth, she has secured millions of dollars in grant funding in support of HIT efforts. One such effort was the initial funding for the Kentucky Regional Extension Center (REC). This now financially viable organization has assisted thousands of clinicians and 40 percent of the acute care hospitals in Kentucky in reaching Meaningful Use. The Kentucky REC scope of work has expanded to include a complete set of offerings for use when partnering with providers to transform the provision of patient care.

Steltenkamp has been an active volunteer member of HIMSS for many years. She has served the organization and its members in various ways including membership on the Personal Health Records Steering Committee, the Annual Conference Education Committee and the Physician Committee. Carol was elected to the HIMSS North America Board of Directors, serving as the Vice Chair in 2013-2014. She is currently the Chair of the HIMSS (International) Board of Directors. These opportunities have allowed her to interact with healthcare leaders throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.