Jason M. Mitchell, M.D., serves as the assistant director of the Center for Health IT at the American Academy of Family Physicians. Mitchell assumed the position in June 2007. The AAFP’s Center for Health IT, based at the AAFP headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, promotes and facilitates the adoption and use of electronic health records and other health information technology by AAFP members and other office-based clinicians.
Mitchell’s expertise in the area of medical informatics and his experience as a practicing family physician give him the extensive clinical and technological knowledge to help lead the Center in its mission and to extend the services it provides. As assistant director, he works to make the Center a trusted and unbiased resource for doctors throughout America.
Prior to being named assistant director of the AAFP’s Center for Health IT, Mitchell practiced medicine as a full-time family physician with the SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group in suburban St. Louis. During that time, he also served as chief of staff-elect for SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, Missouri, and for SSM St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri. In this role, he worked with the hospital presidents to direct policy and manage budgetary and staff issues. Mitchell also served as chairperson of the hospitals’ performance improvement council, served on the medical informatics committee and served as chairperson of the department of Family Medicine. Additionally, he served on the Physician Leadership Council for the SSM St. Louis Network and on the membership committee for the SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group.
Mitchell’s previous and continuing clinical experience has helped him develop expertise in inpatient and outpatient practice workflow and redesign issues, physician engagement and change management, and physician leadership.
He helped found mPOWER Medical Informatics, LLC, in 2004. As chief technology officer, he developed computer applications that use state-of-the-art, Web-based technologies to maximize efficiency and accuracy in communication, billing, insurance claims and enhancing overall clinical care.
Mitchell has demonstrated strong technical skills and a broad understanding of the role of information technology in the future of Family Medicine. With his skill in software design and implementation, Mitchell works to bridge the primary care-health information technology (HIT) chasm. The HIT industry includes companies that develop computer software for electronic health records. He has gained valuable experience interfacing with both practicing physicians and HIT professionals.
Mitchell currently serves on the Clinical Advisory Group for Dossia, a personal health record company, and is the founding board chairman of eHealthAlign, a community-driven health information exchange initiative spanning the Kansas City bi-state region. Mitchell is a board-certified family physician who also is a member of the AAFP, the American Medical Association, the American Medical Informatics Association and the Missouri State Medical Association. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry, graduated with honors from medical school and completed his Family Medicine residency at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He currently is completing a master's degree in health informatics from the same university.
