Media inquiries regarding the Center for Health IT may be directed to:
Amanda Holt
Public Relations Specialist
American Academy of Family Physicians
Phone: 913-906-6000, ext. 5223
Fax: 913-906-6080
Email: aholt@aafp.org
Press Pass
Staff Bios - Director
Steven E. Waldren, M.D., serves as director of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Center for Health IT. Waldren joined the AAFP in May 2004. His in-depth knowledge of health information systems, programming and software, and medical informatics makes him a qualified expert to lead the AAFP’s Center for Health IT as it aims to expand its services to thousands more primary care physicians within the next five years.
The Center for Health IT assists family physicians and other primary care doctors at various stages of EHR adoption. The overall mission of the Center is to promote and facilitate the adoption and optimal use of health information technology to improve health care quality, enhance patient safety, and increase practice efficiency so that both patients and physicians benefit.
Waldren demonstrates strong technical skills and a broad understanding of the role of information technology in the present and future of medicine. In addition to directing the AAFP’s Center for Health IT, he serves as co-chair of the Physicians’ EHR Coalition, a group of representatives from more than 20 professional medical associations that address issues related to health care IT and physician practices. He also is a member of the National Quality Forum’s HIT Measure Steering Committee that seeks to identify and endorse physician performance measures for quality improvement related to EHR use.
Waldren serves in a volunteer role as vice chair of the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM)’s E31 Health Information Standards Committee, which is responsible for the development of health care IT standards. He co-founded Open Health Data whose mission is to promote health care data reuse through the development and utilization of open source products and services, and he is a member and past co-chair of the Ambulatory Functionality Working Group of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.
Additionally, Waldren serves as board chair of the Center for Improving Medication Management, a collaborative forum that promotes the value of pharmacy information technology use with patients and physicians for the purpose of improving medication management overall.
Waldren also serves the industry in the following capacities:
• Co-chair of the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance’s Data Aggregation and HIT Subcommittee.
• Member of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) working group on PDF/H – a best practices standard for PDF in healthcare.
• Member of the American National Standards Institute-Health Care Information Technology Standards Panel (ANSI-HITSP).
• Member of the Certification Commission on Health IT Ambulatory Working Group.
• Co-founder of www.ccrstandard.com.
• Member of Healthcare IT News Editorial Advisory Board.
Waldren is a board-certified family physician. He completed his Master’s in health care informatics in May 2004 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, while completing a National Library of Medicine Postdoctoral Medical Informatics Research Fellowship. He completed his family medicine residency at Wesley Family Medicine (University of Kansas School of Medicine), Wichita, Kan., and earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City.
Waldren has presented at more than 30 national conferences that focus on health IT issues in the past three years. He also has co-authored scholarly articles that have been published in several peer-reviewed publications.
The Center for Health IT assists family physicians and other primary care doctors at various stages of EHR adoption. The overall mission of the Center is to promote and facilitate the adoption and optimal use of health information technology to improve health care quality, enhance patient safety, and increase practice efficiency so that both patients and physicians benefit.
Waldren demonstrates strong technical skills and a broad understanding of the role of information technology in the present and future of medicine. In addition to directing the AAFP’s Center for Health IT, he serves as co-chair of the Physicians’ EHR Coalition, a group of representatives from more than 20 professional medical associations that address issues related to health care IT and physician practices. He also is a member of the National Quality Forum’s HIT Measure Steering Committee that seeks to identify and endorse physician performance measures for quality improvement related to EHR use.
Waldren serves in a volunteer role as vice chair of the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM)’s E31 Health Information Standards Committee, which is responsible for the development of health care IT standards. He co-founded Open Health Data whose mission is to promote health care data reuse through the development and utilization of open source products and services, and he is a member and past co-chair of the Ambulatory Functionality Working Group of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.
Additionally, Waldren serves as board chair of the Center for Improving Medication Management, a collaborative forum that promotes the value of pharmacy information technology use with patients and physicians for the purpose of improving medication management overall.
Waldren also serves the industry in the following capacities:
• Co-chair of the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance’s Data Aggregation and HIT Subcommittee.
• Member of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) working group on PDF/H – a best practices standard for PDF in healthcare.
• Member of the American National Standards Institute-Health Care Information Technology Standards Panel (ANSI-HITSP).
• Member of the Certification Commission on Health IT Ambulatory Working Group.
• Co-founder of www.ccrstandard.com.
• Member of Healthcare IT News Editorial Advisory Board.
Waldren is a board-certified family physician. He completed his Master’s in health care informatics in May 2004 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, while completing a National Library of Medicine Postdoctoral Medical Informatics Research Fellowship. He completed his family medicine residency at Wesley Family Medicine (University of Kansas School of Medicine), Wichita, Kan., and earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City.
Waldren has presented at more than 30 national conferences that focus on health IT issues in the past three years. He also has co-authored scholarly articles that have been published in several peer-reviewed publications.
Staff Bios - Asst. Director
Jason M. Mitchell, M.D., serves as the assistant director of the Center for Health Information Technology 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, Kan., promotes and facilitates the adoption and use of electronic health records and other health information technology by AAFP members and other office-based clinicians.
Prior to his role with the AAFP, Dr. Mitchell practiced medicine as a full-time family physician with the SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group in St. Charles, Missouri. He also served as chairperson of the inpatient 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.
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.
The AAFP’s Center for Health IT, based at the AAFP headquarters in Leawood, Kan., promotes and facilitates the adoption and use of electronic health records and other health information technology by AAFP members and other office-based clinicians.
Prior to his role with the AAFP, Dr. Mitchell practiced medicine as a full-time family physician with the SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group in St. Charles, Missouri. He also served as chairperson of the inpatient 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.
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.