

MEMBER PROFILE:
Tanya Townsend
System Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
LCMC Health
CHIME Member: 15 years
Tanya Shares
Q: What does being a Member of CHIME mean to you?
A: CHIME has been instrumental to my development both as a digital health technologist and as a leader. CHIME has provided me with invaluable tools, resources, and relationships that I am forever grateful for.
Q: Tell us a story that demonstrates how important advancements in digital health are.
A: Our response to Covid-19 is a recent example of leveraging technology to manage the health and care of our population. From standing up telehealth/virtual visits overnight, to supporting workers to work remotely or from home, to leveraging data to research the pandemic and predict next steps. Without these capabilities, managing this pandemic couldn’t have happened as safely or swiftly as we were able to.
Q: How do you hope to impact health and care in your organization, community, or at large?
A: As a results-driven leader, I am most proud of setting goals, measuring progress, and celebrating success. I look forward to continuing to do just that as we move to value-based healthcare that makes health and care affordable, transparent, and safe. I want to provide tools for the patient to feel a part of their own care team, resulting in equitable, quality, affordable care for all.
Q: How have you experienced innovation in your professional career?
A: I’ve had the opportunity to experience a lot of “firsts”, some of them very successful and some were lessons learned. I learned a lot from both, but the lessons learned are at the root of innovation and how to apply them for success: fail fast, don’t get discouraged, and combine the attributes of people/process/technology, not necessarily all at the same time.
Q: How have you experienced collaboration within the CHIME network?
A: I attended the CHIME Boot Camp over 15 years ago and have remained in contact with many of the instructors and peers ever since! It’s an amazing network of members from the Board, to the CHIME Staff, to the many membership options that all support and want each other to succeed. Whether it was tackling a new initiative or seeking advice on a new position, I’ve never felt alone amongst this group.