Russell P. Branzell is the CEO and President of CHIME and its affiliate associations, AEHIS,  AEHIT and AEHIA. In addition to his position at CHIME, he serves on the faculty at Columbia University, where he teaches executive classes in health information technology. He also is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a position that was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. 

Russ joined CHIME as president and CEO in April 2013 after being an active member for 15 years. He served on the CHIME Board of Trustees from 2004-2008, as chair of the CHIME Education Committee from 2004–2008 and as chair of the CHIME Education Foundation. He is currently a faculty member of the CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp.

Prior to taking his position at CHIME, he was the CEO at the Colorado Health Medical Group; Vice President of Information Services and CIO for Poudre Valley Health System; President/CEO of Innovation Enterprises (PVHS’ for-profit IS entity); and Regional Deputy CIO and Executive Director of Information Services for Sisters of Mercy Health System in St. Louis, Mo. He served on active duty in the United States Air Force and retired from the Air Force Reserves in 2008. While on active duty, he held numerous healthcare administration positions, including CIO for the Air Mobility Command Surgeon General’s Office.

A native of San Antonio, Russ earned an undergraduate degree in business administration, specializing in human resource management and labor relations, from the University of Texas. In addition, he earned a master’s degree in Aerospace Science from Embry-Riddle University with an emphasis in management.

Adrienne Edens, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO is VP of Education for CHIME. Her career in healthcare information systems extends over 40 years including experience in HIT consulting and 25 years as a CIO.

As the VP and CIO for the Valley Area of Sutter Health Adrienne lead the consolidation of the IS organizations of 2 previous regions into an integrated operational unit supporting 10 hospitals and 2000 foundation physicians. While at Sutter she was involved in a number of strategic initiatives to improve operational performance and completed the Rona Certified Lean Workshop Leader program.

As the CIO for St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho, she engaged the organization in developing a physician led strategy for the electronic medical record to consolidate EHRs from 14 to one. This approach provided the means to integrate a widely distributed system of hospitals, physician offices, clinics and rural critical access hospitals. While at St. Luke’s she served as a member of the board of the state wide HIE, the Idaho Health Data Exchange.

As the Information Officer for National Health Plan systems for Kaiser Permanente she led the program to achieve compliance with Medicare Part D for the Kaiser regions and developed the first deductible plan capabilities for the California regions.

As Regional CIO for the Sacramento Region and Information Officer, Northern California for Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West), Adrienne managed the process of integrating systems for hospitals joining the region. She also developed and implemented IT governance, strategic plans and shared systems for multiple regions within the organization.

Prior to these positions she served as Practice Director, Pacific Northwest, for First Consulting Group where she led a number of strategic IT planning engagements, vendor selections, contract negotiations and application implementation projects for healthcare financial and clinical systems.

Her background includes experience as a consultant at Arthur Andersen & Co. and as Product Manager for clinical systems development and Director of Implementation for system projects to support 90 hospitals and associated divisional and corporate users at American Medical International.

Adrienne holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of California at Davis and a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. She is a charter member and past Board member of CHIME and a past Board member of HIMSS, HIMSS Analytics, and the Boise Art Museum. She is currently serving as a member of the panel of judges for the first annual HIMSS Most Influential Women in Health IT Awards and as a mentor to one of the Carole C Emmott Fellows.

Keith Fraidenburg has more than 20 years of experience working within the healthcare IT industry, including nearly 16 years of association management experience. In his role as Executive VP and Chief Strategy Officer, he is responsible for providing overall leadership and tactical execution of the organization’s strategic plan while identifying and cultivating new growth opportunities in support of the organization’s long-term strategic goals. He also maintains primary responsibility for the organization’s advocacy and public policy efforts and its platform of education programs and services. In doing so, he works closely with senior healthcare IT executives, key industry leaders, and industry association partners, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and others to keenly understand the issues, concerns, and needs of healthcare information executives.

In his previous role as VP of Education and Communications for CHIME, Mr. Fraidenburg was responsible for leading the education, marketing and communications programs and services available through CHIME.

In addition to his responsibilities within CHIME, Mr. Fraidenburg is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Aaron Miri is the Chief Information Officer for The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin.  Aaron brings more than 15 years of healthcare experience driving growth and innovation, leading both provider and commercial healthcare enterprises, and providing thought leadership and close collaboration with state and federal representatives.  As CIO, Aaron is passionate about humanizing technology by collaborating with clinicians, technology partners, and business champions to truly transform healthcare delivery for consumers, patients, and providers. 

In 2020, The United Stated Senate congressionally re-appointed Aaron for a second term to the Health and Human Services, federal Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC), established under the 21st Century Cures Act. Furthermore, he was elevated to the role of Co-Chairman of the HITAC. The United States Senate first appointed Aaron to the HITAC in 2018.   

In 2016, The Obama Administration, HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, appointed Aaron to serve on the Health IT Policy Committee established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Aaron is the prior Chair of the HIMSS National Public Policy Committee and serves as an expert adviser to the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and to other congressional panels engaged in numerous Health IT policy topics. Aaron also serves as an advisor to the National Academy of Medicine on the topics of healthcare privacy, security, and data.   

Prior to joining U.T. Austin, Aaron served as the Chief Information Officer for Imprivata, where he helped to build and transform a global commercial enterprise focused on healthcare cyber security.  Prior to Imprivata, Aaron was the Chief Information Officer for Walnut Hill Medical Center, and former CTO for Children’s Health System of Texas, located in Dallas, Texas.    

Aaron has successfully led organizations that achieved the HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award, HIMSS Level 7 EMRAM status, HITRUST CSF designation, and he led the first provider organization to receive the SECURETexas Health Information Privacy and Security certification awarded through the Texas Health Services Authority. Aaron is also a proud member of the CHIME CIO Faculty and routinely mentors early careerists through CHIME, HIMSS, and other national Health IT associations.  

Aaron received his MBA with distinction from the University of Dallas, and his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Arlington. Aaron is a Certified Healthcare Chief Information Officer through the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, a distinguished Fellow with the Health Information Management Systems Society, and he is a Project Management Professional with the Project Management Institute. 

Aaron is a nationally recognized 2020 “CIOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review and was honored with the 2016 Computerworld Premier 100 Technology Leaders award, 2017 Texas Health IT Leadership Award, and the 2019 Constellation Research Business Transformation 150 award.  

He serves as a board member with The Sequoia Project, serves as a global CIO board advisor for Dell Inc., and as an industry advisor for numerous healthcare startups and leading venture capital corporations.  

Donna Roach serves as the Chief Information Officer for the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics (UUHC).  Previous to this, she was the Vice President for Information Services at BJC HealthCare and Washington University Medical School and oversaw the Epic program for the 15 BJC Hospitals, the 700 physician medical group, in addition to the 2200 physician member Washington University Medical School Faculty Practice Plan and affiliated practices.   

With more than 35 years’ experience in the healthcare industry, Roach has focused on healthcare information technology for the past 30 years. She was with Ascension Information Services, serving as the Chief Information Officer in the St. Louis corporate office, the Gulf Coast, Kansas, Michigan and New York markets. Prior to this, she held the CIO role at Bronson Health in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Illinois. 

Roach earned her Bachelor of Science Degree, Health Administration, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and her Master of Science in Health Systems Management from Rush University Medical College in Chicago. She completed her Fellowship at the Veterans Administration, Chicago. 

Roach is a Certified Healthcare Chief Information Officer, a Fellow within the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and Healthcare Information Management Systems Society and served on the Board for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. Previously, she was the President of the Michigan Chapter of Healthcare Information Management Systems Society and Chair for the Michigan Hospital Association Technology Board.  

She has taught at the University of Illinois – Circle Campus, Rush Medical College, Department of Health Systems Management, and UCONN, Health Administration. 

Ryan Smith is the Chief Information Officer and Vice President at Intermountain Healthcare, an integrated delivery network (IDN) based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ryan is nationally and internationally recognized as a CIO and is a frequent speaker on the topics of healthcare IT strategy, digital transformation, enterprise data and analytics strategy, IT governance, strategic vendor alignment, and consumer digital experience.

Ryan has been involved with Information Technology for over 25 years. Prior to Intermountain, Ryan was SVP and Executive Advisor at Health Catalyst, where he advised healthcare executives on enterprise data and digital strategies. He was previously SVP and CIO at Banner Health, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare systems, where he helped create the organization’s recognized digital business capabilities. He spent 19 years in various IT and digital business leadership roles at Intermountain, where he started his professional career. Ryan has significant interest in promoting the digital transformation of the U.S. healthcare system by leveraging integrated technology, data intelligence, re-imagined workflows, and organizational leadership.

Ryan has served as a board member at Health Current, Arizona’s statewide health information exchange, while also serving on numerous advisory boards across the high tech and HIT sectors. He participates in multiple healthcare industry organizations, including College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME), and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Ryan received a bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Utah and latera Masters of Business Administration from Western Governor’s University.

Timothy Stettheimer, PhD, is Vice President of Education for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), a 2,400-plus member professional organization.  In this role, Dr. Stettheimer leads all education strategy for members and affiliate associations, as well as international efforts. Education initiatives include CHIME’s Fall and Spring Forums, CIO Bootcamps, Leadership Academies as well as other summits, workshops and symposia.

Dr. Stettheimer has previously served as a healthcare CIO for two decades and has worked with healthcare information technology and healthcare leaders for twenty-five years.  He most recently served as the Regional Chief Information Officer (RCIO) for the South and Central Region of Ascension Information Services (AIS), which is made up of seven geographic markets as well as all senior living locations and all medical groups. As RCIO, Dr. Stettheimer was the regional leader responsible for AIS service delivery and technology visioning. He also guided governance models, served on Ascension-level committees, and supported diverse AIS functions such as goal sponsorship, compensation committee efforts, IT general control oversight, infrastructure governance, and AIS Model Community Survey action planning.

Prior to his Ascension role, Dr. Stettheimer served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for St. Vincent’s Health System, Birmingham. In this role, he was responsible for managing the Health Ministry’s technology strategy, portfolio, and operations, while serving as the Health Ministry’s technology service delivery senior escalation point. He has also served in leadership roles at Adventist Health System and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Dr. Stettheimer earned a doctorate in information services focused in medical informatics, information theory and design, and information policy and management from the University of North Texas in Denton. He holds a master’s degree in applied cognition and neuroscience from the University of Texas in Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Dr. Stettheimer is a fellow with both the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (FCHIME). He is a member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), holds the Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) credential, is a certified professional in healthcare information management systems (CPHIMS), and is a member of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). He served as a fellow through a National Institute of Health grant during his doctoral studies. Dr. Stettheimer has held faculty positions with the University of North Texas and the University of Alabama at Birmingham and serves on a number of non-profit boards.

Dr. Stettheimer has earned the Certified Healthcare CIO distinction from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). He also served as the CHIME 2010 Board Chair, the 2011 CHIME Foundation Board Chair and the 2013-2014 CHIME Education Foundation Board Chair. Dr. Stettheimer and his wife Carol live in Birmingham, AL and are the parents of four children.