TOPICS OF EXPERTISE

  • Changing Role of the CIO
  • Executive Leadership
  • Future of Healthcare IT
  • IT Strategy and Governance (IT Organizational Strategy, IT Staging, IT Strategic Planning)
  • Population Health
  • Vendor Partnerships

CIO at Lee Health
Ft Myers, FL


Rick Schooler currently serves as CIO for Lee Health in Ft Myers, Florida. His areas of responsibility include Information Technology, Telecommunications, BioMedical Engineering and Medical Informatics. In September 2017, he retired from Orlando Health after having served 16 years as the organization’s Vice President & CIO. While there, he was responsible for Information Technology, Telecommunications, Clinical Informatics, Enterprise Analytics and Quality Reporting, BioMedical Engineering, Supply Chain and a Group Purchasing Organization. Prior to joining Orlando Health, he was the Vice President & CIO for Central Georgia Health System. From 1991 to 1994, Rick served as Director of Systems Integration for the Methodist Hospital of Indiana. His previous employers also include Ameritech, General Dynamics and Computer Systems Corporation. Rick is also founder and managing principal of Practical Advisory, LLC, through which he provides executive coaching services.

Schooler earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis and his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Technology from Purdue University. Throughout his career, he has received designations, recognitions and awards that include the following: Purdue University Distinguished Technology Alumni, CHIME/HIMSS John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year Award, CHIME Innovator of the Year Award, Information Week’s “Top 25 CIOs in Healthcare,” Florida Healthcare Coalition Leadership Award, Information Management magazine’s “Top 25 Information Mangers,” Orlando Business Journal’s Healthcare Hero and Georgia CIO of the Year.

Schooler is a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) and a member of the following professional organizations: American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) (Fellow), CHIME (Lifetime Member, Fellow and former Board Member) and HIMSS(Fellow and Board Member). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Coalition for the Homeless (Orlando, FL), Orlando Health Central Hospital and HIMSS. He is also a member of the Industrial Advisory Board for the Purdue University Department of Computer and Information Technology, the KLAS CIO Advisory Board, Healthcare Informatics Editorial Board, and the University of Central Florida Regional Extension Center (REC) Advisory Board.

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