Ryan Smith, vice president and chief information officer of Intermountain Healthcare, will step down and move to the executive role of Graphite Health, an interoperable company co-founded by Intermountain and two other non-profit medical systems earlier this year.
The Salt Lake City-based health system said on Tuesday that Smith will serve as Graphite Health’s chief operating officer, and he will continue to serve as Intermountain’s chief information officer through the first quarter of 2022, as he “gets a step up in his new position.” Intermountain says this will give the health system time to change the role of the CIO.
As the chief operating officer of Graphite Health, Smith will report directly to the company’s CEO, Dr. Ries Robinson.
“Ryan directly understands the challenges facing healthcare system leaders and digital health entrepreneurs,” Robinson said in a statement. Press Releases“He will ensure that Graphite Health creates a solution to achieve the digital transformation of healthcare.”
In October, Intermountain Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico and SSM Health in St. Louis Launch Graphite Health, A non-profit company, will review and certify digital health applications based on the ethical and data standards set by the company.
Graphite Health will host certified apps in a marketplace similar to an app store, where hospitals can purchase them. The company has stated that it will receive a portion of the revenue the company earns through its products sold on the market, which will be used to maintain Graphite Health’s operations.
Smith stated in a press release that he is very happy to participate in Graphite Health’s strategic planning as Intermountain’s CIO.
“I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help change digital health on a broader scale,” he said. “From my experience, I know how important it is for the healthcare system to adopt more effective and credible ways to adopt valuable digital health tools.”
Most of Graphite Health’s leadership team comes from its health system founders.
The company’s CEO Robinson also serves as the chief innovation consultant and was formerly the chief innovation officer of Presbyterian. Dr. Stanley Huff, Intermountain’s Chief Medical Information Officer, also serves as Graphite Health’s CMIO. Intermountain said it will license its medical informatics intellectual property rights to Graphite Health for free.
Dan Liljenquist, Intermountain’s senior vice president and chief strategy officer, is the chairman of Graphite Health’s board of directors.
Intermountain, Presbyterian, and SSM each have an executive on the Graphite Health board.
Smith Join Intermountain Last year after serving as CIO Marc Probst for a long time Announce retirementProbst has since joined the executive team of Ellkay, a medical data archiving and interoperability company. Smith previously served as the senior vice president of Health Catalyst, a data warehouse and analytics company, and the CIO of Banner Health in Phoenix.
