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FEATURED SPEAKERS
National E-prescribing Conference
October 6 -7, 2008
Boston, MA
Michael O. Leavitt
Secretary of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
 Michael O. Leavitt was sworn in as the 20th Secretary of Health and Human Services on January 26, 2005. As Secretary, he leads the Nation's efforts to protect the health of all Americans and provide essential human services to those in need. He manages one of the largest civilian departments in the federal government, with more than 67,000 employees and a budget that accounts for almost one out of every four federal dollars.
During his first year, he led efforts to successfully enroll tens of millions of seniors and disabled persons in the new Medicare prescription drug benefit; mobilized the nation's pandemic preparedness; accelerated the development of health information technology standards and oversaw the medical response to Hurricane Katrina. He presided over changes in Medicaid statues to give states flexibility to provide targeted insurance coverage to more people, and worked with Congress to pass the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.
During his second year, Leavitt spearheaded the Nation's Health Diplomacy initiative aimed at improving the health of Central Americans and bringing the countries of North and Central America closer together. He also organized a nationwide campaign to transform the Nation's health care sector into a value-driven health care system. He is intensely focused on making health care more transparent in quality and price, and reducing the time and expense of bringing safe and effective drugs to market.
Prior to his current service, Leavitt was head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and served three terms as Governor of Utah.
During his eleven years as Governor, Utah was recognized six times as one of America's best managed states. He was chosen by his peers as Chairman of the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association and Republican Governors.
Prior to his public service, Secretary Leavitt served as president and chief executive officer of a regional insurance firm, establishing it as one of the top insurance brokers in America. He is married to Jacalyn S. Leavitt; they are the parents of five children.
 Kerry N. Weems
Acting Administrator
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Kerry N. Weems was appointed Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in September 2007. Mr. Weems has served in a variety of senior leadership positions at the US Department of Health and Human Services, including Deputy Chief of Staff, where he was responsible for advancing health information technology as one of the foundations of a modern, value-based health-care delivery system. He is currently the Vice Chair of the American Health Information Community, a federal advisory body chartered in 2005 to accelerate the development and adoption of health information technology.
Deval Patrick
Governor, State of Massachusetts
 Governor Deval Patrick was elected in November of 2006. He brings to the Governor's office a broad range of leadership experience at the top levels of business, government, and non-profits. From an early age, he has built his life on hope, and traced a trajectory from the South Side of Chicago to the U.S. Justice Department, Fortune 500 boardrooms, and now the Massachusetts Statehouse.
Governor Patrick has served on numerous charitable and corporate boards, as well as the Federal Election Reform Commission under Presidents Carter and Ford, and as Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Council by appointment of Governor Weld.
The Commonwealth's first African-American Governor, Deval Patrick came into office with a grassroots message of hope, community and hard work. By focusing on transparency and inclusion, he hopes to increase accessibility to government and encourage the civic engagement so crucial to shared progress in education, health care, economic development and other issues.
John Kerry
US Senator, Massachusetts
Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Subcommittee on Health
 John Kerry entered the Senate with a reputation as a man of conviction. He confirmed that reputation by taking bold decisions on important issues. He helped provide health insurance for millions of low-income children. He has fought to improve public education, protect our natural environment, and strengthen our economy. He has been praised as one of the leading environmentalists in the Senate, who stopped President Bush's plan to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
John Kerry has never forgotten the lessons he learned as a young man - lessons that have been strengthened in his 19 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has learned that America needs the strongest military on the face of the earth - and that America should lead other countries to achieve our goals and the world's common goals. From his ground-breaking work on the Iran-Contra scandal to his leadership on global AIDS, John Kerry has distinguished himself as one of our nation's most respected voices on national security and international affairs. (Read More)
Donald Carcieri
Governor, State of Rhode Island
 Governor Donald L. Carcieri was inaugurated as Rhode Island's 57th Governor on January 7, 2003. A native Rhode Island resident, his election followed a career in business that was capped with his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Cookson America and Joint Managing Director of Cookson Group Worldwide. He retired from that position in 1997.
In April 2002, Don Carcieri took the podium at the historic and flag draped Varnum Armory in his hometown of East Greenwich to formally announce his grass roots candidacy for Governor on the Republican ticket. As 250 people in the packed hall cheered, he told them: "My name is Don Carcieri and I want to be your next Governor!" He had never run for any elected office except his town's home rule charter commission.
Focusing his campaign on the need to rein in state spending and balance the budget, demand integrity in government, and create a coordinated plan for statewide economic redevelopment, Don Carcieri came from behind to defeat the endorsed candidate in a highly contested primary. Hammering home his call for a Clean Start in state government, he defeated the Democrat candidate in the November election. The man from East Greenwich had bested a candidate who had over 15 years of political experience and had mounted two campaigns for Governor.
Newt Gingrich (Live via Satellite)
Founder, Center for Health Transformation
 Since retiring from Congress, Newt Gingrich has worked extensively on the issues of health and healthcare, devoting the majority of his time to advocating a transformation of the entire system. In 2003, he founded the Center for Health Transformation, a collaboration of public and private sector leaders dedicated to the creation of a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that saves lives and saves money.
Honored most recently by Modern Healthcare's annual poll as the 5th Most Powerful Person in Healthcare for 2006, Newt Gingrich is widely recognized as a transformational leader, unparalleled in his ability to create and lead successful large-scale change. As the architect of the Contract with America, he led the Republican Party to victory in 1994, capturing the majority in the U.S. House for the first time in forty years. Under his leadership, Congress passed transformational legislation including welfare reform, the first balanced budget in a generation, funding to strengthen our defense capabilities, and the first tax cuts in sixteen years. (Read More)
David J. Brailer, MD, PhD
Chairman, Health Evolution Partners
Former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
 David J. Brailer, MD, PhD, chairman of Health Evolution Partners, has sought to drive positive change in health care in his work as a physician, researcher, teacher, entrepreneur and policymaker. He earned his MD at West Virginia University, completed internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and earned his PhD in health economics at The Wharton School. Dr. Brailer taught in Wharton's MBA curriculum for ten years.
Dr. Brailer founded CareScience, Inc. and served as Chairman and CEO from inception, through its IPO and until its sale in 2002. CareScience led the market in development of care management, outcomes analysis and health information exchange under his leadership.
President George W. Bush appointed Dr. Brailer as the first National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and he served in this role from May 2004 through May 2006. Dr. Brailer oversaw the President's Executive Order, which called for widespread deployment of health information technology within ten years to help realize substantial improvements in safety and efficiency.
Kevin Hutchinson
President & Chief Executive Officer
Prematics, Inc.
 Kevin Hutchinson is a recognized expert and leader in healthcare information technology. He possesses deep expertise in interoperability, clinical transaction routing, automation of physician practice workflow, and the exchange of patient information across a community's healthcare enterprise.
Prior to joining Prematics, Mr. Hutchinson was the founding president and CEO of SureScripts from 2002 - 2008. He led the effort to finance, build and deploy a national network for electronic prescribing and health information exchange. Under his leadership the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange grew from an industry concept to the largest, most successful electronic prescribing network in the country. Today, it is considered the gold standard for pharmacy interoperability and the routing of electronic prescriptions throughout the nation. During his tenure, SureScripts certified more than 95% of all pharmacies in the United States, contracted and connected over 150 various physician technology vendors, and processed over 50 million electronic prescription transactions.
Prior to launching the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange at SureScripts, Mr. Hutchinson was chief operating officer at MedicaLogic/Medscape Inc., a publicly traded electronic medical records and physicians portal company, where he was responsible for all operations, marketing, product development. Previously, Mr. Hutchinson held leadership positions at VHA Inc., Oracle and IBM.
Considered an expert on the subject of healthcare technology, Mr. Hutchinson's testimony regarding electronic prescribing before various Senate and House Committees as well as the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics focusing on healthcare information technology, is influencing the future of industry standards. Mr. Hutchinson, however, believes that achieving meaningful interoperability and collaboration in healthcare requires looking beyond just the technology and instead to the ways in which it is applied by the various users of it.
Mr. Hutchinson is a member of the eHealth Initiative's Board of Directors, the Markle Foundation's Connecting for Health Steering Group. His work with standards as well as stakeholders was recognized on September 13, 2005, when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt selected Mr. Hutchinson to serve as one of 16 commissioners of the American Health Information Community (AHIC), formed to develop standards and interoperability necessary to accelerate adoption as well as utilization of healthcare IT.
Mark Merritt
President & Chief Executive Officer
Pharmaceutical Care Management Association
 Mark Merritt is President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
Mr. Merritt took the helm of PCMA in March 2003 and quickly raised the industry's profile in Washington. National Journal noted that a "new player has appeared on the field among the associations in Washington's health care lobbying game" and named Mr. Merritt one of the most influential players in the Medicare prescription drug debate. Mr. Merritt is also repeatedly ranked as one of the most effective trade association CEOs in America by The Hill newspaper in Washington, DC.
Mr. Merritt is credited with designing and implementing innovative, campaign-focused strategies that go beyond traditional Washington-style lobbying campaigns. Mr. Merritt has pioneered strategies that reach beyond the boundaries of Washington politics to communicate more effectively with diverse constituencies from Wall Street to Main Street and even Hollywood.
Mr. Merritt has served as a senior strategist with America's Health Insurance Plans and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) as well as with the presidential campaigns of current U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and former Senator Robert Dole. Mr. Merritt has also served as a Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he lectured on the intersection of public policy and the news media.
He holds both an MA and BA from Georgetown University. He and his wife Jayne have four children.
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