A Health Care Chief With Varied Interests

Dr. Ron Paulus joined Geisinger Health nearly 18 months ago as its chief technology and innovation officer, which perfectly suits Paulus' clinical, IT, academic, and entrepreneurial strengths. Before joining Geisinger, which provides care to more than 2 million patients in western Pennsylvania through its three hospitals and 650-physician group practice, Paulus was CEO of CareScience, a software and services firm he co-founded in the early 1990s with Dr. David Brailer, who later became President Bush's first national health IT czar.

At Geisinger, Paulus is working with IBM to analyze the trove of clinical data the health care provider has collected over the last 10 years using electronic medical record systems for its patients. The goal is to provide patients with safer, more personalized, and more cost-effective care. Paulus is a founding member of an industry panel launched by Geisinger to study the risks and benefits of e-health systems.

Paulus, 44, splits his time between helping Geisinger commercialize its most promising health IT developments through Geisinger Ventures unit. Paulus also works closely with Geisinger CIO Frank Richards. Says Paulus, "I'm the guy making trouble by coming up with a bunch of new stuff we should be doing."

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