EHR Vendor Cerner Creates Chief Health Officer Role

EHR vendor Cerner has announced Nasim Afsar, MD, MBA, MHM, as the company’s first chief health officer, effective January 2022.

In the new role, Afsar will lead 1,000 healthcare professionals who currently provide the EHR vendor with insight and guidance for product development.

She will also lead the EHR vendor’s quality and patient safety, regulatory, health policy, government affairs, and continuous improvement organizations.

Afsar is a physician and healthcare executive with over a decade of experience in leadership roles at large healthcare delivery systems, including UCLA Health and UCI Health. These positions include chief operating officer, chief quality officer, and associate chief medical officer.

She is also the past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and has served on the board of directors for eight years.

“I am thrilled that Nasim is joining our team to help us realize the true promise of what the EHR can bring,” David Feinberg, MD, Cerner CEO and president, noted in a press release. “Technology must work better for caregivers and patients.”

“As an industry, we need to decrease the cost of care, improve quality and community health, give more time back to caregivers to spend at the bedside – and Cerner intends to be a key player in driving these efforts,” he added. “I look forward to Nasim’s guidance and leadership.”

Afsar joins the EHR vendor with experience in health IT implementations that have focused on enhancing healthcare quality.

“I have dedicated my career to driving positive large-scale impact with the goal of delivering high quality care and health outcomes for our patients and communities,” said Afsar. “I am excited to continue this work at Cerner.”

“We have not realized the full potential of healthcare technologies in supporting health, as well as providing early warning signs for chronic conditions and acute illnesses,” she continued. “I look forward to joining the talented team of leaders at Cerner to enhance our ability to care for patients and free our caregivers to focus on what matters most: the patient in front of them.”