HHS NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY – The Nevada Health Information Exchange (NHIE) Board of Directors announced today that David LaBarge has been hired as the first chief executive officer for the NHIE. An experienced health information technology executive, LaBarge began his new position yesterday.
The NHIE was established last fall as a non-profit Nevada corporation authorized by Nevada Revised Statutes and is the governing entity responsible for protecting the public interest regarding personal health information privacy and security. The NHIE will also assist Nevada’s director of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) with oversight and governance of the electronic exchange of health-related information by medical providers.
DHHS is responsible for the State HIE Cooperative Agreement grant awarded to Nevada as part of the 2009 federal stimulus bill. Under a grant sub-award from DHHS, the NHIE will utilize State HIE grant funds to establish a statewide system that facilitates electronic health information exchange and which supports the adoption of electronic health records.
LaBarge will be responsible for implementing this grant sub-award, establishing and managing the day-to-day operations of the organization, and determining the products and services to meet customer needs. Additionally, LaBarge will work with the NHIE Board of Directors and DHHS to implement and maintain the oversight and governance responsibilities of the NHIE.
DHHS Director and NHIE Board Member Mike Willden said, “I commend the NHIE Board on its choice of David LaBarge to lead this important statewide initiative. He has both the professional and business experience necessary to advance the deployment of health information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of health care for Nevadans.”
LaBarge has most recently been employed by Xerox and was assigned to the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) Account for the State of California Medi-Cal Program. He managed the MMIS legacy enterprise system enhancements for federal and state compliance with HIPAA 5010, State Level Registry, and ICD-10.
Prior to this last Xerox assignment, LaBarge had been assigned as an interim/site chief information officer for several hospital/provider healthcare organizations, and he was also a strategic business unit division vice president/consulting practice leader with executive responsibility for the national pursuit and delivery of technical and strategic health HIT consulting and delivery services.
Additional work experience has included chief information officer/chief information security officer for Sutter Connect, a Sutter Health Affiliate in Northern California, as well as being the president and chief executive officer for Pyramid Systems which specialized in performing health care effectiveness data and information set reporting/auditing, which is a regional, state and national quality scorecard for Health Insurance Plans.
LaBarge brings to his new role as the CEO of the NHIE a diverse and deep background in Health IT, with multiple enterprise-wide information technology system implementations and enhancements.
Community and professional affiliations have included the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Northern California Chapter of HIMSS, Southern California Chapter of HIMSS, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the New Mexico Healthcare Managers Forum.
LaBarge attended New Mexico State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in information systems, and also a Master of Business Administration (MBA).
