With great pleasure, DrFirst announced today that Thomas E. Sullivan, MD, DrFirst’s Chief Strategy Officer, recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Essex South District Medical Society. Widely acknowledged as “the Father of the Continuity of Care Record,” (the CCR), Dr. Sullivan was a very early proponent of electronic medical records (EMR) technology and clinical IT interoperability. A practicing physician for more than forty years, Dr. Sullivan’s keen insight into the real needs of physicians has also helped shape DrFirst’s popular health care solutions, such as Rcopia e-prescribing and RcopiaMU “Meaningful Use”.
Dr. Sullivan has been a tremendous asset to the medical community as an advocate for physicians and for technology. His contributions include serving as past president of both the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Essex South District Medical Society, the founding chair of the AMA e-Medicine Advisory Committee, the current chair-elect of the AMA’s Council on Medical Service, and the Chair of the Tobacco-Free Massachusetts Coalition. Along with his contributions to these associations, he also runs a private practice specializing in cardiovascular health while also contributing to DrFirst as Chief Strategy Officer.
“Tom Sullivan is simply that rare individual who is always ahead of the curve. He’s pushed every association he’s ever been involved with in the right technology direction, including our medical society,” noted Dr. Mario Motta, immediate past-president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. “He’s responsible for countless providers getting on board with health care technology, including participation in the ‘Meaningful Use’ of EHR incentive program.”
Dr. Sullivan’s early work as the chief architect of the Continuity-of-Care Record established much of the groundwork for today’s drive to implement the electronic exchange of standard patient clinical summaries within the “Meaningful Use” federal program. His efforts were featured in the Wall Street Journal as a forward looking, cost-effective way to transfer patient information from any care setting to any other – which today is one of the objectives of the federal government driven Meaningful Use initiative.
As the Chief Strategy Officer at DrFirst, Dr. Sullivan’s input helps DrFirst design elegantly simple and intuitive technology solutions that help doctors quickly reap the benefits of e-prescribing and Meaningful Use technologies, which can net doctors an incentive up to $21K this year and up to $63,750 over the five year life of the Medicare/Medicaid ARRA HITECH program.
“We can’t think of a more deserving person to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award than Dr. Sullivan. He’s a true leader in health care technology, and can take seemingly complex concepts and turn them into practical, common sense solutions for the real world medical practice,” stated G. Cameron Deemer, DrFirst President. “This is certainly a skill that has helped our own customers quickly achieve important milestones, such as successful participation in the Federal incentive programs.”
DrFirst offers our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Thomas Sullivan, a remarkable visionary and colleague.