CHICAGO (January 16, 2013) –Dean Athanassiades, PMP, CPHIMS, CHS, FHIMSS, DSHS, senior director, software customer services, with Phillips Healthcare in Atlanta, Ga., is the recipient of the 2012 SHS/HIMSS Excellence in Healthcare Management/Process Improvement Award, The joint award honors individuals who have best demonstrated leadership in implementing significant synergies between the process improvement and information technology professions.
Recipients of this award are selected jointly by the Boards of Directors of the Society for Health Systems and HIMSS. This award recognizes individuals who have made contributions of a professional or technical nature, which may include research or development of improved processes (with or without technology), or exemplary contribution to the professional society.
“As a long time member and leader within the Society for Health Systems (SHS), Dean Athanassiades’ has worked tirelessly to improve processes and implement technology that will benefit patients, providers and healthcare stakeholders across the industry,” says Jean Ann Larson, FHIMSS, FACHE, DSHS, President of the Society for Health Systems Board of Directors. “Through his expertise and commitment to his profession, he leaves a legacy of lifelong learning and service. His support and efforts for both SHS and HIMSS make him an excellent winner of this joint award. All of us at the Society for Health Systems congratulate Dean for receiving this prestigious award.”
Athanassiades, an active member of both HIMSS and SHS, has 30 years of increasing responsibility in information technology consulting, operations, and sales, with a focus on improving processes through the application of technology.
As a member of HIMSS, Athanassiades received a Distinguished Fellow Award in 2008 and a HIMSS Leadership Award in 2005. He served as Chair of the HIMSS Fellows Council, Membership Services Committee and, Nominating Committee and was a member of the HIMSS Georgia chapter board of directors. Currently, he is a HIMSS Management Engineering Process Community (MEPI) committee member and chair of the Electronic Medical Record Change Management Task Force.
His activity with SHS includes SHS Diplomate, chair of the SHS Annual Conferences in 2009 and 2010, and Chair Emeritus SHS 2011 – 2013 Annual Conferences. He is also a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE).
Athanassiades will be honored at the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition Awards Recognition Banquet on March 5, 2013, from 6:30 – 9 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans during the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition. Tickets for the dinner can be purchased on the HIMSS13 website.
“A HIMSS Fellow who has served in leadership positions with the Fellows Council and Society committees, Dean Athanassiades is an active member and volunteer who sees and acts upon the connection between process improvement and IT to improve the delivery of patient care. In addition, he is one of the more than 700 professionals who used this expertise to become certified in health information and management systems, earning the CPHIMS credential offered by HIMSS,” says H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS President & CEO. “All of us at HIMSS congratulate Dean for his ongoing contributions to the Society and healthcare.”
About SHS
The Society for Health Systems (SHS) is a society of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), a professional association that serves the professional needs of industrial engineers throughout the world. The society’s mission is to contribute to the improvement of healthcare processes through systems engineering, analysis, and process improvement methods. Among the society’s goals are to enhance the career development and continuing education of professionals who use industrial and management engineering expertise for productivity and quality improvement in the health care industry. SHS encourages the exchange of ideas and innovative techniques among healthcare professionals through a variety of mediums. Among the more than 700 members of SHS are management engineers, nurses, CEOs, directors of continuous improvement, administrators, clinicians, physicians, department managers, and students. To learn more about SHS, please visit our website at www.societyforhealthsystems.org.
About HIMSS HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of health and healthcare. Founded 52 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents more than 52,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 600 corporate members and more than 225 not-for-profit partner organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the best use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS and to find out how to join us and our members in advancing our cause, please visit our website at www.himss.org.
