Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1484704
34 34 CIO / HEALTH IT Kaiser Permanente's chief digital officer leaves for role at Target By Naomi Diaz P rat Vemana, Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president and chief digital officer, is leaving the health system for a role at Target. Starting Oct. 31, Mr. Vemana will join Target as executive vice president and chief digital and product officer, according to an Oct. 5 press release. In this role, he will oversee Target's digital business, including site merchandising, user experience, digital operations and product, and Target+, the retailer's online third-party marketplace. He will also support Target's product teams and report directly to Target's Chief Guest Experience Officer Cara Sylvester. Mr. Vemana was Kaiser's first chief digital officer and was appointed to the role in 2019. During his time at the health system, he advanced and accelerated its digital strategy by modernizing its platforms to migrate, deploy and manage applications with greater speed and agility. He also redesigned the health system's mobile app and helped launch same-day home delivery for Kaiser's pharmacy business. n Epic makes 'significant donation' to UW Health for nurse pipeline By Molly Gamble W isconsin Medicine, the philanthropic arm of UW Health and University of Wisconsin's school of medicine and public health, is launching a workforce development initiative led by a "significant donation" from Epic. Madison-based Wisconsin Medicine announced the initiative Oct. 4, noting that Verona, Wis.- based Epic's donation will allow for the creation and expansion of programs "to inspire, train and support the next generation of healthcare workers with a strong focus on impacting historically marginalized communities." A spokesperson shared the following when Becker's followed up seeking more detail on Epic's donation, including the amount: "We are thrilled this significant donation is enabling us to tackle the workforce shortage directly and immediately. While we cannot disclose the exact amount, this work is vital and we expect the workforce philanthropy effort to run well into the 8-figures." An early focus is the recruitment, training and advancement of a new generation of nurses, propelled by Epic's dollars as well as collaborations with local nonprofits and educational institutions. Wisconsin Medicine will create a three-part learning pathway, in which students can earn certified nursing assistant credentials, followed by associate degrees in nursing and bachelors of science in nursing. All participants will be employed at UW Health during the training with educational costs covered by the program. The number of students expected to participate in the initiative annually was not made clear. "In the Madison area alone, we have serious workforce shortages in everything from lab technicians to nurses to phlebotomists," UW Health CEO Alan Kaplan, MD, said in a news release. "But through generous philanthropic support, community partnerships and the innovative thinking Madison is known for, we can rise to this challenge that may define the next decade of healthcare." Originally headquartered in Madison, Epic moved its headquarters about 11 miles away to a large campus in the suburb of Verona in 2005. n Advocate Aurora Health says 'pixel' data breach may affect 3 million patients By Giles Bruce Advocate Aurora Health said it installed "pixels" on its website that may have breached the medical data of as many as 3 million patients. e health system, dually headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., and Mil- waukee, said it implemented the tracking tools to better understand patient behaviors but that the data may have been sent to Google or Facebook parent company Meta. "We have disabled and/or removed the pixels from our platforms and launched an internal investigation to better understand what patient infor- mation was transmitted to our vendors," Advocate Aurora Health said in a statement. e hospital group said that out of "an abundance of caution," it is assuming that all patients with a MyChart account, including users of the LiveWell app, or who used scheduling widgets through Advocate Aurora Health may have been affected. e system said it doesn't believe Social Security numbers or financial information were involved. Health systems have been disabling the pixels aer they were found to be po- tentially sharing patient data with tech companies. Some patients have sued hospitals and health systems over the issue. n