For Immediate Release
Jan. 21, 2015
HealtheConnections Announces Population Health Improvement
Team
Team Hired as a Result of PHIP Contractor Selection
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – HealtheConnections is pleased to announce the addition of Rachel Kramer, Bruce
Hathaway, Mary Carney and Megan Lee as members of its Population Health Improvement team in
support of New York state’s Population Health Improvement Program (PHIP). HealtheConnections was
recently selected by the New York state Department of Health’s PHIP as a contractor for Central New
York. They will receive $2.4 million from the state over two years to work with Cayuga, Cortland, Madison,
Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego county partners and stakeholders, under subcontract with
HealtheConnections, in executing PHIP responsibilities.
The company has built a strong team to support the PHIP grant and to deliver valued services that assist
with measurable improvement toward regional health care goals and objectives. HealtheConnections’
Population Health Improvement team will provide the expertise and resources to support regional
collaboration around common, data-based priorities, the sharing of best practices, the execution of
regional initiatives and the collective advancement of State Prevention Agenda, State Health Innovative
Plans and Triple Aim goals.
This team will work closely with Cayuga County Community Health Network Inc. (Cayuga), Seven Valleys
Health Coalition Inc. (Cortland), Madison County Rural Health Council Inc. (Madison), Central New York
Health Home Network (Oneida), Onondaga County Department of Health (Onondaga) and Rural Health
Network of Oswego (Oswego), who will serve as PHIP county agents. They will convene stakeholders
around county-specific PHIP priorities and activities and provide data to track progress toward Central
New York and state goals. These county agents are currently working toward PHIP goals at the county
level and have a solid understanding of the unique needs of their populations and service profiles.
Rachel Kramer, Sc.D., M.H.S., joins the team as director of Population Health Improvement. Kramer
brings over 20 years of public health experience in government, nonprofit and academic settings along
with formal training in epidemiology and data analysis. Over the past 10 years, she served as the director
of the research and evaluation unit for New York state’s Cancer Services Program, working closely with
local communities and stakeholders statewide. She also served as an instructor at Sage College’s
Graduate School of Nursing and as an epidemiologist/health statistician for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Kramer earned a Doctor of Science degree
in psychiatric epidemiology and a Master of Health Science degree at Johns Hopkins School of Public
Health and a Bachelor of Science degree at Tufts University.
Bruce Hathaway joins the team as senior population health analyst. Hathaway brings nearly 20 years of
experience in population health improvement at the local, state and national levels and strong skills in
community/stakeholder engagement, strategic planning and project management. This includes five
years with the New York Department of Health as project manager of the state’s Healthy Communities
Program and five years as a technical adviser on tobacco cessation, diabetes control and communicable
disease investigation. Hathaway was also the project manager of a national “Healthier Communities
Initiative” for four years, working for the YMCA of the USA (funded by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention). Currently, Hathaway is director of community engagement for the Central New York chapter
of the American Cancer Society and in the process of securing his Master of Health Science degree.
109 South Warren Street ● State Tower Building, Suite 500 ● Syracuse, NY 13202
315.671.2241 ● www.healtheconnections.org
Connecting You to Better Care
Mary Carney, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., joins the team as a population health analyst. Carney brings a passion
for preventive health, skills in data analytics, community outreach/education and project coordination and
nearly 10 years of experience in public health settings across the country. Currently a public health
educator for the Onondaga County Health Department, Carney served previously as the project
coordinator for the Women’s Health Initiative at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle
and held teaching assistantships/internships with the New Mexico State University health sciences
department and Southern Area Health Education Center. Carney received her Master of Public Health
degree at New Mexico State University and is a certified health education specialist.
Megan Lee, M.P.H., also joins the team as a population health analyst. Lee has worked as a community
outreach worker with the Onondaga County Health Department since earning her Master of Public Health
degree at State University of New York Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University’s Maxwell
School in 2012. Lee coupled her graduate studies with multiple positions and fellowships in HIV
prevention, women’s health, tuberculosis control and maternal health. She also completed a fellowship in
Borgne, Haiti, at the Alyans Sante Boy Hospital. Lee brings strong analytic, research, grant writing,
communication and organizational skills to the team.
About HealtheConnections
In collaboration with Central New York health care providers and stakeholders, HealtheConnections
(pronounced "healthy connections") delivers trusted and valued services which support health care
transformation and efficiency initiatives focused on achieving the triple aim of better care, better
population health and lower health care costs. HealtheConnections provides unbiased, neutral health
information exchange (HIE) services*, electronic health record (EHR) adoption technical and meaningful
use advisement services and population health improvement support services for the 11 counties of the
Central New York region. The name HealtheConnections represents our commitment to connect and
engage Central New York health care physicians, hospitals, public health, mental and behavior health
and human services, and other health care providing entities, insurers, businesses and consumers to
collaborate to deliver improvement services and initiatives that support regional and New York state’s
health information exchange and population health improvement agendas.
*HealtheConnections RHIO is a qualified entity of the State Health Information Network of New York
(SHIN-NY)
For more information about HealtheConnections, visit www.healtheconnections.org.
Contact:
Alicia Schaumberg
Community Relations & Marketing Coordinator
aschaumberg@healtheconnections.org
315-671-2241 ext. 260
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109 South Warren Street ● State Tower Building, Suite 500 ● Syracuse, NY 13202
315.671.2241 ● www.healtheconnections.org
Connecting You to Better Care