Shannon Dean, M.D., has joined St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as chief medical information officer at a key time in the hospital’s efforts to enhance the patient experience.
Shannon Dean, M.D., has joined St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as chief medical information officer at a key time in the hospital’s efforts to enhance the patient experience.
Dean will help oversee the launch of the hospital’s new electronic health record, which is scheduled to go live in October 2022. The initiative is a major part of the St. Jude 2022-27 Strategic Plan, a six-year, $11.5 billion effort to accelerate research and treatment worldwide.
Dean brings a novel view to the role with her background as a pediatrician, her leadership in health information technology, and her experience in the implementation of new platforms. Her vision is to enhance the hospital’s clinical informatics team and increase provider engagement.
“I’m excited to join St. Jude at such an important time as the institution continues to move forward in health information technology,” Dean said. “This role allows me to combine all of the things I’ve been passionate about in my career.”
Prior to joining St. Jude, Dean served as chief medical information officer for six and a half years at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin. In that role, she incorporated health information technology into the institution’s strategic efforts. She worked with information services staff and providers to show how the growing health information field could benefit patient care and workflows.
“Our institutional strategic vision is challenging us to relentlessly pursue improvements in our current technology,” said Keith Perry, senior vice president and chief information officer at St. Jude. “Dr. Dean brings a wealth of experience to St. Jude that will help with our electronic health record implementation and with future efforts that support our mission.”
A native of Wisconsin, Dean was also a professor of pediatrics in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Dean, a board-certified pediatrician, worked as a pediatric hospitalist at the university’s American Family Children’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital pediatric unit. She earned a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a Master of Medical Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University. She is also board-certified in clinical informatics.
She served as medical director of Inpatient Informatics for UW Health for five years and as the pediatric physician champion for the system’s inpatient electronic health record launch from 2007–2009.
“We want to build on the strong foundation St. Jude has in clinical informatics with an emphasis on clinician engagement,” Dean said. “This partnership is vital to successful systems as we seek ways for health information technology to support the St. Jude mission.”
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.