As Texas Health’s chief health information officer, Dr. Ferdinand Velasco leads the system’s clinical decision support, medical and nursing informatics, business intelligence and data analytics functions across the continuum of care. Through his and his team’s leadership of the implementation of the electronic health record, Texas Health was awarded the Enterprise Davies Award for Excellence in 2013.
Prior to joining Texas Health Resources in 2002, Dr. Velasco served as an assistant professor and physician champion for the implementation of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He simultaneously practiced as a cardiothoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
A Fellow of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Dr. Velasco serves on the North America Board of HIMSS and previously chaired the society’s Quality, Cost, Safety Committee. Modern Healthcare honored Dr. Velasco as an inaugural member of the Top 25 Clinical Informaticists in Healthcare. He received his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine.