In October 2022, HSIS welcomed Hema Bakthavatchalam as IT Director of Clinical Optimization. Since 2000, Hema has worked at Yale Health, most recently as Director of IT. She will retain her Yale Health responsibilities and reporting relationships in addition to her broadened capacity within HSIS. The expansion of Hema’s responsibilities means closer ties between Yale Health and Yale Medicine, with greater opportunities to share technological advancements across Yale’s healthcare environments.
Her expanded scope includes support provided by the University for Yale Medicine clinical and administrative functions and coordination of Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) IT partnerships. As the IT Director of Clinical Optimization, she will develop IT investment portfolios for YSM, coordinate stakeholder requirements, and monitor service levels and compliance with service level agreements. As the Director of IT at Yale Health, she will continue to provide leadership and strategic direction for technology operations at Yale Health.
A couple of Hema’s immediate HSIS priorities include the implementation of the Qgenda enterprise provider scheduling system, a major Yale Medicine/YNHHS joint effort, as well as the rollout of Imprivata OneSign/Confirm ID at Yale Health.
When asked about her favorite Yale memory, Hema fondly recalled the collaboration and togetherness formed working with the “amazing, dedicated staff from multi-disciplinary areas across campus” on COVID-19 testing and operations efforts. Her many trips to the various residential colleges to set up and support COVID-19 testing sites are ones she will never forget.
