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Zach Gillen

MIMS 2008
Director of Information Technology
Kaiser Permanente

Why I chose to study information

My formal education was pre-med and conservation biology, and I had no firm grasp of technology. But I found myself working for San Francisco General Hospital, doing medical informatics and end-to-end Web development in a medical setting — and learning on the job. As I became more interested in the future of technology and healthcare, I realized I would need a formal education. The I School offered a perfect meld of studying information and learning how to make it useful through technology.

Information issues that intrigue me

There are many fascinating information issues in the healthcare field. People ask why we’re so far behind with technology to support medical records — with only about a quarter of transactions online — compared to the financial industry, where everything is online. But when you look at what constitutes a financial transaction, you see that it’s mostly about data — amounts and account numbers. In contrast, a medical chart includes text, images, nuanced codes. The challenge is to take a complex subject and standardize it so everyone understands what everyone else is talking about. Then you have to make sure it serves the clinician. It’s a very complex and challenging area, and I love that. I expect we’ll see gigantic strides in this field over the next 20 years.

What stands out about the I School

Colleagues — your class, the people you meet. Everyone is from such diverse fields, yet we’re all tied together in pursuit of technology that enables us to pass information back and forth across domains.

Biggest surprise about the I School

I came here thinking my education would be mostly about technology, and I’m glad it wasn’t. The I School has given me a much broader understanding of the issues around information and how to approach complex issues and define solutions. I knew nothing about IP law and how it pertains to the medical information field. In my work at Kaiser, I manage the health information exchange portfolio, and there’s plenty of legalese. Thanks to the I School, I understand law and its role in the exchange of information.

Sidebar Text

“The I School gave me a broad understanding of the issues around information and how to define solutions to complex challenges. At Kaiser, I manage the health information exchange portfolio, and there’s plenty of legalese, so understanding IP law and how it pertains to the medical information field is critical.”
—Zach Gillen

Last updated:

February 12, 2016