Raymond W. Scott - BSc, MBCS, C.Eng., CITP, CEO, Axolotl
SVP, Enterprise Architecture & Strategy, OptumInsight
Ray co-founded Axolotl in 1995 to provide collaborative electronic workflow solutions for communities of health care providers. He was instrumental in creating the concepts around Clinical Messaging, turning electronic medical record communication into a reality, and establishing it as a necessary requirement for successful Health Information Exchanges and Regional Health Information organizations.
With a strong supporting management team, Ray has established Axolotl as a market leader in electronic connectivity and collaboration, today providing the technology and services to support many fully functioning RHIOs across the USA. Ray currently serves on the eHealth Initiative Board of Directors and, as a member of the Markle Foundation's "Connecting For Health" Steering Group, Ray contributed to the widely acclaimed 'Common Framework' publication.
Formerly, Ray was CEO of Computer Concepts Europe where he created a distribution network for the SuperBase product. From 1990-1994 Ray held Executive Vice President positions for Technology, Corporate Strategy and Marketing for ECsoft, a pan-European software services company created largely through acquisition, which he helped take public.
From 1984-1990 Ray was Managing Director of MJSL, a CASE consulting and product company, where he directed product development and pioneered the use of object-oriented techniques.
Earlier in his career, Ray designed and implemented the first criminal intelligence computer system for New Scotland Yard, a software package to create current and future anti-forgery designs for UK bank notes, and real-time software to control the flight of military rockets.
Ray holds a BSc (Honors) in Mathematics, is a Member of the British Computing Society, a Chartered Engineer and has served on the boards of both public and private companies.
Glenn Keet - President, Axolotl and SVP, Business Development, OptumInsight
Glenn has worked in health care IT for 25 years, and was the first employee hired at Axolotl in early 1995 as a systems architect and engineer. Prior to his role as President, Glenn was Executive Vice President over Sales and Marketing, responsible for all Health Information Exchange (HIE) sales - to states, RHIOs and hospitals. Glenn previously held the role of VP of Business Development and served as VP of Elysium Services, managing HIE Implementation and Support, Medical Transcription Operations, and HIM Consulting divisions. Glenn was the company’s Product Manager until 2001.
Prior to Axolotl, Glenn worked for Mercator Software in Connecticut. Mercator sold general purpose EDI and HL7 mapping and translation engines used in health care, insurance and other industries. Mercator became part of IBM after a series of acquisitions in 2003 and 2004. Glenn held managerial roles in Quality Assurance and Customer Support and was initially a Systems Engineer for Mercator's mainframe and PC products.
Glenn graduated from Lehigh University in 1985 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and BA in Applied Sciences.
Lalo A. Valdez - COO, Axolotl and VP of Contracts, OptumInsight
In his tenure as Chief Financial Officer since early 2005, Lalo has applied his 18 years of Silicon Valley experience in finance, operations and human resources (HR), to strongly influence Axolotl's recent success. Prior to Axolotl, Lalo was head of finance, administration, and HR at Amati Communications, where he helped guide the company from infancy through a successful acquisition to become a leading division of Texas Instruments. Lalo has served on advisory boards at MIT, Purdue University, University of Puerto Rico, The National Society of Black Engineers, and The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. As Chief Operating Officer, Lalo will have overall responsibility for Implementation Operations, Client Services, Transcription Services, Human Resources, Finance, and the operation of Axolotl's twin data centers.
Sam Godwin - VP, HIE Business Development, OptumInsight
Sam Godwin is a Career Technology Professional with over 25 years in direct and channel sales management. Sam has held roles in territory sales, sales management, alternative channels and as part of executive teams both domestically and around the globe. Either in a role as an individual contributor or as leader, he has been responsible for consistently exceeding targets and quotas and for assuring customers and partners outstanding support and service. He has worked in customer facing roles at WindRiver Systems (now Intel), Spectron Microsystems (now Texas Instruments), Cadre Technologies, Tektronix and Optimem (a division of Xerox). His diverse experience with complex customers and challenging markets have allowed him the ability to understand and deliver technology solutions which solve real life problems.
Sam has a BS in Computer Science and Physics from North Georgia College & State University.
John Reifenberger - VP, HIE Deployment, OptumInsight
John has over 20 years of experience in Health Care Information Technology and Process Improvement. Leading Axolotl's exchange deployments since late 2006, John has been ensuring Axolotl's customers achieve success quickly and meet all stakeholders' goals. Prior to joining Axolotl, John served as the Chief Operating Officer for HealthBridge for five years, helping to build this RHIO into one of the nations largest and longest running, self sustaining HIE efforts. Before HealthBridge, John served as CIO for the Drake Center, as well as in Process Re-engineering and Information Systems Management roles for ten years at TriHealth in Cincinnati.
John holds a MBA from Xavier University, an MA in Industrial Relations from the University of Cincinnati and is a 1977 graduate from the University of Cincinnati.
Merlene Rodgers - RHIA, VP, Client Management, OptumInsight
Mrs. Rodgers is the Vice President of Client Management with OptumInsight. She is responsible for Axolotl's Transcription Services, Client and Account Management, Customer Support and Outsourcing Services.
Merlene has over twenty years experience in Health Information Management including acute and ambulatory care. Prior to Axolotl, Merlene spent 9 years as a Regional Vice President leading 50 HIM field consultants. Her areas of specialization include HIM Operational Assessments, Work Process Reengineering, Technology Implementation, and Joint Commission survey preparation. Prior to that, she was a Director of Health Information Management where she managed the operations of the HIM departments for a 350-bed adult teaching hospital and its 11 ambulatory clinics.
Mrs. Rodgers' educational background includes a BS in Health Information Management from Regis University. She is a Registered Health Information Administrator, in addition, she is adjunct faculty at Regis University, in the HIM department. She served as President of the Colorado Health Information Management Association in 2004-2005.
Anand Shroff - VP, Product Management, OptumInsight
Anand Shroff brings more than a decade of health care product development experience, in both product management and engineering roles. Leading the Elysium Exchange products and services development team, Anand is responsible for the overall lifecycle of the Elysium product suite.
Prior to Axolotl, Anand served as Senior Director of platform/applications engineering and product management for the Health Sciences Global Business Unit at Oracle USA. In this position, he was responsible for the development of Healthcare Transaction Base (HTB), a standards-based, SOA-ready, open platform for management of electronic/personal health records. Additionally, he managed the development of Oracle's Enterprise Health Intelligence (EHI), an analytical platform that provides business insight for health care provider organizations. Prior to that, he was responsible for the product management and engineering for the Oracle Adverse Events Reporting System (AERS), a platform for pharmaceutical product safety monitoring and regulatory compliance. Anand started his career developing web server software at America Online and financial management software at Oracle.
Anand holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, an MS degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai.
Rodney Cain - VP, Strategic Initiatives, OptumInsight
Rodney Cain is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at OptumInsight. Cain’s responsibility is the development of product requirements and services in support of OptumInsight's strategic initiatives. His primary focus is on bringing together both Axolotl and Ingenix products and resources to support the company’s ARRA Beacon awardees and Accountable Care Organization (ACO) community customers.
Cain is the former Chief Information Officer and Vice President of HealthBridge, one of the largest, most advanced and financially successful health information exchange (HIE) organizations in the United States. He brings extensive experience in the area of HIE implementation, operations and financial sustainability. Furthermore, he is a leader in the development of interoperable HIT standards, has testified to the Office of the National Coordinator HIT Standards Committee, and has served as a member of the HHS Office of the National Coordinator’s Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) Coordinating and Technical Committees. He has also served on the CCHIT Privacy Committee and participated in the development of technical services for a number of ARRA funded State HIE efforts..
Cain holds a BS degree in Education from Miami University. He has received additional training in Systems Analysis, carrier-level telecommunications services, and Federal Information Security Management.
Robert Scarbrough - VP, IT Operations, OptumInsight
Robert brings over 15 years of management experience in health care, business operations, and technology. Robert joined Axolotl in early 2009 from Swope Community Enterprises where he was Vice President of Information Technology. Robert will have direct responsibility for Axolotl’s corporate information technology systems as well as its twin data centers through which Axolotl offers its SaaS Elysium Exchange solutions. Robert worked with HCA Midwest as a Technical Analyst for the IT Services Department. Robert was a healthcare leader in the United States Army for 10 years where he managed one of the largest joint-forces outpatient ambulatory and ambulance service clinics in South Korea. With an emergency nursing background, Robert was part of the nursing informatics team where he supported emergency room physicians and support staff on the military’s Composite Health Care System II (CHCS II).
Robert is a member of the Information Systems Security Professionals in Silicon Valley and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Robert holds a MBA and a Masters degree in Computer Resources and Information Management, both from Webster University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Devry University.
Nicole Spencer - Marketing Director, Axolotl
Nicole joined Axolotl's Marketing Team in 1998 and was appointed to Marketing Director in 2003. She leads Axolotl's marketing department - responsible for strategy, planning and implementation. Prior to Axolotl, Nicole held various roles at Internet Image, bought by Intraware, including marketing, inside and outside sales, and HR implementation.
Nicole holds a BA in Business, focused on Marketing and International studies, from San Jose State University.