NEWS RELEASE

Date:               July 19, 2024
 

Contact:         Nathan Hokama
                        Strategic Communication Solutions
                        (808) 226-7470
                        nhokama@scsolutions-hi.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange
Announces Leadership Transition

CEO Francis Chan to Retire in September 2024;
Rahul Maitra Named His Successor
 

HONOLULU – Francis Chan, who has served as chief executive officer of the Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange (HHIE) for the past seven years, announced he will retire on Sept 30, 2024. He successfully led the nonprofit organization in adopting new technology and processes to facilitate the secure exchange of health information between providers to benefit patients.

Chan has been with the organization for more than 13 years. He joined as manager of IT in 2011, became director of health information exchange services in 2014 and was promoted to his current role in 2017.

He will be succeeded by Rahul Maitra on Oct. 1, 2024. Maitra currently serves as HHIE’s chief operating officer and general counsel. He joined the organization in 2017 as privacy manager and later had the responsibilities of general counsel added to his role. He joined Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii as general counsel and compliance officer in 2020 and returned to HHIE a year later. His previous work experience includes practicing corporate law at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP in New York City and practicing health care and corporate law at Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington and Harris in Honolulu.

“Most patients do not realize the HHIE maintains an indispensable interoperability tool that has become essential in Hawaii’s healthcare landscape to coordinate patient care. This all happens smoothly behind the scenes without much fanfare,” said Dr. James Lin, HHIE board president, who serves as Vice-President of Information Technology at HPH and a pediatric hospitalist at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children. “Under Francis’s leadership, the Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange has expanded access and availability of patient data to providers and hospitals across the state. He significantly furthered the mission to ensure providers can reliably access patient information to make health care decisions for patients. A simple real time notification to a primary care physician that one of their patients was discharged from a hospital is an essential step for continuity of care. This is one example of how the HHIE helps keep providers connected for patient care.”

“Francis leaves the Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange in good hands,” Dr. Lin added. “Rahul has a deep understanding of the mission, operations, governance, and compliance aspects of the Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange, and the board is confident he will successfully carry out the strategic plans of the Hawai‘i Health Information Exchange to meet the challenges on the horizon.”