Published: November 02, 2011
Russ Thomas Named Incoming CEO of Availity
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Availity, one of the nation's leading health information networks, today
announced it has named Russ Thomas as its next Chief Executive Officer.
Thomas will succeed Julie Klapstein, who was Availity's first employee
and has served as its CEO since inception. Following the leadership
transition on March 6, 2012, Klapstein will remain on Availity's Board
of Managers as vice chair.
Russ Thomas named incoming Availity CEO. (Photo: Business Wire)
"Russ joined us in 2008 as our Chief Operating Officer and has been a
critical part of our leadership team through a period of very strong
growth," said Klapstein. "I'm thrilled with the Board's decision to name
Russ as my successor. Building Availity over the last 10 yeas has been a
tremendous experience and I am delighted to have been part of it."
"I'm honored by the confidence that our Board and Julie have expressed
in me," said Russ Thomas, Availity President and COO. "Julie has spent
the last decade doing something very unique in our industry - she drew
upon the benefit of a 'shared win' among competitors to simplify health
care administration. This collaboration greatly accelerated the adoption
of electronic health information and enabled health care providers and
health plans to focus on what's important: patients, not paperwork. The
imprint she's made upon the company is long-lasting, and we're strongly
positioned for the future because of it."
Thomas continued, "I'm excited to build upon these accomplishments as
Availity's next CEO. With the continued support of our owners,
customers, and employees, I know that Availity will achieve its mission
of becoming the highest valued health information network in the
industry."
Prior to joining Availity, Russ was the Chief Executive Officer of Gold
Standard, Inc., an industry leader in drug information databases and
clinical knowledge solutions. In his four years as CEO, Russ grew Gold
Standard to a national leader in clinical information, serving all
sectors of the health care market, before selling the business to Reed
Elsevier in 2006.
In addition to his professional responsibilities, Russ is active in
industry and philanthropic organizations. He was a founding board member
of the Tampa Bay Regional Health Information Organization. He was also a
founding board member and past chairman of Hillsborough Kids, Inc.,
which, in concert with the Florida Department of Children and Families,
provides oversight and resources for more than 4,000 disadvantaged
children in Hillsborough County, Florida. He is active with United Way
of Northeast Florida.
Russ earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech and his Juris
Doctorate from the University of Virginia. He resides in Jacksonville,
Florida with his wife Claudia and their two children.
About Availity, LLC - Patients. Not Paperwork.
Availity optimizes information exchange between multiple health care
stakeholders through a single, secure network. The Availity
Health Information Network encompasses administrative, financial, and
clinical services, supporting both real-time and batch electronic data
interchange (EDI) via the web and through business to business (B2B)
integration. For more information, including an online demonstration,
please visit www.availity.com
or call 1.800.AVAILITY (282.4548).
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50054467&lang=en
Availity, LLC
Shannon Thuren, 904-470-4545
Director of
Communications
shannon.thuren@availity.com
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