As followers of our Twitter feed and fans of FierceHealthIT on Facebook learned on Friday, Siemens Healthcare scored a major coup by hiring Partners HealthCare System CIO John Glaser to be CEO of the company's Health Services Business Unit. In that capacity, Glaser will head up the global healthcare IT business for Erlangen, Germany-based Siemens, effective Aug. 16.

"Dr. Glaser is regarded as one of the world's most influential experts on healthcare information technology, and it is a great privilege for me to welcome him to Siemens Healthcare," Tom Miller, CEO of the Siemens Healthcare Sector Workflow & Solutions Division, said in a company statement. "Through his private and public roles, Dr. Glaser has shaped the way that hospitals, physicians and regulators are currently embracing information technology to deliver safer, faster and more efficient healthcare while also addressing concerns of privacy, security and cost savings."

In addition to his work at Boston-based Partners, Glaser last year served as an adviser to national health IT coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal, a former Harvard colleague. He was founding chair of the College of Health Information Management Executives and is a past president of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

In other Siemens Healthcare news, the company last week released an update to Soarian Clinicals health information system and EMR. The new software allows physicians to pre-set their favorite orders in CPOE, to create Continuity of Care Document patient summaries and incorporate fully electronic medication reconciliation into workflow.

And tomorrow, Siemens will hold a virtual conference, featuring Glaser and political commentator George Will.

For more information:
- see this Siemens press release on the Glaser hiring
- read this press release about the Soarian update
- sign up for the June 29 virtual conference

Related Articles:
EHRs must support two distinct types of care, Partners CIO says
Glaser: Remember that an EHR is a tool, and not always the right one
Glaser: Don't forget about data in the rush to install software