Media
Documents:
Audio/Podcasts:
Biography
Kevin M. Fickenscher, M.D., CPE, FACPE, FAAFP is the Chairman and Founder of CREO Strategic Solutions, LLC – an organization focused on senior executive strategic support in managing the new healthcare world, leadership development; and, the use of innovative technologies for care delivery. Previously, he served in a variety of positions for Dell Healthcare Services (NASDAQ: DELL) on both a domestic and international basis. His Dell experiences were preceded by leadership roles with Perot Systems, where he served as the Chief Medical Officer, developed and led the healthcare consulting practice, served as the head of International Healthcare Services based in London. Perot Systems was acquired by Dell, Inc. in November 2009. Prior to these technology based experiences, he served in as the Chief Medical Officer for Catholic Healthcare West based in California and Aurora Health Care based in Milwaukee.
Dr. Fickenscher is a recognized physician executive leader with extensive experience in strategic and operational development in complex healthcare organizations. He is a thought leader related to technology and information management and holds extensive experience in organizational transformation and development, physician management, health policy analysis, leadership development, clinical quality and resource/care management, among other areas.
Dr. Fickenscher is considered to be a dynamic, visionary leader in healthcare throughout the world. He has consistently been ranked among the Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare. He is a regular participant in discussions and debates related to the future of healthcare, including testimony before Congress and participation in a variety of international healthcare forums. Among his other accomplishments are his selection as a Regional White House Fellow finalist [1984], a Kellogg National Fellow [1985], an Emerging Leader in Healthcare [1991], as the Health Advisor to the 1988 Biden for President Campaign; and, as a member on the Clinton Healthcare Task Force.
Dr. Fickenscher graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine in 1978 and trained as a family physician. He obtained his Family Practice Board-Certification in 1982, and is a Certified Physician Executive and Fellow with the American College of Physician Executives and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Industry Expertise (3)
Health and Wellness
Research
Corporate Leadership
Areas of Expertise (6)
Future of Health Care
Quality and Patient Safety
Innovation and Change Management
Performance Improvement
Health Care Reform
Leadership
Accomplishments (8)
Emerging Health Care Leader (professional)
1991 The Health Care Forum and Korn/Ferry International
President's Award for Leadership in Rural Health (professional)
1989 National Rural Health Association
North Dakota National Leadership Award of Excellence (professional)
1988
Kellogg National Fellow (professional)
1985 - 1988 W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Regional Finalist for The White House Fellowship Program (professional)
1984
Award for Scholarship and Leadership (professional)
1978 Third District Medical Society
Dr. E. L. Grinnell Memorial Award for Leadership (professional)
1978
School of Medicine Recognition Award and Special Award for Community Service (professional)
1976 & 1975
Education (2)
The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences: MD, Healthcare Administration and Management 1978
The University of North Dakota: BS, Psychology 1973
Affiliations (5)
- American Academy of Family Physicians : Member
- American Medical Informatics Association : Member
- American Association of Physician Leadership : Member
- American Academy of Family Practice : Member
- Council of Medical Speciality Societies : Member
Media Appearances (6)
Lions and tigers and... CEOs? 'The Wizard of Oz' as leadership guide
Fortune online
2014-07-25
The little black Cairn terrier who rose to doggy-fame from MGM’s 1939 classic, “The Wizard of Oz,” (which was based on the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum) is arguably the most famous canine in movie history. Toto’s character (played by a female dog, believe it or not) might even be more important than some give him credit for. Kevin Fickenscher, medical executive and now business author, sure thinks so. Fickenscher, in his book Toto’s Reflections: Leadership Lessons from the Wizard of Oz, suggests that the greatest leader in the Land of Oz wasn’t the wizard. And it wasn’t Dorothy or Glinda, either...
Going mobile: Providers deploy apps and devices to engage patients and cut costs
Modern Healthcare online
2014-11-29
“We're beyond the innovator stage,” said Dr. Kevin Fickenscher, chief medical officer at AMC Health, New York. He sees a “tsunami” coming in how U.S. healthcare providers use telehealth communications to improve outcomes...
Telehealth spurs big changes in care
Healthcare IT News online
2014-05-13
As technological advancements focus on the integrity and dimension of quality patient care, it is giving rise to a new term that is being used more often in the field by people like Kevin Fickenscher, MD, chief medical officer of AMC Healthcare: Telecare. “I describe us as being in the telecare business,” he said. “Telecare is much more proactive than telehealth.”...
Health Care Information Technology Growing In Economy
CBS Baltimore online
2013-07-30
Before becoming big business for IT companies, Electronic Health Records were born in academic research centers, said Dr. Kevin Fickenscher, CEO of the American Medical Informatics Association. Fickenscher said he expects a similar evolution for budding “mom-and-pop” companies in the bioinformatics sector, a specialty field that uses the data collected through health IT to conduct research into DNA, genes and other biologic elements and systems. “Over the next five-plus years, we’re going to see bioinformatics activities move from the academic bench to the commercial side,” he said. “And as we move nationally toward a population health strategy., you’re going to see a very dramatic increase of businesses coming out with products and services to meet that need.”...
The problem with big data in health? Too much focus on technology instead of people/process
MedCity News online
2013-05-07
Dr. Kevin Fickenscher did that for me Monday in a talk about “big, sexy data and healthcare.” And all that the president and CEO of the American Medical Informatics Association (also former chief medical officer at WebMD) had to do was present the classic people, process, technology Venn diagram for change. “One of the things that has been a problem in healthcare is that we tend to spend too much time talking about the technology and not enough time talking about the people and the process,” he explained. “So my personal bias is that while technology is important […] if we don’t deal with the people and process, we will not solve these other issues; we won’t have good change management, and we won’t have good implementation, which is where the value gets created from large data.”...
Trinity taking leap of faith toward cloud
Modern Healthcare online
2013-04-30
Both big data and cloud computing are getting a lot of buzz in health IT circles, but, beyond the hype, the potential benefits are real, said Dr. Kevin Fickenscher, president and CEO of the American Medical Informatics Association, a professional association for research and clinical informaticists. In healthcare, cloud computing remains “at the formative stage,” Fickenscher said. “Up until about a year ago, there were individuals that were concerned about whether we could create a secure environment in the cloud. I think we've proven that that is possible.”...
Articles (5)
President's column: interoperability—the 30% solution: from dialog and rhetoric to reality
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
2013 Over the last decade, the members of AMIA have been at the forefront of calls for interoperability. But, our advocacy has been a call for interoperability, not a demand. The time has come for healthcare leaders to move from passive dialog and rhetorical support ...
Clinician adoption of technology
Physician Executive
2011 As it relates to EMR deployment, the initial focus of many health care organizations is often concentrated primarily on implementing the technology. This approach most often results in a singular focus on the technical aspects of system requirements, the software build, the ...
Complying with the 2008 national patient safety goals
AORN Journal
2008 In 2003, the Joint Commission began publishing National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) and requiring accredited health care organizations to comply with these goals in an effort to reduce the number of medical errors...
Emerging technologies in the OR and their effect on perioperative professionals
AORN Journal
2007 New and emerging technologies can help increase the quality of health care, but implementing these technologies in a perioperative setting can create many challenges. Practitioners need to be aware of premises underlying future trends in health care and the ...
The new frontier of data mining
Health Management Technology
2005 Healthcare is on the verge of a notable new period of discovery. With the advent of the electronic health record, new opportunities for uncovering patterns of care we did not know existed will come to the forefront of medical knowledge. As the healthcare industry ...
Social