Graphite Health Hires Senior Intermountain Healthcare Executive as Chief Operating Officer

Graphite Health, a newly launched member-led company intent on transforming digital healthcare to improve patient outcomes and lower costs, today announced that Ryan Smith, Intermountain Healthcare's vice president and chief information officer, will become the new chief operating officer of Graphite Health. Intermountain was one of the first three health systems to join Graphite Health as an organizing member along with SSM Health and Presbyterian Healthcare Services.

“Ryan is a highly strategic leader and this move further signifies how committed we are to transforming healthcare’s digital ecosystem,” said Marc Harrison, MD, president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare.

“We’re excited to have one of our top leaders become a key Graphite Health executive,” said Dan Liljenquist, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Intermountain Healthcare and board chairman of Graphite Health. “Ryan is one of the strongest operational leaders I’ve worked with and he brings an in-depth understanding of health system needs, coupled with a passion for digital transformation in healthcare.”

Smith has extensive experience in leading information technology systems and teams at healthcare systems and private health care support organizations. In addition to his current role at Intermountain, he’s also been senior vice president and executive advisor at Health Catalyst, a leading provider of data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations, and senior vice president and chief information officer at Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the country. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Utah and an MBA from Western Governors University.

“We’re ecstatic to have an individual with Ryan’s deep experience and acumen joining our team,” said Ries Robinson, CEO of Graphite Health. “Ryan understands the challenges of both healthcare system leaders and digital health entrepreneurs firsthand, and he will ensure Graphite Health creates a solution that enables healthcare’s digital transformation.”

At Graphite Health, Smith will report to Robinson. He will be responsible for operationalizing Graphite Health’s objectives, building and leading a diverse team, managing corporate partnerships, and managing critical deliverables.

“I’ve been intrigued by Graphite Health’s unique value proposition from the beginning and have enjoyed being involved in the organization’s strategic planning,” said Smith. “I love my current role at Intermountain, but I see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help shift digital health on an even broader scale. From my experience, I know how critical it is for healthcare systems to have a more efficient and trusted way to adopt valuable digital health tools, and for digital health entrepreneurs to have a more seamless way to scale and integrate within the complexity of healthcare systems. I’m thrilled to be joining this dynamic team to help bridge these significant challenges and ultimately bring value to all stakeholders.”

Smith will continue to serve as CIO of Intermountain through first quarter 2022 as he ramps up in his new position at Graphite Health. This will ensure ample time to transition his current role.

As previously announced, Stanley M. Huff, MD, FACMI, chief medical informatics officer at Intermountain Healthcare and his Medical Informatics team will also join Graphite Health. Intermountain is licensing its medical informatics intellectual property to Graphite Health free of charge.

Building on a common data language, Graphite Health launched in October to create a standardized, interoperable data platform that enables a secure and open marketplace to streamline the distribution of digital health solutions for both health systems and entrepreneurs. For entrepreneurs, the common data language addresses inefficiencies in data translation and supports the development of plug-and-play digital applications. In turn, health system members can implement trusted digital tools as easily as anyone can download an app from an app store to a smartphone. These improvements will lead to more convenience, better quality care for patients, lower costs, and overall efficiency.

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About Graphite Health 
Graphite Health is a member-led company intent on transforming digital healthcare to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. By making data interoperability easy and affordable, Graphite Health facilitates the rapid adoption of digital health solutions and uses that platform structure to run a secure and open digital app marketplace. This will bring significant efficiencies to health systems’ operations, create a more modern and convenient patient experience that promotes better care, and make it easier for digital health entrepreneurs to implement their solutions at scale. Graphite Health is guided by the Digital Hippocratic Oath, which puts the privacy and trust of patients and providers first. Graphite’s founding members include: Intermountain Healthcare, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, and SSM Health. For more information, visit graphitehealth.io.

About Intermountain Healthcare
Located in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 25 hospitals, 225 clinics, the Intermountain Medical Group with some 2,700 employed physicians and advanced care practitioners, a health plans division called SelectHealth, Homecare, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes and sustainable costs.