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The Los Angeles Times is running a story by reporter Daniel Costello today confirming that George Halvorson has unexpectedly replaced interim chief information officer Bruce Turkstra. Philip Fasano has now taken over as the third chief information officer to attempt to get the HealthConnect project back on track.

The choice of Fasano seems as unusual as his background. Since 2004, Fasano has been self-employed as a consultant, apparently trying to help companies secure business with the federal government. The official press release, somewhat understandably, magnified his last three years as a consultant, naming him as “president and CEO of Capital Sourcing Group, Inc., based in McLean, Va.”

Curiously, according to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission, Capital Sourcing Group’s business license was terminated on January 2, for non-payment of state debts totaling $1,529.

The quirks of Fasano’s history are interesting, but the most significant question is glaring: Why would America’s largest healthcare organization hire someone with no healthcare experience to manage the “largest civilian” healthcare information technology project?

The press release seems to have, again, understandably, highlighted the more impressive parts of his career. Although he did spend two decades in the financial sector, as best as I can tell, only a handful of those years were as a chief information officer. During one brief period, he swiftly moved from Deutsche Financial Services to American Financial Group to JPMorgan Chase. The quick succession does not appear to have been conventional career advancement. According to a spokeswoman for American Financial, at the time, Fasano was asked to leave the company due to “differences in philosophy.” (Nevertheless, a situation I can personally appreciate.)

Fasano’s bizarre hiring, coupled with Turkstra’s unexpectedly brief tenure as chief information officer (and expected quick complete departure after Fasano has “transitioned” in) are just two more puzzling chapters in the story of Kaiser Permanente under George Halvorson.

Cliff Dodd was the main coordinator for HealthConnect. Bruce Turkstra was its chief architect. Both are now gone. But the man who put this trainwreck into motion, has yet to speak honestly about why he made the decisions he made, against the guidance of the Kaiser Permanente Partnership Group and against the advice of our internal information technology engineers.

These are questions George Halvorson may never answer. The most important question, though, is why has the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Board of Directors completely abandoned its legal responsibilities to our members? That’s a significant question, and they should know that many people are waiting for an answer.

Chief Information Officer History at Kaiser Permanente

Philip Fasano
from early 2007
formerly finance (JPMorgan Chase, CapitalOne), defense contracting
(hiring)

Bruce Turkstra
from late 2006 to early 2007
formerly finance (Merrill Lynch)
(promotion, continued problems, replacement)

J. Clifford Dodd
from early 2002 to late 2006
formerly finance (American Express), telecommunications (Qwest)
(hiring, resignation)

Timothy Sullivan
from late 1996 to early 2002
formerly finance (First Interstate Bank, acquired by Wells Fargo)
(appointment, progress, replacement)