The Diverse Paths that Clinical Informaticist's Have Taken to Rise as Leaders

Terry Tuznik, RN, BSN, MBA
Senior Healthcare Executive, Nordic - Moderator

Terry Tuznik is a dynamic healthcare leader, and has a long career in strategic consulting, delivery and change management, system integration and implementation, and product development. She is a former Navy Nurse Corp leader and ha extensive experience collaborating with healthcare organizations, including payers, academic medical centers, integrated delivery systems, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), life sciences companies, and public sector entities. Her professional experience includes leadership roles with an AI patient engagement SaaS product, serving as an Optimization and Innovation Thought Leader, Change Management Leader, AI Evangelist, and Healthcare CRM specialist. 

She has expertise in call center operations, population health management, patient care, clinical leadership, IT management, product management, systems implementation, application development, IT and business strategy, as well as overall implementation, consulting, and sales leadership. She has comprehensive knowledge of various aspects of the healthcare industry, ranging from the diverse patient care environment to the challenges faced by health plans and suppliers.

Dr. Karen Hunter, DNP, RN, NI-BC, CENP
CNIO, Adventist Health

Karen Hunter is an accomplished nursing informatics executive with a solid record of achievement, including strategic planning, fiscal projections, and clinical technology implementation. She began her career at Duke University Hospital and after spending the first 16 years of her career in operations, has focused for the past 15 years on the intersection of clinical practice and technology, particularly electronic health records (EHRs). Karen joined Adventist Health’s nursing informatics team in April of 2024, and is a results-oriented leader possessing a curious and analytical mindset driven by a healthy motivation to do the right thing while adding value. She currently serves as Adventist Health’s Chief Nursing Informatics Officer and as Board President of the Northern California American Nursing Informatics Association.  

Dr. Amanda Klopp
CNIO at TMC in Tucson

Dr. Klopp is a distinguished professional with over 20 years of experience in nursing, informatics, project management, healthcare leadership, and healthcare information technology. 

Dr. Klopp began her career after earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Alvernia College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her academic credentials also including a Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Nursing (education) from the University of Phoenix, Post-Master Certification in Nursing Informatics from Walden University, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Informatics Leadership from Post University. Dr. Klopp holds professional certifications as a Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute and is board certified in Nursing Informatics (NI-BC) from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She holds licenses as a Registered Nurse in multiple states. 

Throughout her illustrious career, Dr. Klopp has held various key positions, including Clinical Information Systems Director for Penn State Health and Director of Innovation and Clinical Integration for St. Joseph Medical Center, a part of Catholic Health Initiatives, as well as a variety of quality improvement and bedside care nursing roles. In her current role as the Associate Chief Information Officer and Chief Nursing Information Officer at TMC Health she provides enterprise-wide informatics and IT applications leadership including oversight of the Epic EMR. She oversees enterprise project management, client services, and clinical engineering in addition to informatics and enterprise applications. 
In addition to their professional achievements, Dr. Klopp is an active contributor to the industry community. She serves on the board of the Arizona Chapter of the American Nursing Information Association. 

Dr. Klopp continues to inspire and lead with a vision for improved patient care delivery, quality, and safety enhanced by technology. Her commitment to advancing the field of informatics and healthcare information technology makes her a valued asset and a beacon of excellence in the professional community.

Candice Larson MS, RN
CNIO at Honor Health

Candice Larson is the Chief Nursing Information Officer (CNIO) for HonorHealth, a 6-hospital system located in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. As CNIO over the past six years, Candice has served as a liaison between IT and clinicians for strategic technology initiatives. She also works closely with clinicians and is involved in the processes and workflows with digital documentation. Her goal is to leverage the technology creating collaboration in practice that improves the efficiency, delivery, quality, and safety of patient care.

Candice joined HonorHealth in 1988 as a staff nurse and has worked her way up through the growing organization with dedication and commitment to her work. Candice’s clinical background is in Critical Care. She served 16 years in IT-related roles; including Director of IT Applications, Supervisor of Clinical Informatics, and Project Manager of numerous EHR related implementations.

Michael Jones, DHA, MBA, RN, NI-BC, CPHIMS, PMP, CENP, NEA-BC, FACHE
Regional Director at CommonSpirit

Dr. Michael Jones is a highly experienced healthcare leader, nurse informaticist, and registered nurse. He has a diverse background that spans critical care nursing, health information systems management, and informatics services delivery. During Michael’s nearly nine years with Dignity Health, he has developed teams in Southern California and Arizona that focus on innovative, value-delivered, and success- measured informatics initiatives. Michael now serves CommonSpirit Health (the parent company of Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives) as the Central Region director, clinical informatics, for Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota.

Prior to joining Dignity Health, Michael was a senior principal for The MITRE Corporation, operating Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) He assisted the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs with IT standards, strategy, policy, and business process engineering with emphasis on interoperability, learning health system, population health, and quality outcomes management. Before moving to the DC metro area and joining MITRE, Michael held the position of program management and delivery director for Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia. Here, he oversaw an $80 million enterprise-wide revenue cycle and electronic health record transformation for a level 1 trauma center, emergency department, urgent care centers, and physician services.

Dr. Jones is actively engaged in the professional community, serving as a Commissioner and NI expert for the American Nurses Credentialing Center. He also holds the position of President for the Arizona Chapter of the American Nursing Informatics Association. Additionally, Michael has delivered expert knowledge sharing through several presentations and podcast interviews. Educationally, Michael holds a doctorate and master's in health administration, a master's in business administration, and a bachelor of science in nursing. He is board-certified as a nurse informaticist and advanced nurse executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a certified professional in healthcare information and management systems by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and a project management professional by the Project Management Institute.
He is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and maintains affiliate memberships with the American College of Healthcare Executives, American Nurses Association, and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Dr. Jones' extensive experience and qualifications underscore his commitment to advancing healthcare with a servant mindset through informatics, leadership, and strategic management.