The 2021 Top 25 Consultants: Jody Cervenak

Jody Cervenak is a Director with The Chartis Group and Practice Area Lead for Informatics and Technology. Ms. Cervenak has over 20 years of experience in planning, implementing and optimizing the value of healthcare information technology. She has served as an advisor to leading academic medical centers, integrated delivery systems, children's hospitals, large practice groups, community hospitals and post-acute care organizations in the areas of: IT strategic planning, system selection, planning, implementation, benefit realization, patient engagement, telemedicine and population health management.

Ms. Cervenak has spoken nationwide at healthcare conferences and board retreats on several topics from the future of healthcare IT to emerging innovations in transforming healthcare delivery, and digital patient experience. Ms. Cervenak has also moderated several panels of leading experts and written numerous papers on trends in healthcare technology; topics include the digital experience, consumerism and healthcare transformation.

Ms. Cervenak was a Principal with Aspen Advisors, a top healthcare IT advisory services firm, before it became a part of The Chartis Group in 2014. She helped develop the firm's strategy and IT practice methodology and tools to serve the healthcare industry. Before that, she served as the CIO of UPMC's physician practice division, consisting of 3,000+ employed physicians and 500+ ambulatory sites where she led the implementation and support of Epic's practice management and ambulatory electronic medical record solutions across multiple specialties to more than 10,000 users. Ms. Cervenak has held various IT management roles at UPMC supporting clinical, revenue cycle and business solutions. Most notably, she led the effort to integrate and standardize systems across enterprises in support of the hospital and physician mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Cervenak's consulting experience also includes working in the IT consulting division of Arthur Andersen & Co., Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Ms. Cervenak holds a Master of Business Administration from Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in chemical and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Ms. Cervenak has been an adjunct faculty at Carnegie Mellon University for over 10 years, instructing the Digital Transformation course for Heinz College Masters of Medical Management (MMM) program.

What does winning this award mean to you?

"Winning this award is a wonderful feeling, but the truer win is that it means my team and I have made a difference in the healthcare industry."

"At a young age, I committed to serving healthcare because my mother was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer when she was just 30 years old, and I was only five. Back then, there weren't advanced treatments available, yet through the care and attention of the providers at UPMC, my mother is alive today –a 78-year-old cancer survivor. It's the reason I chose to dedicate my life and career to healthcare, and the reason I feel so passionately about working alongside my powerhouse team at The Chartis Group. We are all bonded by stories like these. We are all bonded by our mutual understanding that it isn't about the numbers, but it's about the humanity behind the results we deliver that pushes us forward."

What's been the biggest factor in your success?

"The biggest factor to my success has been the people I've been fortunate enough to work alongside throughout my career. Especially here at The Chartis Group, we have a team of consultants who are deeply passionate about healthcare, and we are making a difference together."

"At Chartis, everyone I work with joined the firm because they have a personal mission to materially improve healthcare in the world. It's a powerful thing to work in a team of leaders who are driven by the same innate desire to make a difference. The process becomes more important than the result, and in turn, the result becomes something greater than you could have imagined at the offset."

What has motivated you to excel over the course of your career?

"The power of healthcare and the passion of my colleagues has motivated me. As a young person, I felt a great debt of gratitude toward the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, when I first understood the power of our healthcare system. It's the reason I chose healthcare as a career, and the reason I went to work at UPMC early in my career. Hearing stories of how the industry has positively impacted lives, like it did my family's, throughout my career has propelled me through every role, challenge, and opportunity that has come my way."

"I also am deeply appreciative of Chartis' dedication to diversity in leadership within the firm. When I joined the firm, I was one of the only female leaders, and now every single practice has a female leader. Working with a group of leaders who walk the walk when it comes to empowering women in the workforce and elevating women to leadership has meant I've been able to not only reach my potential in my career, but I've also been able to empower more women to do the same."

"I can't express enough my gratitude toward my colleagues at every stage of my career – including here at The Chartis Group. Working alongside people every day who have dedicated their lives to making the world a better place and saving lives is incredibly motivating. I am honored to do the work that I do because of it."