Lee Barrett Announced as Carequality Executive Director
At Carequality, our mission to advance health data interoperability is only as strong as the people behind it. We’re excited to introduce someone whose career has been defined by a deep commitment to trust, collaboration and innovation in health information exchange: Lee Barrett, our new Executive Director.
Lee’s appointment marks a significant milestone for Carequality. When he’s not working to connect the dots across the health IT landscape, Lee is known for his genuine enthusiasm for mentoring the next generation of health IT leaders. Lee is not just an expert in interoperability – he’s a connector of people, building bridges not only between systems but also among individuals and teams.
To help you get to know Lee better, we sat down with him for a Q&A session to learn more about his career, his goals for Carequality, and what drives his passion for healthcare interoperability.
Can you share some highlights from your career journey?
I’ve spent more than three decades deploying health IT and advancing interoperability in healthcare settings. Most notably, I served as Executive Director of the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit, federally recognized self-governing organization that develops standards and accredits/certifies organizations that electronically exchange healthcare information. I also was involved in the founding of WEDI and served on the board for 10+ years and was also Chair. Additionally, I helped to co-found and was Chair of ASCX12N for 8 years where we developed all of the EDI transactions adopted under HIPAA i.e. 837, 835, 270/271 etc. I have been fortunate to work in the payer, provider and vendor sectors of healthcare. Throughout it all, my career has been dedicated to industry collaboration and consensus, building ecosystem trust and now leading the framework that makes secure, reliable, health data exchange possible.
What excites you most about the work at Carequality?
Carequality represents the next step of the work I’ve been passionate about for years: bringing stakeholders together around a shared vision for seamless, nationwide interoperability. The collaboration within this community is unlike anything else in health IT, and I’m energized by the opportunity to help strengthen and grow it as well as continuing to focus on the importance of trust in our data exchange framework for stakeholders.
What is your vision for Carequality?
My primary focus will be on overseeing Carequality’s strategic direction, working with our board and governance committees, ensuring continued collaboration within the healthcare ecosystem. I want to play a key role in advancing trust in our mission of enabling seamless, secure, and trusted health information exchange nationwide. That means deepening the relationships we already have and building new ones to further enhance the trusted nationwide interoperability framework that connects healthcare organizations across the United States.
What do you see as the biggest challenge in achieving interoperability?
Interoperability isn’t just a technology problem; it’s a people challenge. Building bridges between systems is important, but building bridges among individuals, teams and organizations is just as critical. Trust is at the foundation of everything we do, and continuing to earn and maintain that trust across a growing ecosystem is the challenge I’m most focused on.
What do you want to share with the Carequality community as you are stepping into this role?
I’m not just a subject matter expert in interoperability; I’m passionate about mentoring the next generation of health IT leaders, advancing seamless, secure data exchange across our ecosystem, helping patients gain greater access and visibility to their data, and fostering collaboration with our implementers and stakeholders at every level. I’m thrilled to embark on this next chapter, and I want the community to know that I’m here to listen, learn and lead alongside all of you. Stay tuned, we’re going to continue driving interoperability forward together.
Carequality is thrilled to embark on this next chapter with Lee Barrett leading the charge. We know he will further enhance the trusted nationwide interoperability framework that connects healthcare organizations across the United States.
Stay tuned for more from Lee as we continue driving interoperability forward.