Omaha System Board of Directors

A 12-member volunteer Board of Directors was established in March 2001 to provide leadership for Omaha System revisions, presentations, publications, conferences, Website, and other advisory activities. More details are included in the 2005 book, Appendix D. The Board meets every two years following the Omaha System International Conference and communicates by phone and email between Conferences. Board members also communicate with members of the Listserv.

Current Board members have diverse practice, education, research, and automation expertise related to the Omaha System. To contact a specific Board member, use the following information.

Mary Jo is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the former Director of the Institute for Urban Health Partnerships. Mary Jo is the current Co-Chairperson of the Wisconsin State Health Plan Committee, a committee that tracks progress on the state’s priorities and plans the health agenda.

In 1986, faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing incorporated the Omaha System into the data collection system for its Community Nursing Centers. With a team at the College, Mary Jo developed a Web-based version of ACHIS, the “Automated Community Health Information System,” a computerized data collection system for the Centers. This team of nurses participated in the revision of the 2005 Omaha System.

The Web-based ACHIS program includes the data elements required by the National Health Service Corps and tracks focus areas/problems and interventions through the Omaha System as well as ICD9 and CPT codes. Mary Jo has presented data collected through the ACHIS at many conferences and published an article concerning the nursing practice at the Silver Spring Community Nursing Center using this information. Her research interests are in conceptual issues in community health nursing and their application in informatics. She has served on the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001.

Kathy is an Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Associate Director of the New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health, and the Beatrice Renfield Visiting Scholar for the Visiting Nurse Association of New York. While a doctoral student, she conducted the first Omaha System study in an acute care setting. Kathy leads a program of federally and foundation funded research in the use of information technology to improve health care and clinical decision making for older adults. She is the author of more than 50 articles and chapters, and has been the Principal Investigator or a Co-Investigator on over 20 funded studies. Kathy has published and presented extensively about the use of nursing classification systems and information technology, including the Omaha System, to describe, inform, and influence the care of older adults in acute and home care. She instituted the use of the Omaha System in several research projects and directed the development of a clinical information system for translating research to practice. In this work, advanced practice nurses document nursing care using the Omaha System for patients during their hospital stays. The nurses use the Omaha System to bridge the gap between hospital and home through the continuous documentation of transitional care. She shares her expertise with students in a graduate level course titled, “Applied Health Care Informatics.”

Kathy is the author of Chapter 5, Use of the Omaha System in Research, in the 2005 book. She presented at the four Omaha System International Conferences, and at numerous national and international meetings. Kathy is a member of Omaha System HITSP team. She has served on the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001, and was appointed to the National Quality Forum Steering Committee on Care Coordination in 2009. She also serves on the New York Academy of Medicine National Coalition on Care Coordination. Her contributions to health informatics research were recognized in 2008 with the Heart Failure Society of America Nursing Investigator Award, and in 2009 with the 12th Annual Recognition Award for Advancement of Technology in Health Care given by the Rutgers University College of Nursing.

Chris is the manager of a home health agency service in rural north central Minnesota and public health manager for Hubbard County. She is in charge of the day-to-day operations and the provision of services to the full range of home care and hospice clients. In 1998, Chris implemented the Omaha System along with a point of care documentation system in her agency. Her multidisciplinary staff members use the Omaha System as a basis for planning and delivering care. She provides leadership to increase the accuracy and consistency of her agency’s clinical data, integrate the Omaha System with OASIS, OBQI, and other Medicare-certified agency regulations and survey requirements, and use aggregate data for Medicare reports and JCAHO accreditation.

In addition to her practical expertise in using the Omaha System, Chris served on the Minnesota Home Care Association Board from 1998-2003 and was chairperson of the Board in 2002. She was a speaker at the 2001 Omaha System International Conference, and has served on the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001.

Pam is the Nursing Informatics Consultant for the State of Maine’s Public Health Nursing Program, the first statewide system to implement the Omaha System. Prior to accepting this position, she was a field public health nurse in rural Maine for 20 years. She has used the Omaha System in practice with maternal, child, adult and population focused clients. In 2002, she shared responsibility for the statewide implementation of the current electronic information system, which integrates the Omaha System into clinical nursing documentation.

Pam coordinates learning activities and trains new field staff in software and Omaha System use. She is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of the software application, which is currently used by approximately 70 geographically diverse staff, representing field PHNs, management and clerical users. Pam aggregates and analyzes ongoing Omaha System and other organizational data to communicate program effectiveness for the benefit of public health partners and ongoing program quality assurance.

Pam has shared Maine’s Omaha System implementation and data utilization experiences in a variety of recent forums including nursing informatics publications, the 2007 American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting, the 2008 Summer Institute of Nursing Informatics, and the 2005 and 2009 Omaha System International Conferences. She is a member of Omaha System HITSP team. Pam contributed to the 2005 Omaha System book and has served on the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2005.

Jackie is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Undergraduate Nursing Program at Southern University and A & M College School of Nursing.

Jackie has been involved with the Omaha System since 2007. She is serving as a leader to orient faculty to the Omaha System, and integrate it into the curriculum and human simulation laboratory for the senior level courses. In addition, Jackie has established a program of leadership research to develop both faculty and student mentors. She has published chapters and presented her research findings through international, national and state venues.

Jackie is a 2005 Fellow of the American Association of Colleges Leadership for Academic Nurses Leadership Program and a graduate of the Chapter Leader Academy of Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Honor Society of Nursing. She served as Vice President of the Tau Pi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and Vice Chair of the Louisiana Council of Administrators of Nursing Education. In 2009 she was elected president-elect of the Louisiana State Nurses Association. Jackie is the recipient of the 2009 Legacy in Caring Award presented by the Association of Nurses Working for our Patients. Jackie was a speaker at the Omaha System International Conference, and joined the Omaha System Board of Directors in 2009.

Leslie is current special projects manager at Polk County Home Care and the former home care supervisor. She was responsible for planning, organizing, directing, and evaluating skilled nurse, therapy, and home health aide-personal care services. She retired in 2009 after 32 years in home care.

The Polk County Health Department began using the Omaha System in their home care and public health client records in 1981, one of the first user agencies. When the home care program purchased a computerized clinical information system in 2000, Leslie was responsible for onsite orientation and training. She managed the documentation system, reviewed records weekly, and was in charge of the quality improvement program.

Leslie is the past chair of the Wisconsin Home Care Organization Board of Directors, and has served on numerous taskforces and committees that plan and provide educational opportunities throughout her state. She was a speaker at the 2005, 2007, and 2009 Omaha System International Conferences and the 2006 National Association for Homecare (NAHC) Annual Meeting. She joined the Omaha System Board of Directors in 2007.

Karen is a health care consultant. She was employed at the Visiting Nurse Association of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska from 1978-1993 where she was the principal investigator of the Omaha System research. Since 1993, she has offered consultation services to prospective, new, and experienced multidisciplinary Omaha System users in practice and academic settings nationally and globally. Karen is also a consultant to software developers and companies. She has served as a visiting scholar and speaker in more than 16 other countries.

Karen’s practice includes documentation, information management, outcomes measurement, and dissemination of the Omaha System. She provided testimony for federal meetings and the Institute of Medicine. She received the MNRS Informatics Section Distinguished Researcher Award, and alumni awards from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing and the University of Iowa. In 2008, she was included in the American Medical Informatics Association-Nursing Informatics Working Group's Nursing Informatics History Project. Karen is the author of the 2005 Omaha System book, 4 more books, more than 100 articles and chapters, and 70 editorials. She conducts workshops, is a co-developer of the Omaha System Web site, is the chair of the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001, and has been co-chairing the Omaha System International Conferences since 2001. Karen is a member of Omaha System HITSP team. She participated in the translation of a previous Omaha System book into Japanese, and is negotiating other translations.

Karen is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Her expertise is in public health nursing and nursing informatics; her research focus links public health nursing interventions and client outcomes using the Omaha System.

Beginning in 1998, Karen led the planning and implementation of an automated Omaha System-based outcomes management program at Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment, Stillwater, MN. She aggregated and analyzed Omaha System data for program planning and evaluation from 2000 through 2007. Her information and outcomes analyses are included in annual reports, grant applications, and other official documents.

Karen is the author of numerous publications and Chapter 3, Use of the Omaha System in Practice, in the 2005 book. Since she co-founded and lead the Minnesota Omaha System Users Group in 2001, she has worked with public health nurses and managers, educators, software vendors, and home care agencies to develop innovative Omaha System projects and resources. Karen and the Minnesota Omaha System Users Group received the American Public Health Association Public Health Nursing Section's 2008 Nursing Creative Achievement Award for their joint efforts. Karen is a member of Omaha System HITSP team. Karen has been a member of the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001, spoken at numerous national meetings, is a co-developer of the Omaha System Web site, and has been a co-chair of the Omaha System International Conference since 2005.

Judy is a licensed Clinical Nurse Specialist in community health nursing in the state of California. Since completing a 20 year career at the Riverside County Department of Public Health, Riverside CA in 2006, Judy works as an independent nursing consultant with agencies that are implementing or exploring the possibilities of adopting computerized Omaha System-based documentation applications.

In 2001, the Riverside County Department of Public Health appointed her as project manager, to guide selection of a standardized terminology which would serve as the foundation for documentation and facilitate the collection/aggregation of clinical and administrative data. She oversaw the selection of the Omaha System, the purchase of an Omaha System-based computer application, and training of users. She has spoken at many venues on effective strategies to facilitate the transition to Omaha System use and computerized documentation, the relationship between the Omaha System and Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators, the use of the Omaha System in early intervention programs, and related topics. She presented the previous topics at the 2003, 2005, and 2009 Omaha System International Conferences and the 2005 APHA Annual Meeting.

Judy is a member of Omaha System HITSP team. She became a co-chair of the Omaha System International Conference in 2008, and joined the Omaha System Board of Directors in 2009.

Nancy is employed as the Director of Quality for the Medicaid product at United Healthcare of the Midlands. In her current position she reviews medical record documentation that supports payment for services and has developed new appreciation for documentation that is clear, complete and succinct.

Nancy was employed at the VNA of Omaha from 1967 to 2000 in a variety of staff and management positions that involved documentation, quality, compliance, and automation. In the early 1970s, she was a supervisor with responsibilities for record review when she and other managers discussed the agency’s need to streamline documentation, quantify multidisciplinary practice, generate aggregate clinical data, and prepare for automation. She was a member of the first federally funded research team in 1975, and of the following three federally funded research teams that developed, revised, and refined the Omaha System. Nancy is the co-author the first two Omaha System books (1992) and more than 10 additional articles and chapters. She made numerous speeches about the Omaha System. Since leaving the VNA in 2000, she has had documentation and quality of care responsibilities in quality management positions for several managed care companies. She has served on the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001.

Bonnie is an Assistant Professor in Nursing at the University of Minnesota, School of Nursing. She is the coordinator for the Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) specialty in nursing informatics, and teaches web-based courses in informatics. Her program of research is in informatics, with an emphasis on standardized nursing terminologies and reuse of electronic health record data, particularly from home care, hospice, and public health. The data include the Omaha System and OASIS data. She facilitated implementation of the Omaha System in CareFacts Information Systems, a computerized information system with an emphasis on community-focused practice. She has taught the use of the Omaha System as part of the implementation to customers throughout the US. In the past, she conducted research, comparing the Omaha System across agencies to demonstrate the value of it not only for charting, but also for research and quality improvement.

Bonnie was elected to the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Board of Directors in 2007. She chairs an AMIA nursing history project. Since 2008, she has served as the co-chair the Alliance for Nursing Informatics, a visible collaborative of approximately 30 autonomous national informatics organizations. Bonnie has published more than 40 articles and 6 chapters, and contributed to the 2005 Omaha System book. She was a speaker at the 2001, 2003, and 2007 Omaha System International Conferences and numerous other meetings, has provided federal testimony, and has been a member of the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2001.

Frances is a professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Nursing, and a visiting professor at Hangzhou Normal University, Nanjing Tianjin Medical University, Sun Yat-sen University of Guangzhou, and Tianjin Medical University. She has extensive clinical experience in intensive care, renal care and general medicine. Her research and consultation focus on advanced nursing practice, nurse clinics, transitional care, and nursing education. Frances has published more than 90 papers and chapters, and serves on the editorial boards and review panels of international journals. She is the advisor for the development of community services of the China Nursing Centre, Beijing, China. Frances is the chairperson of the Hong Kong Society for Nursing Education, the vice-president of the preparatory group for the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing, and an elected member of the Core Steering Group of the Advanced Nursing Practice Network, International Council for Nurses.

Frances began incorporating the Omaha System into her research in 2002, and introduced students and faculty at her university and other schools. To date, 3 of her doctoral students are using the Omaha System in their dissertations, and have 5 Omaha System publications. Frances has included the Omaha System in speeches at numerous international locations. She was a featured speaker at the 2009 Omaha System International Conference and has been a member of the Omaha System Board of Directors since 2009.