Medicare News
| For Immediate Release: | Contact: |
| Monday, September 29, 1997 | CMS Office of Public Affairs 202-690-6145 |
For questions about Medicare please call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit www.medicare.gov. |
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CHRISTOPH NAMED HCFA'S CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
The Health Care Financing Administration today announced the appointment of Gary G. Christoph, PhD, as HCFA's first chief information officer and director of HCFA's Office of Information Services.
Christoph will oversee HCFA's efforts to upgrade its computers and other information systems to give Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries better service and fight fraud and abuse.
Christoph was for the past 15 years with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Department of Energy's research and engineering facility, a world leader in high-performance computing. He had significant management and leadership experience at Los Alamos, where he was Computer Systems Security Officer for the Los Alamos Integrated Computing Network, bearing complete responsibility for the security and integrity of one of the most powerful supercomputer networks in the world.
Christoph developed extensive knowledge of Medicare and its information technology needs through his work at Los Alamos on a HCFA project to develop advanced methods for computer analysis and detection of fraud and abuse in Medicare claims.
"Gary's management experience in computer and network systems and security will be an invaluable asset to HCFA as we modernize our computer and information systems," said HCFA Deputy Administrator Nancy-Ann Min DeParle. "These improvements will help prevent and detect fraud and abuse, and promote better oversight for our growing managed care programs. They also will help us use Medicare's vast archives of health care claim data to improve the ways Medicare delivers health care."
Both the position of chief information officer and the Office of Information Services were created during HCFA's recent agency-wide reorganization. Among its tasks, the new office ensures the effective management of HCFA's information systems and resources. The office also develops and maintains central data bases and statistical files, and directs Medicare claims payment systems.
Prior to joining Los Alamos in 1982, Christoph was for eight years a professor of physical chemistry at Ohio State University. He is the treasurer and a member of the board of directors of the Cray (Supercomputer) Users Group. Christoph earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the California Institute of Technology and holds a doctorate in chemical physics from the University of Chicago.
