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Availity Senior Leadership Team

	Julie Klapstein Chief Executive Officer Julie Klapstein is the Chief Executive Officer of Availity, LLC, a joint venture between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), Humana Inc., and WellPoint, Inc. Availity optimizes information exchange between multiple health care stakeholders through a single, secure network. The Availity® Health Information Network delivers trusted administrative, financial, and clinical information, supporting both real-time and batch transactions. Since its inception in 2001, Availity has become one of the largest health care information exchanges in the country and has won 12 industry awards for its health information network. Julie has more than 30 years in the health care information technology industry. Prior to joining Availity, she was President and CEO of Phycom, Inc., a leading provider of advanced medical management and e-health solutions to the payer and provider communities, in Kirkland, Washington. She has also held positions as Executive Vice President of Sunquest Information Systems in Tucson, AZ; National Sales, Marketing, and Service Manager for SMS’ Turnkey Systems Division (now Siemens Medical Systems); and was VP, General Manager for GTE Health Systems. Prior to GTE, Julie led marketing, sales, and operations functions at AT&T. Julie earned her Bachelor’s degree from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. She is the recipient of multiple annual awards for the Top Women’s Led Businesses in Florida and has participated in Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Conference three years in a row. Julie has been on multiple for-profit and not-for-profit boards. She resides in Jacksonville, Florida.
	Russ Thomas President and Chief Operating Officer Russ Thomas is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Availity, LLC, a joint venture between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), Humana Inc., and WellPoint, Inc. He joined Availity in early 2008 and oversees enterprise-wide operations, including business solutions, professional services, market strategy, and sales and market development. Russ brings with him to Availity a career in clinical information products and services. Prior to joining Availity, Russ was the Chief Executive Officer of Gold Standard, Inc., an industry leader in drug information databases and clinical knowledge solutions. Russ grew Gold Standard from a small start-up business to a national operation, serving all sectors of the health care market, before selling the business to Reed Elsevier in 2006. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Russ has been active in industry and philanthropic organizations. He was a founding board member of the Tampa Bay Regional Health Information Organization. He was also a founding board member and past chairman of Hillsborough Kids, Inc., which, in concert with the Florida Department of Children and Families, provides oversight and resources for more than 4,000 disadvantaged children in Hillsborough County, Florida. Russ earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia. He resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife Claudia and their two children.
	Jim Bucci Vice President, Human Resources Jim Bucci joined Availity in April 2006 to lead the human resources (HR) team. Having more than 25 years of leadership experience, he has headed HR functions in six different business sectors and has worked directly for eight CEOs. Most recently Jim was Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Services for six years at Icoria, Inc., a biotechnology firm based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Prior to that, Jim was with an independent health care system in the Washington, DC area. In addition to his HR functions, he has also supervised purchasing, IT, and facilities. Other noteworthy employers include Fidelity Investments in Boston, where he held several executive HR positions, including Corporate HR Vice President. Jim also served at Hallmark Cards for 16 years in sales, sales training, and HR capacities in seven different locations. Additionally, he has worked in the banking and electronics industries. Jim has been a member of the American Management Association National HR council for 20 years. He holds a Master of Science degree in Human Development from the University of Rhode Island and his undergraduate degree from Brown University.
	Charlie Burwell Senior Vice President, Strategy, Business, and Corporate Development Charlie Burwell joined Availity in October 2009 as the company’s Senior Vice President, Strategy, Business and Corporate Development. He is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and reports directly to the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Russ Thomas. Prior to joining Availity, Charlie served in executive capacities at industry-leading firms. Most recently, he led the health care information businesses for a division of Cardinal Health, where he was responsible for Acquisitions, Partnerships, and Strategy. Charlie’s previous executive assignments include Solucient, where he performed similar functional responsibilities and was the General Manager of the Provider Division, and VHA, where he served as Senior Vice President, managing two significant divisions and leading iInformation mergers and partnerships. Other relevant assignments include senior level work at Harris Methodist Health System and IBM. Charlie has 25 years of health care experience and is a graduate of Northeastern Oklahoma University, majoring in Speech and Education. He recently relocated from San Diego and now resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
	Trent Gavazzi Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Trent Gavazzi is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Availity, LLC, managing all aspects and components of the company’s technology platform. He is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and reports directly to the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Russ Thomas. Trent joined Availity in July 2009 after serving as the CEO of QuickWaters Software, a software company providing risk alert and data analytic software for C-level executives in financial services organizations. Trent’s 19 years of experience include managing large IT organizations, management consulting, and leadership roles in startup software firms. Trent started his career at Price Waterhouse where he consulted with the RTC savings and loan bailout. Prior to his first CIO role, Trent was a founding partner with Madison Consulting where he led major technology initiatives for several investment banking firms. Trent began his career on Wall Street at Nomura Securities where he supported the equity trading, operations, and financial controllers. Trent held several CIO roles for the Capital Markets Division of the Bank of Montreal, including the Harris Direct Online trading platform which he helped migrate to E*TRADE. He was a Wall Street and Technology Gold Book Profiles in Excellence recipient in 2005 and 2006. Trent is a graduate of Buffalo State University where he completed his degree in Computer Information Systems. He and his family relocated from the New York City area and now reside in Jacksonville, Florida.
	Margaret Gomez Chief Financial Officer Margaret Gomez joined Availity in July 2001 to lead the finance and administration functions of the company. In addition to more than 20 years of experience in financial and health care services, Margaret has extensive experience in nationwide start-up operations, including two Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award winners, AT&T Universal Card Services and Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation. Prior to joining Availity, Margaret spent more than 10 years at AT&T, including five years at AT&T Universal Card Services. She directed financial management functions and was responsible for developing new products, creating and implementing several that were instrumental to the success of AT&T’s Universal Card organization well ahead of market and analyst expectations. Prior to AT&T, Margaret was Vice President of Research and Analysis for Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation where she managed short- and long-term strategic planning functions and implemented fact-based decision-making, both of which directly contributed to winning the Baldrige Award for the organization. Additionally, Margaret served as the Director of Business Design and Integration for Ideon Group, Inc. and has provided consulting expertise to organizations, such as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. She is active in her community and was a founding member of the Jacksonville Beaches chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Margaret holds a Bachelor degree in accounting and Master degree in business administration from the University of North Florida and has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1992.
	Kathleen Hertzog Vice President, Marketing and Communcations Kathleen Hertzog joined Availity in 2007 and leads the enterprise-wide product management, business planning, and market intelligence functions. Having more than 20 years of experience in marketing, business development, and sales, prior to joining Availity, she was Director of Business Development for MEDai, an Orlando, Florida-based health care predictive modeling company. Kathleen facilitated the company’s partnership efforts to establish MEDai as one of the country’s premier analytical applications. Prior to MEDai, Kathleen was a Senior Director with Specialized Care Services, a business unit of UnitedHealth Group, focused on clinical applications and services. Kathleen was also Vice President of Business Development for National Processing Company (NPC), helping to create the company’s health care financial services division and garnering national attention for its paperless remittance and payment solution. Before joining NPC, Kathleen held leadership positions at both Phycom, a case-management and utilization-management solutions vendor, and ENVOY, now Emdeon. Kathleen began her career with the real estate management firm of JMB Properties Company. She graduated cum laude from Jacksonville University with a degree in communications.
	Mary Kelley Vice President, Product Solutions Mary Kelley is Vice President of Product Solutions for Availity, LLC and leads the enterprise-wide product initiatives for the company. She joined the Availity team in June 2008 to manage the product roadmap and lead a process re-engineering initiative. Mary is responsible for providing leadership to a team of Product Managers and Business Analysts supporting five health care provider-directed solution strategies on a multi-payer portal. Prior to joining Availity, Mary served as Senior Industry Specialist for Computer Sciences Corporation and was responsible for the construction of a statewide health information exchange (HIE). Previously, she held positions as AVP CHS Product Management for Concentra, Inc., Program Manager for Capgemini/Accenture, and Vice President of Product Consulting for Phycom Corporation. Mary earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio State University and her Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Cincinnati.
	Jon McBride Chief Innovation Officer Jon McBride leads Availity’s innovation function, overseeing the process of cultivating and managing new ideas focused on solving complex problems in health care. Jon brings more than 15 years of health care technology expertise to his role, including significant work in developing mission critical applications and systems. Prior to joining Availity, Jon was the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President for CorMed/MedBiquitous Services, a global provider collaboration initiative founded by companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and Johns Hopkins. Previously, he managed software development for the high technology business unit of Motive Communications. There, he was responsible for global software delivery to clients among the Fortune 100 companies. Jon was Vice President of Technology at CyberPlus Corporation/EmSTAT, now a part of AllScripts, where he was part of a team that designed, deployed, and supported health care software for emergency medicine practices, as well as tools for retrospective analysis of medical data and global standardization of medical concepts. He launched and managed many international initiatives for CyberPlus Corporation in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. He also developed software for Lockheed-Martin to support NASA’s manned exploration of space. Jon holds a Bachelor’s degree in computer science with emphasis in mathematics and electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is actively pursuing his MBA.
	Mary Anne Orenchuk Vice President, Professional Services Mary Anne Orenchuk is Vice President of Professional Services for Availity, LLC, managing the corporate-wide project and release services, implementation services, client services, quality assurance, and alliance/account management services. Having more than 15 years of experience in information technology and operations in both the health care and the financial industries, she joined Availity in 2003 as Director of Development. Mary Anne was an original member of the project team that launched Availity in 2001 as an employee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF). She also served as executive sponsor for the Availity/THIN joint venture migration. Prior to joining Availity, Mary Anne was a leader in the Project Management Center of Excellence at BCBSF. She also served in multiple technology leadership roles to deliver retail banking office automation at Bank of America. As Vice President in Information Management, she led and consulted on organization-wide process engineering improvements and total quality management efforts. Mary Anne holds a degree in business administration from the University of Florida.
	Arie van den Akker Vice President, Sales and Market Development Arie van den Akker joined Availity in 2007 and leads the sales and market development efforts for the payer, vendor, and provider channels. He came to Availity from MEDai, Inc., a leading predictive modeling company, where he was Vice President of Sales. Prior to MEDai, Arie was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Phycom, providing case management and utilization management systems to health plans. Phycom also provided online eligibility, benefits, and referral services, including the BlueLink system at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Prior to Phycom, Arie was Vice President of Sales at Access Health, a demand management company, where he managed sales, opened the international market, and ran the provider business unit. Arie started his career at Pacific Bell, where he held various positions in sales and marketing, including Executive Director of Product Management and Public Sector Vice President. Arie graduated from Sonoma State University with a degree in mathematics.