Nashville-based HCA today named Dr. Richard Tayrien as its first chief health information officer. He takes up the post on September 21.

Tayrien comes to the nation's largest hospital operator from the Phoenix offices of Catholic Healthcare West, where he is

vice president for clinical information systems. He has spent most of this decade involved in healthcare IT after practicing internal medicine for the first 18 years of his career.

Tayrien, 56, will report to Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, president of HCA's

clinical services group and chief medical officer. According to today's announcement, "he will lead an expanding team of clinicians and informaticists and be responsible for the continued development and implementation of hCare, HCA's comprehensive program for advanced health information technologies."

Tayrien recently served on the Inpatient Work Group of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), an official certification body for electronic health records. In addition, Tayrien was recently recognized by the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) for his leadership in the deployment of an electronic medical record and computerized provider order entry system.

A graduate of Oklahoma State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa, Tayrien received his undergraduate degree in biology from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla. He is board-certified in internal medicine and is a fellow in the American College of Osteopathic Internists.