News release
Oracle Health expands Asia Pacific clinical leadership
14 March 2023
Dr Penny Smith has joined the Oracle Health team in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in the role of lead physician executive, bringing with her over 20 years of clinical and informatics experience in both UK and Australian healthcare settings.
A fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London (UK), Dr Smith first attained her medical degree in Queensland before moving to England where she completed advanced specialty training in infectious diseases and general internal medicine. Penny took a post as a consultant physician in a London hospital using Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) systems as part of routine clinical practice.
Prior to joining Oracle Health, Dr Smith was the chief medical information officer at a London NHS Trust supporting the deployment of Oracle Health Model Content across several hospital sites, one of which was recently awarded HIMSS Stage 7 rating for its electronic patient record following go-live in 2019. She has also completed a postgraduate diploma in digital health leadership through Imperial College London as a clinician on the first cohort of NHS Digital Academy, an initiative set up to develop a new generation of excellent digital leaders with the skills to drive information and technology transformation of the NHS. Penny also recently held the role of Senior Medical Advisor with Victorian Department of Health.
Michael Draheim, chief clinical information officer, Oracle Health in APAC, outlined, “We’re excited to welcome Penny as part of our expanding Oracle Health clinical team. She brings diverse experience from both a clinical and an informatics perspective from across Australia and the UK. As part of Penny’s regional role, she will be working closely with our clients to support existing projects. She will also be working with clinicians on digital innovation to explore the value of data and digital systems for clinicians and consumers.”
With firsthand experience of frontline healthcare delivery, Penny’s personal vision is to leverage healthcare data to improve the patient experience and healthcare outcomes in Asia Pacific. She notes, “Working on the frontline during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in London highlighted clinicians’ motivation to adopt digital technologies, with many prepared to do so at speed. However, it’s imperative that organisational change is clinically led; clinicians need to be offered the support and time needed to adopt new ways of working.”
“Adoption and optimisation of digital systems requires ongoing clinical leadership so that clinicians can take ownership of continual improvement of the digital tools at their disposal. Ultimately, if we get this right, then patients and clinicians can start to benefit from using insights from healthcare data to improve local healthcare delivery and outcomes, and to focus on understanding the bigger picture of social determinants of health and health equity,” added Dr Smith.
Julie Hoare, vice president and regional general manager for Oracle Health in APAC, said,
“Oracle Health’s continued investment in clinical expertise in this region is an important component in supporting not only our existing clients, but also in contributing to the broader digital innovation in healthcare across Asia Pacific. We’re thrilled to continue the expansion of our team and welcome a clinician like Dr Smith along with her impressive depth of experience and knowledge of healthcare delivery and informatics.”