EAST LANSING, Mich., July 17, 2014 — The Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) is pleased to announce the addition of Tom Lauzon of Meridian Health Plan of Michigan to the MiHIN Board of Directors. Mr. Lauzon brings his expertise as a five-time CIO 100 award-winner to assist MiHIN’s statewide initiative to improve healthcare through electronic health information sharing.

“MiHIN welcomes Mr. Lauzon as a member of our Board,” said MiHIN Chairman Larry Wagenknecht. “He has a strong history of building innovative technology to improve healthcare for both patients and providers, which perfectly aligns with the MiHIN mission. Tom Lauzon’s expertise will help further our efforts as we continue working toward our goal of implementing better healthcare for the residents of Michigan.”

Mr. Lauzon brings years of healthcare leadership within the state of Michigan to the MiHIN Board. As Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Meridian, he has led teams of architects in the design and development of medical and pharmaceutical proprietary managed care systems. Under his leadership, Meridian Health Plan continues to research and develop comprehensive solutions for improved health management for Michigan residents and providers.

“MiHIN is making great strides in overcoming data sharing barriers and reducing costs to improve the quality of healthcare for the people of Michigan,” said Mr. Lauzon. “Coming from a physician-owned and managed organization, I understand the importance of being able to securely share health information. I look forward to working with and contributing to the team at MiHIN to continue building a positive future for healthcare in our state.”

Mr. Lauzon also brings a distinct viewpoint to the MiHIN board, having spent years on the technical side of operations for the Michigan Health Plan, working closely with the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) on Meridian’s Medicaid efforts.

“Tom Lauzon brings a unique technical knowledge and experience set to the MiHIN board,” said Tim Pletcher, Executive Director for MiHIN. “His efforts to create automated solutions to identify and process resident Medicaid eligibility led to a dramatic increase of qualified patients in the state of Michigan. We welcome the perspective Tom can bring to help ensure MiHIN continues deploying the best possible data sharing framework.”

Prior to joining Meridian Health Plan of Michigan, Mr. Lauzon was president and founder of the Computer Development Group, and systems and programming manager for the Michigan Healthcare Corporation. He is Co-Chair of Governor Snyder’s Michigan Health Information Technology Commission and serves on the Technology Committee for the State of Michigan Health Insurance Exchange.

About the Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN)

The Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) is Michigan’s initiative to improve health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety through the sharing of electronic health information, while reducing costs. MiHIN is the official state designated entity for health information exchange across Michigan and through integration with the eHealth Exchange operated by HealtheWay. MiHIN is a Michigan nonprofit entity, functioning as a public and private collaboration between the State of Michigan, sub-state Health Information Exchanges, payers, providers, and patients. For more information please visit www.mihin.org.

About the Meridian Health Plan

Meridian Health Plan is a physician-owned, physician-operated health plan with extensive experience in its subsidiary operations in Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa. Meridian’s affiliates include Medicaid and Medicare health and prescription drug plans, a commercial plan available through the Health Insurance Marketplace and MeridianRx, a Pharmacy Benefit Management company. Meridian Health Plan currently serves more than 400,000 Medicaid members. For more information, visit www.mhplan.com.