Ruth Perot is the managing director of the National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT Collaborative), a public/private/community partnership established to help ensure that communities of color and other underserved and vulnerable communities benefit fully from HIT initiatives and advances. She is also co-founder and executive director/chief executive officer of Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, Inc. (SHIRE). SHIRE has program management responsibility for the NHIT Collaborative and since 1997 has served as a resource for the attainment of health parity and optimal health for all Americans, with emphasis on communities of color and other vulnerable populations.
Ms. Perot has over forty years of experience and service in a wide range of disciplines and areas of focus. In addition to her efforts to promote the inclusion of vulnerable populations in health information technology, she has championed the collection and reporting of racial, ethnic, and primary language data in order to assess health care quality and monitor progress toward health equity for all Americans. She has also demonstrated a clear commitment to networking, outreach, and education, as exemplified by her more than 10 year leadership of Out of Many, One, a national multicultural coalition, and her key role in engaging stakeholders from government, corporations, and community entities in policy forums.
In addition to professional experience in the private and public sectors, Perot has extensive experience in educating and engaging members of vulnerable populations. She currently leads SHIRE’s campaign to combat childhood obesity in the District of Columbia, and has helped guide regional efforts in the metropolitan Washington area to promote primary care and advance HIT as a tool for health and health care improvement
In recognition of her efforts to ensure, with respect to HIT, that no community is left behind, Perot has been provided with several opportunities to share her experiences and expertise. They include appointments to the National eHealth Collaborative Membership and Communications Committee and its predecessor, AHIC Successor Inc.; the Health Information Communication and Data Exchange Taskforce of the State Alliance for E-Health, National Governors Association; and HIMSS Advocacy and Public Policy Steering Committee. She also provided invited testimony to the Consumer Empowerment Workgroup for the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT, HHS.
Perot is a graduate of Oberlin College and received a master of arts in teaching degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Currently a visiting scholar and fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance, she is also a recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust’s Healthcare Hero Award and Families USA’s Consumer Advocate of the Year Award.
