Colin Banas, M.D., chief medical information officer, VCU Medical Center, was named 2018 Physician Executive Leader of the Year by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems. The award recognizes a physician leader who demonstrates significant leadership in optimizing health engagements and care outcomes through information technology. Recipients are selected jointly by the affirming organizations’ boards of directors.

Banas, who has been in his current position for eight years, started at VCU in the Department of Internal Medicine as a resident in 2002. Receiving this award is a compliment to both his medical and technology passions, he said.

“The best part of my job is when we are able to implement something to make patient and clinician lives better,” he said. “I still practice medicine, so when we hit a home run with technology and patient care it feels really good.”

In 2013 Banas testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance at a hearing on “Health Information Technology: Using it to Improve Care.” The following year, Banas was chosen as a Health IT Fellow by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was one of 15 providers and administrators chosen for the national honor.

His most recent recognition is humbling, he said, because it comes from those with whom he works.

“I am a very active member in the HIMSS and AMDIS communities and this really represents recognition from peers that I deeply respect,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit community, so it really meant a lot to me.”