WEDI Announces Winners of the Organization’s 2025 Awards
CMS’ Michael Cimmino Awarded Top Honor
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 11, 2025 — The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is pleased to announce the winners of Its Annual Awards Recognizing Excellence in Health IT. The organization’s annual awards were presented earlier this week during the 2025 WEDI Annual Membership Meeting. These awards honor the excellence of industry leaders in their dedication and volunteerism in WEDI. Their efforts are leading the industry in improving the efficiency, quality, and cost effectiveness of health data exchange.
The 2025 award winners are:
Health IT Champion – The Louis W. Sullivan Award
Michael Cimmino, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Named in honor of the Honorable Louis W. Sullivan, MD, the former HHS Secretary who was instrumental in the creation of WEDI and initiating our industry’s ongoing commitment to improving health care through the development and deployment of standards for administrative simplification. This award recognizes an individual who has distinguished themselves through their leadership, vision, and achievements in advancing the efficiency of health care.
Leadership in Volunteerism - The Andrew Melczer Award
Thanh-Thien Nguyen, Kaiser Permanente
Named in honor of Andrew Melczer who committed his career to health care and devoted his life to helping, teaching, and sharing with others. This award recognizes an individual who has provided exemplary service by giving their time to WEDI and the health IT industry.
Distinguished Service - The Steve Lazarus Award
Denny Brennan, Massachusetts Health Data Consortium
Named in honor of Steve Lazarus, PhD, a former WEDI Board Chair and exemplary volunteer. This award recognizes an individual who has provided significant leadership to the fulfillment of the mission, objectives, programs and overall volunteer activities of WEDI through participation in committees, workgroups, Board of Directors, and events.
Innovation in Health IT Award
Itiliti Health
InterSystems
MultiCare
This award recognizes organizations that have contributed to the advancement of health IT and advancing administrative automation and technology in health care.
Excellence in Service Award
Arna Meyer, Stedi
Beth Davis, Veradigm Payerpath
Stanley Nachimson, Nachimson Advisors
Chuck Veverka, Kunz, Leigh & Associates
Donna Campbell, HCSC
Amanda Abbott, BCBS of Kansas
Sandra Rolfe, Optum
Pam Grozse, PNC Bank
Pat Wijtyk, Cognizant
This award recognizes individuals who have provided significant leadership to the fulfillment of the mission, objectives, programs, and overall volunteer activities of WEDI through participation in committees, workgroups, Board of Directors, among others.
Chair’s Award
Rebekah Fiehn, American Dental Association
Charles Jaffe, MD, PhD, Health Level Seven
This award is presented at the discretion of the WEDI Chair to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to the advancement of specific WEDI initiatives.
“It is my pleasure to recognize and celebrate the 2025 WEDI award winners. These individuals and organizations have provided national leadership, ongoing dedication, and unwavering commitment to the advancement of health IT. Their significant contributions and volunteer efforts enable WEDI to fulfill its vision and objectives,” said Robert Tennant, WEDI Executive Director. “We deeply appreciate the work by the 2025 award winners and all our volunteers and look forward to continued collaboration.”
For more information on the 2024 awardees or on 2024 WEDI educational programming, please visit www.wedi.org.
About WEDI
WEDI was formed in 1991 by then HHS Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency of health data exchange. WEDI was named in the HIPAA legislation as an advisor to the Secretary of HHS. Recognized and trusted in this role, WEDI is the leading authority on the use of health information technology to efficiently improve health information exchange, enhance care quality, and reduce costs. With a focus on advancing standards for electronic administrative transactions, and promoting data privacy and security, WEDI has been instrumental in aligning the industry to harmonize administrative and clinical data.
For more information, please visit wedi.org
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Contact:
Lindsey Canaley
WEDI
202.320.7618
lcanaley@wedi.org