Sam Bierstock

Dr. Sam Bierstock trained in Internal Medicine, is a board certified eye surgeon, holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, and is a nationally recognized authority on healthcare clinical information systems in both the ambulatory and hospital environments, specializing in physician adoption of clinical technologies and his original concept of “Thoughtflow ®” (as opposed to’ “Workflow”) as the essential driving force in successful physician acceptance of clinical information systems. He is an experienced executive and business strategies consultant for established and start-up healthcare technology companies, and companies developing healthcare IT verticals.

From 2001 until 2004, Dr. Bierstock served as Vice President of Medical Affairs for Eclipsys Corporation, a leading national vendor of hospital information systems, supporting the company’s ongoing professional relations with client hospital medical staffs, the ongoing development of Eclipsys’ internal medical staff, and program development to assist the adoption of clinical technologies by clinicians. 

He subsequently served as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Healthlink, Inc., a highly respected company providing consultative services to hospitals investing in, and implementing state-of-the-art computer technologies. During this time, he created a comprehensive methodology to address physician adoption of developing technologies and developed the concept of “Thoughtflow ®” as the key factor in physician acceptance of workflow-altering technologies.  In June of 2005, Healthlink was acquired by IBM, for which Dr. Bierstock served as a Fellow in IBM’s Global Leadership Initiative Group and Thought Leadership, and Chief Medical Officer of IBM’s Business Development Division charged with development of IBM’s position in the vertical healthcare industry market. 

He has written and lectured extensively on the impact of real time data on clinical practice. 

Dr. Sam Bierstock is an international lecturer on HIT issues, and is the author of a reference book on computerization of the medical office and more than 70 published articles in major medical journals. In addition, he was a contributing author to Merriam-Webster’s “Medical Office Handbook,” for the chapter on medical office computers.  He has served on advisory boards of several healthcare information technology publications and organizations, including the EMedicine Advisory Board of the American Medical Association. 

In 1992, Dr. Bierstock founded and served as President of Computer Consultants for Professionals, Inc., a firm designed to assist physicians in selecting and maximizing efficiency in the use of information technology in the ambulatory clinical environment. Previously, he was a founder of the Millennial Group developed to provide healthcare industry consulting services and to serve as a “think-tank” regarding current and future issues in the dynamically changing world of healthcare delivery.  

As a board-certified ophthalmologist with a background in internal medicine, he has more than 20 years of clinical and surgical practice experience. 

Dr. Bierstock continues his work in the integration of physicians in highly technological clinical hospital and ambulatory environments providing educational and consulting services for hospital administrative leaders and independent physician practices migrating to healthcare information systems and electronic medical records. He is the founder and president of Champions in Healthcare, LLC ( www.championsinhealthcare.com ), which provides strategies for innovation in developing products and services in clinical healthcare information technology  including product development and design analysis, market sizing and analysis, competitive screening and analysis, marketing materials development, financial projections, capital funding, and other services. 

Dr. Bierstock received his MD from the University Of Vermont College Of Medicine and his BS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University.  He performed his residency in Ophthalmology at Tufts-New England Medical Center and his internship in Internal Medicine at Montreal General Hospital.  He has been a contributing editor, author or editorial consultant for approximately 20 publications. 

He is widely sought-after speaker on a variety of subjects dealing with the adoption of clinical technologies by clinicians.  

An accomplished musician and acclaimed song-writer, he has also attained national recognition for his work in paying tribute to our aging veterans, with speaking and entertaining engagements all over the United States and on national television and radio, and at national events. His internationally acclaimed song in tribute to our aging veterans, “Before You Go” has been downloaded more than 25 million times from the Internet ( www.beforeyougo.us  ). 

Dr. Bierstock also serves on the board of directors of Veterans Helping Our Returning Heroes, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization which raises funds to provide guide dogs for veterans blinded in combat.

In 2007 Dr. Bierstock was awarded the prestigious George Washington Honor Medal, Freedoms Foundation for responsible citizenship for his work in honoring our aging veterans of WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In receiving this award, Dr. Bierstock joins the ranks of past distinguished award recipients: 

• 1998 - Chief Justice William Rehnquist 
• 1982 - Chief Justice Warren Burger 
• 1979 - Dr. Alton Ochsner 
• 1977 - Lowell Thomas 
• 1970 - Bill Pierson 
• 1962 - Walt Disney 
• 1961 - Hon. J. Edgar Hoover 
• 1956 - Hon. J. Edgar Hoover 

He currently serves as a technical advisor to the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), an advisory body to the US Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security. To book healthcare technology speaker, Dr. Sam Beirstock call Executive Speakers Bureau 800-754-9404.