Deanna Towne, chief information officer of Contexture, has a deep understanding of the healthcare community and consistently finds solutions to longstanding challenges in new and innovative ways. This dedication is why Verato, a leader in referential cloud -based patient matching, nominated her for the Modern Healthcare’s 2025 Innovators Award, which she proudly won.
Deanna fosters a culture of continuous improvement among her 150-person IT team. She values unique expertise and encourages bold thinking and collaboration to solve healthcare’s toughest data challenges. Working with an incredibly talented group of technical experts, her team is doing some extraordinary work to support Contexture’s vision.
Ensuring Accurate and Critical Data for Decision Making
The Contexture IT Team discovered universal pain points with inconsistent data and incomplete patient and person records in the healthcare community and beyond. Providers were encountering multiple records for what they believed were the same patient but lacked the time or expertise to merge them. They faced issues like nicknames (Robert vs. Bob), new last names due to marital status, or changes of address, often not realizing that separate patient records were actually related.
Under her leadership, the Health Information Exchange has worked continuously to improve patient record matching using Contexture’s 1,500 data sources through Verato’s best of breed person matching tools.
Measurable Success
The Contexture IT team continues to implement a consolidated solution, ONE Platform, which leverages Verato and numerous other key vendor partners. This massive effort will improve patient care through the implementation of advanced data integration and identity resolution strategies to the correct 28 million patients. This improved data enables providers to:
- Make informed decisions
- Reduce errors in care and billing
- Ensure continuity as patients switch providers or update personal information
The enhanced accuracy and reliability of the data have led to fewer medical errors and better care coordination, ultimately helping organizations improve their bottom line.
Lasting Success
The Contexture IT Team ensures the initiative’s long-term success of these efforts by maintaining open communication with HIE members to address their unique workflow and provider needs. She collaborates closely with Verato, to continuously refine the system and enhance patient identification accuracy.
Under Deanna’s (and her team’s) leadership, partnerships with state partners in Arizona and Colorado have enabled critical matching services, allowing patients to receive significant new resources by enrolling in additional programs that they previously were unaware they qualified for.
The Contexture IT Team continually adapts to evolving needs, ensuring sustained accuracy and efficiency. Deanna Towne, recently honored with Modern Healthcare’s 2025 Innovators Award, is eagerly looking forward to Contexture merging three health information exchange platforms into a single consolidated source of critical patient data. Her award-winning and forward-thinking approach is driving true innovation and transforming healthcare delivery.
