Meet U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson – The CIO in Congress
4.4.2019
Leslie Krigstein – VP, Congressional Affairs
How did a former director of the Air Force’s Chief Information Officer Staff at U.S. Special Operations Command become the voice for telehealth in the U.S. House of Representatives? U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson will discuss his journey from CIO to congressman at the CHIME Advocacy Summit June 26-28 in Washington, D.C. Here is some background on Congressman Johnson, one of five keynote speakers who will present at CHIME’s second annual Advocacy Summit.
A Career before Congress
Congressman Johnson grew up in rural North Carolina on a family farm. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1973 and retired as a lieutenant colonel after a distinguished military career of more than 26 years. As director of the Air Force’s Chief Information Officer Staff at U.S. Special Operations Command, Johnson worked directly with senior congressional and Secretary of Defense representatives, as well as top leaders within the various U.S. intelligence communities, to ensure America’s Special Operations forces were adequately equipped to carry out critical national security missions.
During his tenure in the U.S. Air Force, Johnson was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Squadron Officers School and Air Command & Staff College. He is also a recipient of the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
Following his retirement from military service, Johnson turned to creating and building high technology businesses. He co-founded Johnson-Schley Management Group, Inc., an IT consulting company that increased revenues by more than 200 percent in just three years under his leadership. In 2003 he left Johnson-Schley to form J2 Business Solutions, Inc., where he focused on providing executive level IT support as a defense contractor to the U.S. military.
From 2006 through 2010, Johnson served as CIO of a global manufacturer of highly engineered electronic components for the transportation industry headquartered in Northeast Ohio. As a member of the executive leadership team, he managed a multi-million-dollar departmental budget.
He was elected to serve the sixth district of Ohio in 2010. He now sits on the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, serving on the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, among others. He also serves on the House Budget Committee.
Johnson as a Health IT Leader
Since joining Congress, Johnson has been a leading voice on technology issues. He has been a telehealth leader, serving on both the Energy & Commerce Telehealth Working Group and the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Telehealth Caucus that recently issued a request for information to stakeholders on how to expand access to telehealth and remote patient monitoring.
He’s sponsored a number of telehealth bills in recent years, including:
- Evidence-Based Telehealth Expansion Act
- Access to Telehealth Services for Substance Use Disorders Act
- Telehealth Modernization Act of 2013
He has also been a leading voice in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. His legislation, the Training, Education, and Community Help (TEACH) to Combat Addiction Act was signed into law with the broader opioid package last fall.
This distinguished congressman will be joined by Rusty Yeager, senior vice president and CIO at Encompass Health and a former Medical Service Corps officer specializing in healthcare IT and cybersecurity for the U.S. Air Force, for a fireside chat. To see our impressive list of speakers and to register, click here.