Noam H. Arzt, PhD, FHIMSS, FAMIA

As the founder and president of HLN Consulting, Dr. Arzt is a leading national figure in health informatics. He brings an innovative, assertive, and creative approach towards solving systems and data interoperability challenges. A frequent speaker at national conferences and an active blogger and author about current health information technology issues, Dr. Arzt brings a national leadership perspective on IT quality and solutions with a unique focus on public health.

Previously, Dr. Arzt was an administrator and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania—including ten years at the Wharton School—where he honed his management skills including successfully guiding Federal, State, and foundation grants and contracts. He holds a bachelor’s, master’s and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

Press Quote:
Cat Ferguson.”What went wrong with America’s $44 million vaccine data system?” MIT Technology Review, January 30, 2021

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Mike Berry, BSE

Mike Berry wears many hats at HLN: manager, consultant, and software developer. He has staffed and managed health information systems projects for HLN in Philadelphia, New York City, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington. His work is focused on public health registries, connecting public health and Health Information Exchange (HIE), standards-based messaging and interoperability architecture, privacy, and security in HIE, and person-matching technologies for integrated systems.

Mike currently leads HLN’s public health systems projects for the Rhode Island Department of Health and is a developer and relationship manager for HLN projects at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, Mike led HLN’s team on the Strategic Healthcare IT Advanced Research Projects on Security (SHARPS) project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, culminating in the release of Decision Support for Data Segmentation (DS2).

Mike brings a deep technical understanding and crisp written and oral expression skills to any project he undertakes. He holds a BSE in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Daryl Chertcoff, BSE

Daryl provides project and technical leadership on complex, multi-vendor application design and development efforts, and has architected major public health systems. As a senior project manager for HLN since 2000, he has used a diverse set of skills and approaches to tackle complex problems in creative and unique ways.

Daryl has worked with a wide range of technologies and he has managed, designed, and implemented systems and applications that utilize various integration and database technologies. In New York City, he was one of the architects of the Master Child Index and the primary developer of the Online Registry, an internet-accessible, web-based interface for providers to access the Citywide Immunization Registry.

Daryl has also helped to build and maintain network servers and database systems for a variety of clients. His project management, operations, and application development experience lends well to the full software development life cycle. Daryl leads HLN’s public health case reporting initiative, including client management, technical oversight, and project planning. Daryl holds a BSE in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Aasa Dahlberg Schmit

Aasa comes to HLN from the Minnesota Department of Health, where she was the Director of the Office of Data Strategy and Interoperability, providing vision, direction, and leadership in advancing enterprise data strategies and data exchange.

Aasa has over 20 years of experience working in health information technology (HIT) projects in public health. She has led successful implementations of disease surveillance systems in multiple state and local public health agencies, in Wisconsin and Minnesota, a decade back. She has expertise in program management and facilitating data exchanges between healthcare providers and public health agencies. This includes electronic lab reporting, electronic case reporting, and syndromic surveillance.

At HLN, Aasa is the domain lead for disease surveillance and data modernization. She oversees the project team working on electronic case reporting (eCR) related projects, including the Reportable Conditions Knowledge Management System (RCKMS). She is also engaged in CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative (DMI) through various activities and partner collaborations. PHII has highlighted some of Aasa’s DMI work for MDH in DMI Stories from the Field. 

Aasa carries the public health mission close to her heart and always strives to use informatics to fight public health challenges with new technology tools. She holds a B.Sc in Computer Science and Business Administration from the University of Boras, Sweden.

Marcey Propp, BS, MBA

Marcey brings vast management consulting expertise to HLN, serving State and Federal public health agencies in strategic planning and improving productivity and efficiency through the disciplined integration of design, process, and technology. She applies industry-standard project and change management leadership methodologies and tools to engage partners, IT teams, and staff in the successful execution of system transitions.

Marcey guides the delivery of proven and practical solutions in areas related to health information exchange planning, data migration and validation, testing, process re-engineering, and training. She currently supports public health jurisdictions in the migration of their immunization information system platforms or modules to comply with national standards and state requirements. As a faculty member of the Public Health Informatics Institute of the Task Force for Global Health, Marcey also provides design, development, and instruction of public health informatics curricula to a wide array of participants through online, on-demand, and in-person learning.

Marcey is an active member of the American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA) and a Certified Professional in Health Information & Management Systems through HIMSS, Marcey has an MBA from Northeastern University and an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University.

Mike Suralik, MS

Mike is an accomplished information technology professional with experience in project management, business analysis, software engineering, recruitment, and team development who fosters collaborative environments and leads teams to produce high-quality business analysis and health information systems for organizations around the country. Mike has supported the public health community for two decades through a variety of custom software development projects, needs assessments, gap analyses, and strategic planning, especially in the fields of immunizations, master patient indexes, integrated child health, and emergency preparedness and response. 

As Chief Resource Officer, Mike manages the allocation of staff resources across HLN, directs the company’s recruitment efforts, and oversees the professional development of its staff. In addition, Mike directs HLN’s ongoing support of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, including its Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR). Mike holds a Masters in Computer Science from North Carolina State University.