UC Health appoints first chief data and analytics officer

Cincinnati-based UC Health has tapped Michael Legg as its first chief data and analytics officer to accelerate data-driven decision making across the health system.

“As our system’s first vice president and chief data and analytics officer, Mike will support UC Health’s commitment to driving innovation, leading the way our system collects, interprets and uses data and analytics to enhance the delivery of care and achieve operational excellence,” Evaline Alessandrini, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer for UC Health, said in a statement.

According to the health system, Legg will use the new role to establish a formal process of gathering, interpreting and sharing data and establish a process by which employees across UC Health can access the right data at the right time to drive the right decisions. 

Legg will also collaborate with clinical and operational leadership to build a deeper culture of data-driven decision making, the health system said.

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“I am thrilled to join UC Health and have the opportunity to help transform the system’s data-driven culture and deliver the best quality of care for our patients,” Legg said.

head shot photo of Michael Legg
Michael Legg

UC Health is an integrated academic health system serving the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region that consists of two hospitals, a center for post-acute care, the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute, and University of Cincinnati Physicians, an 800-plus physician group.

Healthcare organizations have increasingly been adding chief digital officers to their executive teams to manage overall digital strategy. Last year, Ascension, the largest Catholic health system in the country, hired Eduardo Conrado as its first chief digital officer and executive vice president. Providence St. Joseph Health tapped former Amazon executive Aaron Martin as its first chief digital officer.

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Legg joins UC Health on July 8 and brings more than 15 years of experience leading large organizational change initiatives in healthcare and management consulting. Most recently, he was executive director of reporting and analytics for Yale-New Haven Health System, which operates five hospitals and a multispecialty medical group with more than 8,200 medical staff and 25,000 employees.

At Yale-New Haven Health System, Legg created and led a centralized data and analytics department which served Yale’s School of Medicine and affiliated health system, and established an enterprise data governance and prioritization process.

“Mike’s proven success in leading data analytics teams and building a high-performance culture focused on delivering consistent and predictable results will be invaluable to us here at UC Health,” Alessandrini said. “I am excited to have him with us and look forward to seeing how his extensive expertise and collaborative spirit will enhance our data-driven culture.”