Ingenious Med’s Atlanta headquarters is filled with a group of diverse, creative and professional employees. Through leadership and expertise, Ingenious Med’s executive team has paved the way to the company’s internal and external successes.
Between 2008 and 2009, the company more than doubled in revenue, clientele and employees. With leadership, education and philanthropy programs, Ingenious Med employees are some of the brightest and most driven individuals in the industry. For a listing of current opportunities or to inquiry about careers, click here.
Executive Team
Steven T. Liu, M.D., SFHM
Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Liu is the founder of Ingenious Med as well as the original creator of Ingenious Med's flagship software solution. He served 10 years as the company's CEO and President and now functions as the company’s Executive Chairman and CMO. He was previously an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medical Site Director and Director of Medical Informatics for the Hospital Medicine Division at Emory University in Atlanta. Before his pursuit of medicine, Dr. Liu received a B.S., in Engineering from the University of Virginia and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Washington University, Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Dr. Liu is currently involved in multiple projects involving revenue cycle optimization and government Pay-for-Performance drives and continues to practice as an intensivist physician at Scripps Healthcare in San Diego, CA. He is an active member and Senior Fellow of the Society of Hospital Medicine and participates on such committees as the Society’s Practice Management and Public Policy - Practice Issues committees. Dr. Liu has received recognition as one of the nation's Top Hospitalists by the American College of Physicians and is the current recipient of Modern Physician's Physician Entrepreneur of the Year.
S. Hart Williford, CEO and President
Hart Williford is the CEO of Ingenious Med, with more than 30 years experience as an executive in software, revenue management, medical services, sales and digital media. Since joining Ingenious Med in 2008, the company has more than tripled in revenue, employees and resources. His experience extends world-wide as a previous leader of Digital Equipment Corporation’s Far East operations headquartered in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Ingenious Med, Williford held several other senior executive-level positions at leading companies including IBM, AT&T, VeriSign, NCR, Kirchman Corporation and Morris Technology. Williford has had significant experience leading software and service companies; in May 1999 he joined H.O. Systems and served as President until the company was acquired by VeriSign in February 2002. While at VeriSign, he continued to oversee the company’s operations as General Manager and Senior Vice President of Wireless Services. Over this five year period, the company became known for excellent service and its revenues grew seven fold. In addition to H.O. Systems, Williford has led four additional software solution companies through periods of rapid expansion and profitable growth.
In his most recent position, Williford served on the board and eventually joined Memorial University Medical Center as Senior Vice President with responsibility for its cancer institute, information technology, marketing and strategic planning, foundation and office of sponsored programs, business development and physician relations and recruitment. Memorial is a two-state academic medical center with US $800 M+ revenue.
Michael G. Pickering, Chief Operating Officer
Mike Pickering is responsible for directing all aspects of operations and technology development at Ingenious Med. With nearly 20 years of experience in the field of information technology, he is highly specialized in technology and software development management. Prior to joining Ingenious Med, Pickering led development and project management at Patient Care Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of software for the rapidly growing Home Health market. Pickering has a B.S., from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a M.S., in Science & Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.
Mark Adams, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Adams is the Chief Financial Officer of Ingenious Med. Joining Ingenious Med with more than 20 years of experience, Adams is responsible for the company's financial, accounting, treasury and ongoing fiscal planning.
Adams served as chief financial officer and then as president and chief executive officer of A.D.A.M., Inc., a leading provider of health and benefits information to the healthcare industry, until its sale in 2011. Prior to his work with A.D.A.M., Inc. Adams served as chief financial officer for several technology companies including Micron Optics and Melita International. Adams began his business career with Arthur Andersen after graduating from the business school at The Ohio State University.
Jim Keener, Chief Technology Officer
Jim Keener serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Ingenious Med, with more than 27 years of experience as an Information Technology professional. Keener is responsible for introducing innovative and technologically advanced products for continuous
development of the Ingenious Med application.
Previously, Keener held the position of Vice President of Development managing the design, development and support of a large scale wireless billing platform with VeriSign Inc. Prior to joining VeriSign, Keener spent 17 years at Cincinnati Bell/CBIS/ Convergys leading both domestic and international development projects in the Telecom space. Keener has a B.S. degree from the University of Cincinnati and an M.B.A. from Northern Kentucky University.
Board Members
Steven T. Liu, M.D., SFHM.
Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Liu is the founder of Ingenious Med as well as the original creator of Ingenious Med's flagship software solution. He served 10 years as the company's CEO and President and now functions as the company’s executive chairman and CMO. He was previously an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medical Site Director and Director of Medical Informatics for the Hospital Medicine Division at Emory University in Atlanta. Before his pursuit of medicine, Dr. Liu received a B.S., in Engineering from the University of Virginia and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Washington University, Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Liu continues to practice as a hospitalist physician and is involved in multiple projects involving revenue cycle optimization and government Pay-for-Performance drives. He is an active member and Senior Fellow of the Society of Hospital Medicine and currently sits on the Society’s Practice Management and Public Policy - Practice Issues committees.
S. Hart Williford
CEO and President
Hart Williford is the CEO of Ingenious Med, with more than 30 years experience as an executive in software, revenue management, medical services, sales and digital media. Since joining Ingenious Med in 2008, the company has more than tripled in revenue, employees and resources. His experience extends world-wide as a previous leader of Digital Equipment Corporation’s Far East operations headquartered in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Ingenious Med, Williford held several other senior executive-level positions at leading companies including IBM, AT&T, VeriSign, NCR, Kirchman Corporation and Morris Technology. Williford has had significant experience leading software and service companies; in May 1999 he joined H.O. Systems and served as President until the company was acquired by VeriSign in February 2002. While at VeriSign, he continued to oversee the company’s operations as General Manager and Senior Vice President of Wireless Services. Over this five year period, the company became known for excellent service and its revenues grew seven fold. In addition to H.O. Systems, Williford has led four additional software solution companies through periods of rapid expansion and profitable growth.
In his most recent position, Williford served on the board and eventually joined Memorial University Medical Center as Senior Vice President with responsibility for its cancer institute, information technology, marketing and strategic planning, foundation and office of sponsored programs, business development and physician relations and recruitment. Memorial is a two-state academic medical center with US $800 M+ revenue.
Mark Buffington
Co-founder and Managing Member, Buckhead Investment Partners, LLC; Managing Partner of The BIP Opportunities Fund, LP
Mark Buffington is the Co-Founder and Managing Member of Buckhead Investment Partners, LLC (BIP) and a seasoned early stage investor. Buffington has invested over $40 million in early-stage growth companies, predominantly into SaaS-based businesses. He is currently the Managing Partner of the BIP Opportunities Fund, LP, a $30 million venture capital fund, and he is also the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Buckhead Investment Partners, LLC (BIP). BIP is a Registered Investment Advisor that currently manages over $150 million. The company provides high net worth investors and institutions with a University Endowment Approach to investing and has been one of the fastest growing wealth managing firms in Atlanta for the past three years. Buffington currently serves on the Board of Directors of Ingenious Med, Inc., Digitel Corporation, PlayON! Sports, Inc., and previously for Vendormate, Inc. Prior to forming BIP, Buffington managed Peachtree Financial Management and Phoenix Capital, LLC, two companies that he founded for the purpose of helping high net worth investors build wealth. Buffington also has a background in commercial credit, working as an underwriter for Citibank in the late 1990s.
Mark Chapman
Chief Financial Officer, Vendormate, Inc.
Mark Chapman is the Chief Financial Officer of Vendormate, Inc. and brings over 20 years of entrepreneurial, financial and operational leadership to Ingenious Med’s board. In his roles as CFO for pre-revenue start ups to $100+ million annual revenue companies, Chapman has led all aspects of finance, accounting, HR, legal, operations and IT. Throughout his career, he has raised more than $30 million in equity, debt and mezzanine financing for his companies. In addition he has been on both the buy-side and sell-side of multiple M&A transactions, both domestic and international. Prior to his roles as CFO, Chapman was an audit manager in the technology practice of KPMG's Atlanta office. A 1987 graduate of Auburn University, Chapman is also a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Georgia.
Howard J. Morrison, Jr. Howard Morrison’s banking career spanned nearly 30 years including being the Chief Financial Officer of the NYSE listed Citizens and Southern Realty Investors (Southmark Properties) and in helping to develop the C&S Bank’s (now Bank of America’s) High Technology Banking Group and Atlanta’s high technology business community. Additionally, Morrison played multiple roles in the success of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, CBETA and initiating and developing the Georgia Tech Savannah Campus. Morrison’s honors include Georgia High Technology Hall of Fame, CBETA Outstanding Leader, Georgia Tech Alumni Association Honorary Alumnus and Savannah Business Hall of Fame. Currently, Morrison serves on boards for organizations such as Georgia Tech Savannah Campus, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, South University, Digitel Corporation, Quadrant Financial Corporation, and previously for Vendormate, Inc.
Thomas Givens
Givens co-founded Healthcare Management Systems, Inc. (“HMS”) in 1984. HMS is the leading community hospital information system vendor with over 680 hospital facilities in its customer base. He served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1984 until October 2007. Prior to co-founding HMS, he served American Medical Centers (AMC) in Nashville as both Vice President of Finance for the Florida region and MIS director.
Grant Jackson
General Partner, Council Ventures
Jackson is a General Partner of Council Ventures and has more than 10 years of experience advising and investing in growth healthcare companies. He is a former director of several privately held companies, including Future Health, Agility Healthcare Solutions and Valor Healthcare, and currently serves on the board of EndoChoice and Ingenious Med. Prior to joining Council in 2008, he was a partner with a private equity firm based in North Carolina and a research and investment specialist at a private equity and equity research firm based in Chicago, Illinois; and before entering the private equity industry, he served on merger assessment and implementation teams with Accenture where he built managerial, financial, and operational skills in multiple industries. Jackson received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Advisory Board
Shawn Welsh
Managing Partner, BIP Opportunities Fund
Welch has executed capital markets transaction exceeding $100 billion dollars during his 22 year career. This includes principal investing, M&A advisory and capital underwriting across a broad range of asset classes and industry sectors including technology, franchising, consumer products, retail, basic industries, specialty finance and healthcare. Currently, Welch serves as Managing Partner of the BIP Opportunities Fund, LP, an Atlanta based investment fund focused on providing growth capital and operational support to early stage, high growth companies. Prior to this, he served as a Partner with the private equity firm, Roark Capital Group, from 2002 to 2006. From 1989 to 2002 he served in multiple investment banking roles with Banc of America Securities and its predecessor organizations. Welch has served on the Board of Directors of 16 companies, currently serving on 5. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, with highest honors, and resides in Atlanta, Georgia where he has spent his entire career.
Mohan Gounder, M.D.
Co-Founder of Ingenious Med
Mohan Gounder is a Co-Founder of Ingenious Med and a practicing hospitalist. In addition to his active practice, Dr. Gounder is also director of the Kovai Medical Center, an 850 bed medical center, and the managing director of Aosta Software, a company that specializes in health information software for developing economies. He earned his B.S., in Biomedical Sciences and M.D. at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.
George Karahalis
Director, Training Staff, Center for Medicaid, Chip, & Survey & Certification/Survey & Certification Group (SCG), Department of Health and Human Services
George Karahalis has more than 42 years of progressive management, operations, consulting and teaching experience with a variety of healthcare organizations, consulting organizations and university settings. In his current position, Karahalis acts as a change agent to assure consistent application of Federal Statutes and regulations pertaining to the federal quality assurance program. Prior to working for Medicaid, Karahalis founded and served as President of Health Systems Direct, a healthcare consulting firm focused on providing strategic guidance for a diversified group of disciplines such as physician executives, CMOs, CEOs, HMO operating officers, hospital senior executives and marketers. In his role as advisor to Ingenious Med, Karahalis provides strategic guidance to Ingenious Med management, as well as assisting in the formulation of forward-looking software products. Karahalis is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and received his B.A., from the Citadel. He has a M.S., in Hospital & Health Administration from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, AL.
Alan Colberg
Bain & Company, Head of the Global Financial Services Practice
Alan Colberg is the head of the Global Financial Services Practice at Bain & Company. Prior to his current role, Colberg had served as the Managing Director of Bain’s Atlanta office and also the co-head of Bain’s North America Financial Services practice. Colberg focuses on the practice areas of strategy, new business development and process innovation. The majority of his clients are in financial services, business services and technology. While at Bain he has helped clients create real change and superior results in a variety of industries, ranging from consumer finance, apparel, professional services, pharmaceuticals, health care, consumer products, and steel to beverages, banking, insurance and computers. In his role of advisor to Ingenious Med, Colberg provides strategic guidance to Ingenious Med management, as well as assisting the company in securing debt and equity financing. He earned an M.B.A., from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he received a B.S., with highest honors in Accounting and Finance.
Jim Goodlett,
President, Morris Technology
Jim Goodlett is the President and Partner at Morris Technology. Goodlett’s experience in change management and strategic planning, include moving industries towards a WEBcentric business model. Goodlett's expertise extends to using technology, SCRUM development processes and agile teams as strategic weapons to grow revenue as well as the customers' business. Prior to the formation of Morris Technology, Goodlett held executive positions as the Director of Emerging Technologies at VeriSign, the Chief Information Architect for H.O. Systems and the VP of Online Learning at Savannah College of Art and Design. His business experience extends to several board positions including Vendormate Inc., where he has been a past investor, BestMedical LLC, and is a member of the angel investment group ASAP. Goodlett is an active member within numerous community organizations and currently holds board positions with Savannah Science Seminar, GSU's College of IT, and is a Board of Trustees Member and Technology Committee Chair for Savannah Country Day School. Goodlett also previously held positions as Co-President of Coastal BETA as well as Board Member and President of the INFRAgard Coastal Empire chapter.
Gary Peat
Council Ventures
Gary Peat has spent his entire career as a private company investor, primarily in early- and growth-stage information technology businesses. In 2000, he joined Council Ventures as a General Partner at the inception of Council Capital’s debut fund.
From 1998 to 2000, Peat was a Principal at Stonehenge Partners, a spin out from Banc One Capital Partners with over $1 billion in committed capital. During his time with Stonehenge, he was responsible for managing certain existing Banc One Capital Partners portfolio companies, as well as for originating and managing information technology investments for the $125 million Stonehenge Opportunity Fund.
From 1991 to 1998, Peat was with Banc One Capital Partners as an Associate then Vice President. During his time at Banc One Capital Partners, he was involved in the origination, analysis, due diligence and post investment management of approximately 20 companies, with a focus on information technology companies.
Peat is a member of the Board of Directors of Council portfolio companies REACH Health, Inc. and Lancope. He received his bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Houston in 1989 and 1991, respectively.
John K. Tolmie
President and CEO ,TTG Healthcare Solutions
John K. Tolmie is a seasoned Healthcare Leader with a Masters Degree in Health Administration and Masters in Business Administration from Georgia State University, in addition to a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Virginia Tech. With more than 28 years of successful and progressive experience, Tolmie is President and CEO of the Tolmie Group, consulting with Private Equity firms and serving as a strategic partner to healthcare niche companies. Current partners include companies in the sectors of physician practice management, physician revenue cycle management, release of information, secure remote access authentication, medical benefit management services, and assisting a private physician take patented products to market.
Additional experience includes working with suburban company hospitals, urban tertiary hospitals, regional health systems, faith based organizations and a national health system. Tolmie was responsible for repositioning hospitals in their markets, focusing on strategy development, physician-hospital relations, service-line development, clinical excellence, financial and operation performance, research and other market differentiating initiatives. Tolmie serves on the College of Notre Dame, Maryland Board of Trustees and has extensive experience with international health ministries in Tanzania, Africa.