At last year's NMIS 2009 conference Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS) announced the 2009 INHS Health Information Technology Leadership Awards. The leadership awards recognized Scott Adams, chief executive officer of Pullman Regional Hospital, and Jon Smiley, chief executive officer of Sunnyside Community Hospital, for outstanding utilization of health information technology (IT).

For the past 16 years, Scott Adams has led Pullman Regional Hospital through a period of unprecedented growth and overseeing the construction of a new hospital. Adam’s leadership extends to health information technology. Because of his commitment to high-quality patient care and patient and employee satisfaction, Pullman Regional Hospital has been named one of the country’s “100 Most Wired Hospitals” by Hospital & Health Network magazine for the past three years.

Adams was recently nominated by his staff and was named "Outstanding Healthcare Executive in a Non-Metropolitan Region" by Seattle Business magazine (formerly Washington CEO).

Jon Smiley has overseen considerable growth and development under his leadership. Sunnyside has become a major source for health care and also a primary economic driver in the Sunnyside region. Through his efforts, Sunnyside is one of the few rural communities in the country which has comprehensive electronic health information exchange between physician offices and the hospital, providing unparalleled access to data for clinical decision-making.

Smiley’s leadership extends beyond Sunnyside to the entire hospital industry serving on the Governing Council representing Small or Rural Hospitals for the American Hospital Association.

Selections for both awards were based upon the hospital's strategies and actions using health IT and health information exchange to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care by engaging consumers, transforming care delivery and improving the health of communities.