Mr.
Patterson is chairman of the board, chief executive officer
and co-founder of Cerner. Mr. Patterson grew up on his
family’s farm near Manchester, Oklahoma. He earned his
bachelor’s degree in finance and his master’s degree in
business administration from Oklahoma State University in 1971
and 1972, respectively. In 1973, Mr. Patterson began his
professional career as an information system consultant with
Arthur Andersen & Co.
His
entrepreneurial journey began in late 1979, when he and two
Arthur Andersen colleagues, Cliff Illig and Paul Gorup, formed
Cerner. As CEO, Mr. Patterson has spearheaded more than a
quarter century of Cerner’s growth, from its inception to its
current position as the largest stand-alone healthcare
information technology company. Few companies have been able
to sustain internally generated growth for such a long period
as Cerner.
Widely
respected for his vision and strategic thinking, Mr. Patterson
has the unique ability to articulate how information
technology will transform healthcare. His commitment to this
vision creates value for health systems and their communities
by reducing healthcare costs, increasing efficiencies and
enabling improvements in healthcare quality and patient
safety.
The
associates of Cerner extol Mr. Patterson for his passion and
foresight about healthcare and information technology
solutions, his ability to drive change within organizations,
his entrepreneurial spirit, and his often candid, uninhibited
conversation style. Above all, Mr. Patterson is respected for
his courage to bet the future of Cerner in the 1990s on the
$400 million investment needed to develop its person-centric
information architecture, Cerner Millennium®.
Mr.
Patterson speaks nationally on healthcare information systems
and trends, has four times been named as one of Modern
Healthcare’s “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare,” and is
a frequent panelist and presenter for healthcare conferences
and forums. He serves as a trustee of the Midwest Research
Institute, serves on the advisory board of RAND Health, and is
active in healthcare leadership networks and local
entrepreneurial organizations. Mr. Patterson is co-founder and
serves on the executive board of the First Hand Foundation,
Cerner’s non-profit foundation that provides financial
assistance to children with critical healthcare needs. In
keeping with his agrarian interests, he also serves as
Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 107-year-old
American Royal.
