Pictured: Integrated Information Technology Chair Elizabeth Regan with gymnast and 11-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles.
Department of Integrated Information Technology (IIT) Chair Elizabeth Regan received the prestigious Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Founder Award at the organization’s 2025 Global Health Conference last month in Las Vegas.
Regan, the second-ever recipient of the award, was recognized for her lifetime dedication to the digital transformation of healthcare systems.
“I truly feel so honored and humbled,” Regan says. “I got involved with this because I care and wanted to make a difference, so it really is an honor to get that recognition.”
Regan began teaching at the University of South Carolina in 2011 when she was invited to develop the school’s master’s program in health information technology. She has since expanded the program to include a Ph.D. track.
“We wanted the program to be forward-looking,” Regan says. “We were thinking about how healthcare is changing, and we want our graduates to be in a position to lead that change.”
HIMSS is a global network of professionals dedicated to finding information technology solutions to improve healthcare outcomes. Regan has been a member since 2008 and currently serves as the advocacy committee chair for the South Carolina chapter. She is involved in policymaking, reviewing upcoming legislation and making recommendations and comments for improvement.
“When you’re dealing with real people and life-threatening situations, you can’t make errors. People’s lives are at stake,” Regan says. “The consequences of a medical error are so much more than an error that just shuts down your printer.”
Regan’s research has developed ways to solve a variety of problems plaguing the medical world. Her lifelong study has focused on the use of technology to bridge healthcare gaps. Regan previously worked to bring telehealth medical care to South Carolina Department of Corrections facilities and is now working on improving healthcare within prisons.
“Technology brings opportunities to address longstanding problems and bring new solutions,” Regan says in an interview with HIMSS TV. “Our problems and challenges are not in the medical science or practice; they’re with the healthcare delivery system we have today.”
Denise Davis, an IIT Ph.D. candidate under Regan’s advisement, says she is not only a changemaker in healthcare technology but also in the professional realm.
“She is an advocate for women, and will fight for you,” Davis says. “The field is dominated by men and she’s so accomplished. She just commands respect.”
Receiving a lifetime achievement award does not mean Regan’s work is done. She continues to drive change in the IIT field and is inspiring a generation of students to do the same.
“My fascination with technology has always been innovation and change,” Regan says in the interview with HIMSS TV. “From an academic standpoint, we can’t look back at what we did today – we have to be forward-looking.”