Maia Hightower

Dr. Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA is the Chief Medical Information Officer and Sr. Director Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for The University of Utah Health.

She joined the UUH team in March of 2019.

Prior to joining the University of Utah Health team, she was the Chief Medical Information Officer and Interim Chief Population Health Officer for The University of Iowa Health Care. She joined the faculty of the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine in August of 2015, after serving as Associate Medical Director for Stanford Health Care’s University Healthcare Alliance. Dr. Hightower received her Medical Degree, as well as a Master of Public Health, from the University Of Rochester School Of Medicine, followed by residencies in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. She also holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

As UUH’s Chief Medical Information Officer, Dr. Hightower and her teams transform data into value and drive the exceptional digital experience for patients, faculty, staff, and students. Her teams include the enterprise data warehouse, business intelligence, research IT, FHIR clinical applications, provider informatics and digital health teams that support University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, University of Utah School of Medicine, and University of Utah Health Sciences. Dr. Hightower is a champion for health equity, diversity, and inclusion awareness and initiatives. She developed the Healthcare IT Equity Maturity Model (HITEM) to dismantle structural bias hardwired in healthcare IT and develop an inclusive and equity minded healthcare IT culture. 

Dr. Hightower was recently recognized by Health Data Management as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT” and “25 leading CMIOs at healthcare organizations.” She was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of “50 hospital and health system CMIOs to know 2017”.

She enjoys spending time with family in the great outdoors and is an avid skier, tennis player and runner. She loves gadgets of all kinds and can be found wearing more than one fitness tracker at all times.