About Cole Lyons
I learned systems by following their effects on people.
My path moved through early computing, science, clinical work, frontline operations, analytics, publishing, and systems engineering. Each setting made a different part of healthcare visible: access, safety, evidence, staff burden, and the institutions that hold the work together.
I grew up in rural Maine and came through nontraditional schooling before studying computing and engineering at Wake Tech. Biology and public health at UNC Charlotte led into research, then clinical and population-health work at Jefferson. Business study and health systems engineering gave me additional methods for the work I do now.
As an autistic person, I often express care through building systems that help patients reach care and give staff enough signal to do their work well.
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The path into the practice
Different settings taught me to see different parts of the system.
Learning to investigate and build
Early computing and later Computer Science and Electrical Engineering coursework taught me to investigate, model, and build systems.
Learning to test what appears to be true
Biology, Public Health, Medical Humanities coursework, and research made evidence and institutional context part of the same question.
Learning where systems become personal
Clinical-floor, outreach, and Medicare operations work made variation in access, safety, and staff support immediate.
Learning to connect structure with operation
Business education and Health Systems Engineering added methods for measurement, validation, and institutional design.
Current as of July 15, 2026
Three roles with distinct scopes.
Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System
Quality Management Analyst · May 2025–present
Patient-access quality management, speech-analytics validation, operational measurement, and AI-supported analysis.
Related Case: Penn AQM Customer Service Workshop Evaluation
American Journal of Healthcare Strategy
President & Co-Founder · August 2023–present
Institution building, publication operations, software systems, podcasts, and business execution.
Related Case: A Publication Needs an Operating System
Delaware Valley HIMSS
Board Member · July 2025–present
Governance, sponsorship and advertising support, market research, event photography, and regional health-technology community work.
Reference
Chronology, education, credentials, service, and public sources.
Complete dates, titles, distinctions, and source links appear below.
Former roles
7 verified records
- 2024–2025
- Jefferson Health Plans Senior Engagement Partner, Quality Optimization The Assistant Had to Be Right
- 2023
- Jefferson Health Outreach Coordinator, Population Health Jefferson Maps: Local Intelligence at Call SpeedMailing a Kit Is Not Delivering ScreeningDesigning the Message as Care
- 2022–2023
- Jefferson Health Medical Assistant Patient Safety and the Slack in the Institutional Line
- 2022
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte Research Assistant Science's Place in Our Social System
- 2022
- iScribe Healthcare Ambulatory Care & Clinical Operations Intern
- 2021–2022
- Walmart TLE Associate, Safety & Performance Lead Walmart Oil Bay Time Study
- 2020
- Food Lion Quality Assurance Associate
Education
5 verified records
- In progress
- Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering MS, Health Systems Engineering May 2025–May 2027 · In progress as of July 2026.
- Awarded May 2025
- Thomas Jefferson University MBA, Innovation & Management August 2023–May 2025 · Awarded degree.
- Awarded May 2024
- Thomas Jefferson University BS, Health Services Management, Summa Cum Laude August 2022–May 2024 · Awarded degree.
- Transferred
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte Biology and Public Health study with Medical Humanities coursework January 2021–August 2022 · Transferred; no UNC degree awarded.
- Coursework
- Wake Technical Community College Computer Science and Electrical Engineering coursework April 2019–January 2021 · Approximately 68 credits; no awarded associate degree.
Credentials
6 verified records
- AI Practitioner & IntegrationPenn Medicine · May 2026
- Trusted Access for CyberOpenAI · April 2026
- Claude Certified ArchitectAnthropic · March 2026
- Clinical Research FoundationsCCRPS · February 2025
- Six Sigma Green BeltVillanova University · October 2024
- Clinical Medical Assistant CertificationAMCA Exams · February 2023
Service
7 verified records
- 2026–present
- Open-Informatics.org Open Source Developer · volunteer service Volunteer open-source web and documentation assets, accessibility, responsive design, search and discovery, code review, implementation fixes, and technical documentation.
- 2024–present
- Harvard Business Review Advisory Council Member Advisory and professional feedback service.
- 2023–2025
- American College of Healthcare Executives Membership Committee Member Healthcare leadership and professional-community service.
- 2023
- American Public Health Association Abstract and Short-Film Reviewer/Editor Public-health submission review and editing.
- 2022–2023
- HEAL Clinical Education Network Ambassador Clinical education and student outreach.
- 2022–2023
- UNC Charlotte Biology Club Communication Manager Student-club communications and operations.
- 2022
- Loaves & Fishes/Friendship Trays Delivery Driver Community meal-delivery service.
Public directory
8 verified links
Professional profiles
- LinkedIn · current professional recordCurrent professional chronology and profile.
- AJHCS · institution and publicationThe American Journal of Healthcare Strategy institution and publication.
Technical and open source
- GitHub @ajhcs · Cole's personal technical profileCole's personal GitHub profile and open-source work; not an AJHCS organization account.
- Open Informatics · volunteer serviceOpen-source portfolio and volunteer service context.
Research and publications
- ResearchGate · publication archivePublic research and publication archive.
- Scaling Healthcare Costs · published researchDirect published research record in the Journal of Business, Economics and Policy.
Features and appearances
- Johns Hopkins Engineering · systems-engineering featureInstitutional feature providing systems-engineering context.
- DVHIMSS · member spotlightRegional health-technology community context.
colelyons.com is a personal publication and does not imply employer or institutional endorsement.