I follow the details that shape care.
I’m Cole Lyons. I write about healthcare, technology, and the decisions that connect them. My work has included research, clinical-floor work, patient outreach, analytics, and building software and publications.
I grew up in rural Maine and came through nontraditional schooling. Along the way, I learned to build things, ask where evidence comes from, and pay attention to what happens when a system meets the people who rely on it.
Formation
How I got here.
Computing
I started learning computing in rural Maine, where a slow internet connection made even an online course an exercise in patience. CS50 gave me a way to break problems apart, represent information, and test what I had made. Later, I studied Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Wake Tech.
Learning CS50 at 256 Kilobits per Second →Science
At UNC Charlotte, I studied Biology and Public Health, took Medical Humanities coursework, and worked as a research assistant. Following scientific claims back to their sources and handling research specimens taught me to ask how evidence was made and what it could support.
Science’s Place in Our Social System →Clinical and frontline work
At Jefferson, I worked as a medical assistant, then in population-health outreach and Medicare operations. The clinical floor made the distance between a patient’s experience and an institutional decision tangible. Outreach showed me how much can depend on a message, a handoff, or a way to reach care.
Patient Safety and the Slack in the Institutional Line → Designing the Message as Care →Systems practice
I went on to complete a BS in Health Services Management and an MBA at Thomas Jefferson University. I also began master’s study in Health Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins. Those studies give me more ways to think about measurement, operations, and the institutions in which the work happens.
A Publication Needs an Operating System →Current responsibilities
What I do now.
Record as of July 21, 2026
The work takes different forms: quality measurement, publishing, research infrastructure, and community service.
Founder and operator
Open-Informatics
February 2026–present
A founder-operated complex-systems lab building open research infrastructure. Healthcare is its first developed domain. Open-Informatics designed and maintains the technical platform for ajhcs.org, while AJHCS retains control of its scholarly editorial decisions.
Quality Management Analyst
Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System
May 2025–present
Patient-access quality management, speech-analytics validation, operational measurement, and AI-supported analysis.
Penn AQM Customer Service Workshop Evaluation →President & Co-Founder
American Journal of Healthcare Strategy
August 2023–present
Institution building, publication operations, software systems, podcasts, and business execution.
A Publication Needs an Operating System →Board Member
Delaware Valley HIMSS
July 2025–present
Governance, sponsorship and advertising support, market research, event photography, and regional health-technology community work.
A personal note
What matters to me.
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.
I want to understand a problem closely enough to describe it plainly: who encounters it, what the available evidence can tell us, and where that evidence stops. I write to follow those questions and to make the reasoning available to someone else. In healthcare, the people doing the work and the people seeking care need to remain visible in the decisions made about them.
Read the writing →Background and credentials
The fuller picture.
The record below brings together former initiatives and roles, education, credentials, service, and public links. Education entries distinguish completed degrees from transferred study, coursework, and study in progress.
Former roles
7 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 SpeedFrom a Mailed FIT Kit to a Valid ResultDesigning 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 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 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
6 records
- 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 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 · complex-systems labResearch infrastructure from Cole's founder-operated complex-systems lab.
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.