About Us

DHS | OHA Office of Information Services

The The Office of Information Services (OIS) is a shared service provider for the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA).

Because DHS and OHA are closely connected through clients, joint operations and policies, they share some some support services, including OIS. OIS supports the IT needs of both agencies, although OIS positions and budget are part of the OHA organizational structure.

Support for DHS, OHA, and partners statewide

OIS provides the IT systems and services that support nearly 12,000 DHS and OHA agency staff at local offices and facilities around the state. These systems and services help DHS and OHA to:

• Determine client eligibility
• Provide medical, housing, food, and job assistance
• Provide addiction, mental health, and vocational and rehabilitative services
• Protect children, seniors and people with physical and/or developmental disabililties
• Process claims and benefits
• Manage provider licensing and state hospital facilities
• Promote and protect the state public health
• Support internal DHS and OHA administrative functions, including human resource, finance and procurement programs

OIS maintains and supports nearly 18,000 computers and printers for agency staff. Customers are supported through the Service Desk and field technicians embedded in locations outside of Salem. The Service Desk responds to more than 9,500 assistance requests each month.

OIS also supports partners around the state that use DHS and OHA systems. These include:

• State agencies such as the Oregon Department of Justice Division of Child Support, the Oregon Employment Department and others
• Cities and counties
• District attorney's offices
• Private hospitals
• Other computer centers

OIS provides management support for DHS and OHA IT projects, systems architecture and data bases, IT asset and change management, and coordinates network and computing operations with the Oregon State Data Center.

The OIS organization structure

OIS consists of the Office of the CIO (OCIO) which provides leadership and administration, and four major operational sections which play vital roles helping OIS accomplish its mission and meet customer goals — Customer Services and Support (CSS), OIS Shared Services, and DHS|OHA information system support (DHS IS and OHA IS).

• Office of the CIO
• Customer Services and Support
• OIS Shared Servcies
• DHS/OHA IS support

Office of the CIO (OCIO)

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is made up of OIS Administration and OIS Business Services.

OIS Administration

OIS Administration is lead by the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Carolyn Lawson and deputy CIO (DCIO) Steve Powell.

The CIO and DCIO provide overall leadership, planning, development and delivery of IT services to DHS, OHA and their partners. The DCIO also focuses on shared IT services and enterprise architecture efforts.

Carolyn Lawson became CIO on July 1, 2011, replacing Rick Howard who left in 2010. She previously worked for the state of California as director of the eServices Office, deputy director of the Technology Services and Governance Division, and CIO for the California Public Utilities Commission.

Steve Powell became DCIO on Oct. 3, 2011, replacing Aaron Karjala who left to join the Oregon Health Information Exchange Corporation as CIO. Steve previously owned and managed a technology consulting firm in California. His extensive background includes managing IT at major companies and institutions such as Disney, GE Capital, Alliance Computer Technologies and the UCLA School of Medicine.

OIS Administration also provides organizational and strategic planning and support, research, legislative monitoring, and management of OIS communications and DHS/OHA IT policies.

OIS Business Services

The Business Services group provides central administrative support for OIS, including budget coordination, payment processing, payroll distribution, facilities coordination and financial and position management.

Customer Service and Support (CSS)

The Customer Service and Support section is the primary interface to OIS services for DHS and OHA employees, partners and other customers. Service Desk and desktop support technicians receive and resolve customer issues from around the state. Other CSS services include incident and problem management, customer communications, IT infrastructure operations, and IT asset management (hardware and software).

OIS Shared Services

The OIS Shared Services section is responsible for support of DHS and OHA Shared Service application development, maintenance and enhancement including the shared services groups for DHS and OHA. Other support services include managing data, IT standards, business process and IT governance.

DHS | OHA Information Services (IS) support sections

Two information services (IS) support groups work directly with DHS and OHA division and program offices on technology application development, maintenance and enhancements, ensuring that IT solutions meet their business needs.

DHS IS support

OHA IS support