Rear Adm. Ivonne Arena currently serves as the Defense Health Agency Acting Assistant Director for Research, Development and Acquisition/Component Acquisition Executive. In this role, she leads research and development, acquisition, and contracting activity. She previously served as the DHA Deputy Chief Information Officer, leading a combat support directorate responsible for cyber security, emerging technologies, data and infrastructure standardization, functional integration, health informatics, and clinical/ business applications to operate and maintain the Military Health System mission for military hospitals and clinics around the world. In this role, Arena was responsible for planning, programming, budgeting and execution in support of the MHS health information technology portfolio. She also developed and enforced relevant policies, deployed new capabilities, and ensured health IT and electronic health record program requirements were met.
Arena is a U.S. Public Health Service officer with extensive experience managing IT organization administrative and operational activities. Arena previously served as the Program Manager for the Joint Pathology Center supporting their digital modernization efforts. Her leadership experience includes serving as the Deputy, Business Operations for the Program Executive Office for Defense Healthcare Management Systems, which is responsible for oversight of the $4B initiative to deliver MHS GENESIS, the Department of Defense’s EHR system. In this role, Arena supported the full range of acquisition, program management and contract administration functions for complex services, supplies, and equipment, utilizing firm-fixed price, time and materials, cost reimbursement, and hybrid contracting strategies. She directed and managed two enterprise contract initiatives valued at approximately $310M which provided more than 200 support staff required to support the PEO’s mission. Arena also drove the development and configuration of a comprehensive electronic contracts framework to provide real-time contractual information to the PEO. This framework enabled the PEO’s component program offices to effectively manage cost and schedule, and to develop critical budget information needed to acquire, deliver and support IT and services that enable data sharing and modernization of the EHR.
Prior to joining PEO DHMS, Arena served in leadership roles within the Transportation Security Agency as the Chief Health Services Administrator and the Defense Centers of Excellence as the Deputy Chief of Staff. RDML Arena has been the project lead for numerous DOD programs/committees for the last several years providing leadership and integrity to all DOD staff members. Areas of experience and expertise include health information management, military health systems, acquisition, and healthcare operations program design.
Arena holds a Master in Health Informatics from The George Washington University and a Master of Science in Health Care Administration from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus.