Joel Mewton

Joel Mewton is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Bitscopic, a healthcare-focused data, analytics and product company. Joel manages Bitscopic’s infrastructure, charts the company’s technological roadmap, and generally just takes care of what needs to be done.
 
Joel began his professional career at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in 2006. The “War on Terror” was in full swing. Our young Veterans were returning from their deployments with unique medical issues: environmental contamination-related illnesses, chemical exposure, reactions to antimalarials and other medications, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), amputations, suicidal ideations. VA’s VistA software – the electronic health record (EHR) in use at the Department – played a central role in treating many of these conditions. VA has embraced technology in healthcare for decades. But the VA's VistA was aging and the VA was struggling with “modernization.”
  
Joel says he is fond of the adage, “luck favors the prepared.” He wishes he could honestly say there was deliberate planning and preparation... Nope. It was just pure dumb luck. Luck found him being eyed by a boutique software development shop (who called themselves “Medora”) based in the Ann Arbor VAMC which was making waves across the Department. Perhaps out of pity, perhaps out of recognition of a kindred spirit, the local group took Joel under their collective wing and put him to work. 
 
Embedded deeply in projects sprouted from the VA Secretary’s initiatives, Joel found himself surrounded by great minds with a contagious passion for using technology to serve the mission of VA. Reminiscing over his time at VA, Joel claims he is still a bit embarrassed by the scope of his involvement in everything from MyHealtheVet to VA’s Crisis Center and Homeless Hotlines. Joel reflects fondly, “Looking back on it, it was a surreal time of personal and professional development. I met so many great people. I worked on so many interesting projects where I was able to contribute not only technically but also on policy decisions. It was an exciting period in my career.” 
 
With the administration change in early 2009, there were even more opportunities for the Ann Arbor development team. The United States was beginning its troop draw down. The new VA Secretary and CIO came to office with bold visions for the Department’s modernization. These visions directly intersected with some of the solutions coming out of Ann Arbor, which gave Joel the opportunity to work on some highly innovative technical projects.  
 
Joel met Payam Etminani in 2010 when Payam was working at the VA. Payam left the VA 3 years later to co-found Bitscopic and offered Joel a key position with the company. It was a difficult decision to leave. Joel loved the work at VA. He thrived on the challenges. But ultimately the prospect of helping to grow a new company from the ground up while still producing technology solutions for VA were attractive enough to make the leap. 
 
The bet paid off. Bitscopic has grown into a product company with a deep integration to VA’s VistA systems and solution offerings in public health surveillance, clinical trials, research, computational biology, pharmacogenomics, DNA sequencing analysis, reporting and more. With his solid foundational background, Joel guides Bitscopic with technology and policy decisions. Joel and Bitscopic are proud to be in the position of product and thought leadership in the 21st century health care sector.