Nickolas Yager
Land O' Lakes,FL
Summary
Strategic IT leader specializing in enterprise infrastructure, cloud identity, and clinical systems. Expertise in modernizing legacy environments, integrating M&A processes, and enhancing security compliance across clinical practices. Capable of translating technical risks into actionable initiatives and standardizing technology across diverse environments while delivering scalable and secure ecosystems.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior IT Manager
ReFocus Eye Health
08.2025 - Current
- Serve as the senior IT leader for an 800-employee, multi-state ophthalmology management organization.
- Own enterprise infrastructure, security, compliance, M&A integration, and technology standardization across 80+ clinical practices.
- Led enterprise IT strategy across infrastructure, security, compliance, cloud services, and clinical technology for 80+ ophthalmology practices, aligning technology with organizational goals.
- Own and execute the enterprise IT roadmap, including modernization initiatives, cloud adoption, and long-term infrastructure planning.
- Serve as the primary technical advisor to executive leadership, translating infrastructure risk, compliance posture, and technical debt into actionable investment decisions.
- Provide governance, escalation management, and cross-functional alignment across Operations, Compliance, Revenue Cycle, HR, and Practice Administration.
- Lead pre-acquisition IT and cybersecurity due diligence for practices under LOI, assessing infrastructure maturity, security gaps, and remediation costs.
- Author and maintain the ReFocus IT Acquisition & Infrastructure Integration Playbooks, defining standardized processes for discovery, onboarding, cutover, and stabilization.
- Architect and enforce enterprise standards for network design, VLAN segmentation, ISP redundancy, firewall configuration, and SD-WAN strategy across all locations.
- Own ISP and carrier strategy, including vendor selection, contract review, cost modeling, and circuit standardization.
- Led large-scale network refresh initiatives, replacing legacy infrastructure to enhance security and resiliency across all locations.
- Oversee Azure AD, Microsoft 365, MFA, identity governance, and access control alignment during integrations and enterprise rollouts.
- Authored and presented CapEx business cases for infrastructure remediation, workstation upgrades, network refreshes, and data resiliency initiatives, securing funding for critical projects.
- Translate inherited technical debt into executive-level financial and risk narratives to support investment decisions.
- Partner with finance and leadership to align IT spending with operational readiness, security posture, and organizational growth strategy.
- Co-author and implement enterprise IT & Compliance policies including access control, audit logging, malware protection, backup, breach response, and AI governance.
- Lead technical response for security incidents, vendor risk issues, and PHI-related escalations.
- Define and enforce endpoint security standards including encryption, EDR, MFA, and lifecycle management across all practices.
- Designed and operationalized the Enterprise AI Intake & Risk Assessment Process, governing evaluation and approval of AI tools handling PHI.
- Partner with Compliance and Legal to structure vendor questionnaires, BAAs, and approval workflows for AI-enabled platforms.
- Serve as the technical gatekeeper for AI pilots including scribes, automation tools, and revenue cycle technologies.
- Lead enterprise telephony strategy including vendor consolidation, UCaaS requirements definition, and executive decision support.
- Coordinate number porting, carrier recovery, and service remediation during acquisitions and ownership transitions.
- Collaborate closely with Operations, Compliance, Revenue Cycle, HR, and Practice Administrators to align technology with clinical and business needs.
- Serve as a subject-matter expert in executive and integration forums, shaping long-term infrastructure and security direction.
- Multi-State (80+ Ophthalmology Clinics)
Senior IT Manager, Infrastructure Services (ITIS)
Florida Blue
Jacksonville, FL
01.2025 - 12.2025
- Serve as the direct operational partner to the VP of Infrastructure Services, providing daily briefings, rapid-response reporting, and escalation management across a 900-person organization.
- Coordinate across all Infrastructure domains, including: Digital Workplace, Enterprise Vulnerability, Domain Services, End User Services, Network-as-a-Service, Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Application Services, AI & Enablement, Continuous Improvement, and IT Vendor Management.
- Act as the connective tissue between domains, ensuring alignment, resolving blockers, and escalating issues requiring VP intervention to mitigate operational impact.
- Owned Infrastructure KPI Board and Enterprise Scorecard, delivering weekly readouts and monthly executive presentations that highlighted performance trends and areas for improvement.
- Produced rapid-turnaround metrics, operational insights, and domain-specific reports for VP-level and C-suite meetings to inform strategic decision-making.
- Manage a cross-functional team including an IT Financial Analyst, IT Communications Specialist, and IT Project Manager.
- Fill operational gaps across domains by providing governance support, documentation development, process standardization, and project acceleration for initiatives that stall or require executive escalation.
- Partner with procurement and finance to identify cost-reduction opportunities, optimize renewals, and align services with enterprise strategy.
- Drove financial transparency and operational accountability across domains via structured reporting and governance to enhance oversight and facilitate informed decision-making.
Senior IT Manager, Diagnostic Clinic Medical Group (DCMG)
Florida Blue
Clearwater, FL
04.2022 - 01.2025
- Navigated a three-party governance structure (Florida Blue IT, GuideWell IT, DCMG Clinical Leadership), balancing competing priorities, compliance requirements, and operational demands across organizations with differing objectives.
- Built strong relationships with clinical, operational, and enterprise IT stakeholders, ensuring alignment on infrastructure, security, and application initiatives.
- Served as the primary escalation point for all infrastructure, compliance, and vendor issues across the DCMG enterprise.
- Migrated the 350-user practice from Kaseya → Microsoft 365/O365, including mail, collaboration, and security baselines.
- Executed a full endpoint modernization program, refreshing 750 endpoints to Windows 11 and standardizing device compliance across all clinical sites.
- Oversaw DCMG’s on-prem data center hosting multiple legacy EMRs and clinical systems, coordinating phased migrations, decommissioning, and legal-hold retention schedules.
- Partnered with DCMG’s Clinical Applications team to support DICOM, HL7, and new clinical application integrations, ensuring alignment with enterprise security and interoperability standards.
- Enlisted RadPartners to enhance radiology capabilities through deployment of on-prem modality server for Intelerad workflows, HL7 integration for orders, results, and image routing, and enabling remote image readers and cloud-based radiology workflows.
- Migrated DCMG’s entire 40TB imaging archive to Canopy, transitioning the organization to cloud imaging storage and eliminating reliance on aging on-prem PACS infrastructure.
- Improved radiology turnaround times and reduced infrastructure risk by leveraging Intelerad Cloud for image viewing and remote interpretation.
- Achieved one of the highest compliance rates across Florida Blue’s provider network through effective vulnerability remediation.
- Ensured strict adherence to HIPAA, PHI, and enterprise cybersecurity standards across all infrastructure and clinical systems.
- Coordinated with Florida Blue and GuideWell security teams on risk assessments, remediation timelines, and audit documentation.
- After DCMG’s closure, led the full decommissioning of the data center, including: Shutdown and archival of all EMR systems, Decommissioning of legacy servers and clinical applications, Recycling, resale, and disposition of all hardware assets.
- Managed custody transfer of all DCMG data to Iron Mountain, ensuring chain-of-custody, compliance with legal holds, and long-term retention requirements.
IT Manager
Tampa Family Health Centers
Tampa, FL
01.2018 - 12.2022
- Migrated 750 users from on-prem Exchange and Office to Microsoft 365/O365, including mail, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and security baselines.
- Led transformation from on-prem Active Directory → Azure Entra ID, converting all LDAP/AD-dependent systems to Entra-based authentication within a 6-month project.
- Transitioned the entire organization from hybrid-joined to Entra-joined endpoints, standardizing identity, compliance, and device governance.
- Established centralized endpoint management: Implemented SmartDeploy integrated with SCCM for efficient imaging and lifecycle control.
- Later migrated all endpoint management to Intune, enabling compliance policies, app deployment, and remote administration.
- Deployed over 400 Apple iOS devices using IBMs MaaS360 for Dragon Medical One & EPIC Canto.
- Executed enterprise upgrade of 900+ endpoints to Windows 11, including hardware readiness, application compatibility, and phased deployment with zero clinical downtime.
- Directed multi-phase EMR transitions: Intergy → AthenaHealth → Epic, including infrastructure refreshes, interface mapping, data validation, and clinical workflow alignment.
- Led data migration and mapping for Dental and RX transitions to Wisdom/Willow, ensuring continuity across clinical, billing, and pharmacy workflows.
- Executed archival of OBGYN practice records with Ellkay Archival, ensuring PHI integrity and facilitating seamless onboarding into TFHC’s primary EMR.
- Managed TFHC’s data center including Citrix Netscaler, multi-site fiber connectivity, VPN infrastructure, and clinical application hosting.
- Engineered migration from legacy MPLS to dual fiber/broadband SD-WAN P2P VPN, reducing OPEX by $45K annually and improving resiliency.
- Designed and deployed AOVPN for 300+ remote staff during COVID, standing up a secure client VPN environment in under 30 days.
- Supported mobile clinical operations by deploying HIPAA-compliant mobile WiFi, 5G failover networks, and connectivity for 8 mobile primary care and dental buses used during hurricanes, epidemics, and community emergencies.
- Owned full lifecycle delivery: scoping, budgeting, vendor selection, contracting, circuit procurement, network design, endpoint deployment, testing, and go-live stabilization.
- Delivered overlapping 4–6-month projects with zero delays, ensuring readiness for Dental, RX, Primary Care, Pediatrics, OBGYN, Podiatry, Mental Health, Billing, and Community Services.
Education
Associate of Science - Cyber & Information Security
Pasco-Hernando State College
New Port Richey, FL12.2018
Skills
- Clinical systems expertise
- Epic systems knowledge
- Athena EMR experience
- ECW familiarity
- Willow pharmacy solutions expertise
- Imaging technologies
- Intelerad imaging solutions
- GE healthcare systems
- Wisdom clinical applications knowledge
- HL7 standards compliance
- DICOM protocols understanding
- Cloud and identity solutions
- Azure identity administration
- Infrastructure management
- Networking infrastructure design
- Windows OS proficiency
- IT strategy governance
- Vendor-agnostic solutions approach
- Documentation and reporting skills
Accomplishments
- Cut organizational risk by 23,000 points and raised compliance from 32% → 97% at DCMG, achieving top-tier audit readiness.
- Led multi-system EMR transitions (Intergy → Athena → Epic; Dentrix → Wisdom; RX30 → Willow) with zero data loss across multi-specialty environments.
- Modernized enterprise identity and cloud platforms, migrating 750+ users to M365 and converting all AD/LDAP systems to Entra ID in 6 months.
- Upgraded 900+ endpoints to Windows 11 and refreshed all Windows Servers (2012 → 2019), eliminating legacy infrastructure across 21 clinics.
- Executed $400K network modernization replacing Cisco ASA with Meraki MX/MS/MR across all TFHC sites.
- Migrated 40TB of imaging data to Canopy and deployed Intelerad/Intellirad with HL7/DICOM integrations enabling remote radiology workflows.
- Designed and operationalized enterprise M&A playbooks for ReFocus, standardizing onboarding, network refresh, domain migration, and access alignment across 80+ ophthalmology clinics.
- Built enterprise AI governance frameworks, including PHI risk assessment, vendor vetting, and AI intake processes for clinical and operational tools.
- Served as direct operational partner to Florida Blue’s VP of Infrastructure (900+ personnel), owning KPI scorecards, governance, and cross-domain coordination.
Technical Skills
Windows OS / iOS, Device Management, Networking Infrastructure, Vendor Agnostic, Azure/Entra ID, Identity Management, Cloud First Enablement, IT Governance, Epic, Athena, ECW, Intergy, Dentrix, Clinical Modality Support, Intelerad, GE, Canopy, Zeiss Forum, HL7, DICOM, API
Timeline
Senior IT Manager
ReFocus Eye Health
08.2025 - Current
Senior IT Manager, Infrastructure Services (ITIS)
Florida Blue
01.2025 - 12.2025
Senior IT Manager, Diagnostic Clinic Medical Group (DCMG)
Florida Blue
04.2022 - 01.2025
IT Manager
Tampa Family Health Centers
01.2018 - 12.2022
Associate of Science - Cyber & Information Security
Pasco-Hernando State College