An April 4 article in Bloomberg BNA's Health
IT Law & Industry Report and other publications, "New
HHS Technology Office Leader Has Health-Care Industry
Experience," discussed the appointment of former Siemens Chief
Medical Officer Donald Rucker, MD, as head of the Department of
Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the National
Coordinator for Healthcare Information Technology (ONC). Eric
Fader was quoted in the article.
In addition to his 13 years as Siemens' CMO, Dr. Rucker's
healthcare IT background includes hands-on experience building
clinical workflow systems, and his appointment is excellent news
for everyone who was skeptical about the future of the ONC. "I
think virtually all stakeholders, and politicians and commentators
on both sides of the aisle, will be hard-pressed to find fault with
his appointment, which likely foreshadows an expansion of the
ONC's sphere of influence," Eric said.
The recent creation of a new HHS position focused on health
technology, as discussed here, had called into question the ONC's
ongoing role in federal healthcare IT policymaking.
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