eHI Praises Appointment of David J. Brailer, MD, PhD as Nation’s First National Coordinator for Health IT
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Phil Duncan |
May 6, 2004 |
Washington, D.C., May 6 — The eHealth Initiative praised President George W. Bush’s appointment today of David J. Brailer, MD, PhD to be the nation’s first National Health Information Technology Coordinator, a sub-Cabinet level post at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the appointment at a Washington, D.C. summit at which more than 100 leaders in healthcare information technology (IT), healthcare information exchange and the employer, physician, health plan and patient advocate communities discussed speeding the development and implementation of electronic health records and local health information infrastructures.
“Dr. Brailer has a keen understanding of how the innovative use of IT and electronic health data connectivity can promote quality improvement, patient safety, greater efficiencies, and public health preparedness. He also has hands-on leadership experience in business, medicine and academia that uniquely qualifies him to succeed in the new National Health Information Technology Coordinator role” said Janet M. Marchibroda, Chief Executive Officer of the eHealth Initiative.
Dr. Brailer is active in the eHealth Initiative and its Foundation. He serves as an Advisor to both the organization’s Connecting Communities for Better Health program and on-line Community Learning Network and Resource Center, as well as acting as a Working Group Chair in Connecting for Health (CFH), a 100 stakeholder-strong public-private sector collaboration funded by the Markle and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations that is currently drafting an incremental roadmap for electronic connectivity and developing a set of recommendations to speed its implementation. Prior to his appointment, Brailer, a physician, served as Senior Fellow at the Health Technology Center, and in addition to holding professorial posts at the University of Pennsylvania, he was Founder, Chairman and CEO of CareScience Inc. Dr. Brailer was also the Principal Investigator of the Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange project, one of the Nation’s first community-based collaborations focused on mobilizing information across institutions to support the delivery of healthcare.
“We look forward to working with Dr. Brailer and other leaders within the Administration to bring together people from all sectors of the healthcare system, so we may jointly develop practical strategies for speeding the adoption of electronic health records and an electronic health information infrastructure,” said Marchibroda.
At today’s summit meeting, HHS Secretary Thompson said that “health information technology has the potential to greatly improve health care even as it yields huge savings.” He discussed a myriad of new accomplishments that will hasten electronic medical record adoption and other health IT benefits, including:
- Federal agency adoption of 15 additional standards agreed to by the Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) initiative to allow for the electronic exchange of clinical health information across the federal government.
- Availability of SNOMED CT as a free download for use in the United States through HHS' National Library of Medicine. SNOMED CT was created by the College of American Pathologists.
- With HHS support, the Health Level 7 (HL7) announcement of a favorable vote on a functional model and standards for the electronic health record.
In a major speech on technology issues April 27, the President unveiled a National Health Information Technology Plan. Its centerpiece is a goal that a majority of Americans will have an electronic medical record within 10 years. To accomplish this goal, and to coordinate the whole range of federal health information technology efforts, Bush created the post of National Health
Information Technology Coordinator. In that position, Dr. Brailer will work to support efforts across the public and private sectors to develop the standards and infrastructure needed for more effective use of information technology, to promote higher quality care and reduce health care costs. One of the office’s initial tasks is to study potential incentives options in Medicare and other HHS programs to encourage private sector adoption of interoperable electronic health records. The office will also prepare recommendations on assuring that interoperable information technology appropriately addresses privacy and security issues.
“eHI applauds the President and HHS Secretary Thompson for their outstanding leadership in the area of healthcare IT,” said Marchibroda. “We in the private sector stand ready to help those in the public sector create a healthcare system that better mobilizes data and improves patient care and lowers costs, while protecting patient privacy.”
About the eHealth Initiative and its Foundation
The eHealth Initiative and the Foundation for eHealth Initiative are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations whose missions are the same: to drive improvement in the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology.
Both organizations are focused on engaging multiple and diverse stakeholders — including hospitals and other healthcare organizations, clinician groups, employers and purchasers, health plans, healthcare information technology organizations, manufacturers, public health agencies, academic and research institutions, and public sector stakeholders — to define and then implement specific actions that will address the quality, safety and efficiency challenges of our healthcare system through the use of interoperable information technology.
For more information on the eHealth Initiative and the Foundation for eHealth Initiative, go to www.ehealthinitiative.org.
About Connecting Communities for Better Health
The purpose of the Connecting Communities for Better Health program is to provide seed funding and technical support to multi-stakeholder collaboratives within communities (both geographic and non-geographic) that are using electronic health information exchange and other IT tools to drive improvements in healthcare quality, safety and efficiency. Funded under a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Connecting Communities for Better Health is implementing activities on a national, regional, and local basis that will lay the foundation for an interconnected, electronic, standards-based health information infrastructure to support patients, clinicians and those responsible for population health. For more information on the Connecting Communities for Better Health Program, go to ccbh.ehealthinitiative.org.
