WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 DC-AHICSuccessorBoard
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- AHIC Successor, Inc. today announced
the appointment of its Board of Directors. The formation of its Board of
Directors is an important milestone in establishing AHIC Successor as an
independent public-private partnership. The new organization is being
established in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), as a successor to the American Health Information Community
(AHIC), a federal advisory committee that will soon be dissolving. The Board
of Directors will be immediately tasked with defining the strategies by which
the organization will fulfill its mission to develop a unified approach in
creating an effective, interoperable nationwide health information system in
the United States.
"We are pleased to have the participation of such a distinguished group of
individuals from both the public and private sectors who are committed to the
successful integration and use of health IT in the United States," said John
Tooker, M.D., M.B.A., Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of
the American College of Physicians and one of the three original incorporators
of AHIC Successor. "The Board's leadership and insights from across the
health care, IT, academic, and consumer communities will be invaluable as our
members collaborate on the development of implementation strategies for a
standards-based, interoperable health IT system that ensures confidentiality,
privacy, and security for patients."
The 15 members of AHIC Successor Board of Directors are:
-- Laura Adams, President and CEO, Rhode Island Quality Institute
-- Simon Cohn, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Executive Director, Health
Information Policy, Kaiser Permanente
-- Janet Corrigan, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.S.-Eng., President and CEO, National
Quality Forum
-- Arthur Davidson, M.D., M.S.P.H., Director, Public Health Preparedness,
Denver Public Health Department
-- Linda Dillman, Executive Vice President, Benefits and Risk Management,
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
-- Lori Evans, M.P.H., M.P.P., Deputy Commissioner, New York State
Department of Health
-- Steven Findlay, M.P.H., Health Care Analyst and Editor, Consumer
Reports Best Buy Drugs, Consumers Union
-- Thomas Fritz, M.A., M.P.A., CEO, Inland Northwest Health Services
-- C. Martin Harris, M.D., M.B.A. Chief Information Officer and Chairman,
Information Technology Division, Cleveland Clinic
-- Kevin Hutchinson, President and CEO, Prematics, Inc.
-- Charles Kennedy, M.D., M.B.A., Vice President for Health Information
Technology, WellPoint, Inc.
-- Michael Lardiere, L.C.S.W., Director, Health Information Technology and
Senior Advisor, Behavioral Health, National Association of Community
Health Centers
-- Stephen Ruberg, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Eli Lilly & Company
-- Lisa Simpson, M.B., B.Ch., M.P.H., Professor, University of Cincinnati,
and Director, Child Policy Research Center, Cincinnati Children's
Hospital
-- Paul Tang, M.D., M.S., Vice President and Chief Medical Information
Officer, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
In addition to the new Board members listed above, HHS Secretary Mike
Leavitt and Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake will serve as federal
liaisons to the board. The National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology, Robert Kolodner, M.D., will continue to coordinate federal input
into the public-private process.
"In the three years since AHIC was created and began submitting
recommendations to me, 52 harmonized standards for health information
technology have been established," Secretary Leavitt said. "I expect to
recognize 60 additional harmonized standards by January 2009."
"So the concept of having the public and private sectors collaborate to
advance standards development is working," Secretary Leavitt added. "A
public-private partnership, such as AHIC Successor, brings the benefits of
government involvement to the table without the pitfalls of a politically
controlled process picking winners and losers. These leaders and this new
organization will play a vital role in improving the quality of health care
through the adoption of new, interoperable technology."
The initial three signatories to the incorporation -- John Glaser, Ph.D.,
Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Partners HealthCare System,
Inc.; Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer and President,
Clinical Services, Hospital Corporation of America; and Dr. Tooker -- will
also participate as Board members for the first year, after which they will
step down without replacement.
The current AHIC, which is scheduled to complete its work by the end of
2008, advises HHS on how to accelerate the development and adoption of health
information technology.
Widespread adoption of health information technology will improve the
quality, safety, and efficiency of health care by enabling the exchange of
relevant patient information to better manage health information and care.
When used with appropriate safeguards that protect confidentiality and
privacy, health IT can enable comprehensive management of medical information
and its secure exchange between health care consumers, providers, and other
relevant parties. Health IT enables improvements at the point of care,
broader public health improvements, and more efficient and effective data
collection and analysis by researchers to improve quality and affordability of
care.
About AHIC Successor, Inc.
AHIC Successor, Inc. was created under a grant from the Office of the
National Coordinator (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
to support the nation's efforts in developing interoperable health information
technology. Through the efforts of a broad range of health IT stakeholders
nationwide, AHIC Successor, Inc. was incorporated on July 17, 2008. AHIC
Successor is an independent, sustainable public-private enterprise whose role
is to bring together the best of the public, non-profit and private sectors
into a trusted, purpose-driven organization for the creation and use of a
secure interoperable nationwide health information system. For more
information about AHIC Successor and background on the Board appointees,
please visit www.ahicsuccessor.org .
For media inquiries, please contact:
Jennifer Cosenza (617) 761-6750
newsroom@ahicsuccessor.org
SOURCE AHIC Successor, Inc.
