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New ONC Named, DeSalvo Continues as Acting Assistant Secretary of Health

News  |  By HealthLeaders Media News  
   August 12, 2016

Vindell Washington replaces Karen DeSalvo as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as she steps aside and continues her role as Acting Assistant Secretary of Health.

After nearly two years at the post, Karen DeSalvo on Friday stepped aside as national coordinator for health information technology but will continue to serve as acting assistant secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced.

Vindell Washington, MD, will replace DeSalvo as national coordinator. Washington has served as the principal deputy national coordinator at ONC under DeSalvo, where he led initiatives around delivery system reform, precision medicine, and the opioid crisis, Burwell said in a memo to HHS staff.

"In his capacity as national coordinator, Vindell will continue to lead the administration's efforts to leverage health information technology to reform how we pay for and deliver care; transform health research and innovation to empower clinicians, individuals and communities to manage their health; and oversee implementation of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan and the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap to unlock digital health data and ensure it is widely accessible, usable, and transferable throughout the public and private sectors," Burwell said.

In a memo to colleagues, Washington said he anticipates "a very busy fall," at ONC as the Obama administration transitions toward its final six months in office.

"From our critical work on the Interoperability Roadmap and the Strategic Plan, to supporting the Administration's efforts on Delivery System Reform, MACRA, precision medicine, and the Cancer Moonshot, to empowering consumers to be better partners in their health and care through our certification program, the interoperability commitments, and so many other efforts, we have our work cut out for us," Washington said. "It will be a sprint to the finish—and I know we will need 100% from each and every one of you to achieve all that we have set out to do."

DeSalvo has led ONC since January 2014 and has served a dual role as assistant secretary for Health since October 2014, at the onset of the Ebola crisis.

"Under her leadership, ONC has advanced interoperability across the health system—which underpins progress on a wide range of Department and Administration priorities," Burwell said. "She has also made significant advances to the Health Information Technology Certification Program to promote and expand the safe and secure flow of electronic health information when and where it matters most for individuals and clinicians."

Burwell also credited DeSalvo with a number of accomplishments as assistant secretary at Health, including her work on the water crisis in Flint, in promoting nutritional and physical fitness through the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the events surrounding the 60th Anniversary of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, and in leading the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.


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