Great selections and additions. These leaders should prove to be great choices for the health IT and specifically, the EHR industry.

HHS Announces Members of Committees That Will Advise on Implementation of Health IT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HHS Press Office
Friday, May 8, 2009
(202) 690-6343

HHS Announces Members of Committees That Will Advise on Implementation
of Health IT
Policy and Standards Committees Will Meet Next Week

The Department of Health and Human Services today announced the
appointment of three members to the Health Information Technology (HIT)
Policy Committee as well as members of the HIT Standards Committee. The
two new federal advisory committees were established by the American
Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The first meeting of the Health IT
Policy Committee will be held on Monday, May 11 in Washington, D. C.

"The Policy and Standards committees bring together a wide diversity of
key stakeholders to help guide the advancement of health IT as an
integral part of health reform," stated Dr. David Blumenthal, National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS and Chairman of the
Policy Committee. "It is an honor to lead one of these committees, and
I am confident that these committees will provide valuable insight to
help develop important health IT policy in the next few years."

The HIT Policy Committee will make recommendations to the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology on a policy framework for
the development and adoption of a nationwide interoperable health
information infrastructure, including standards for the secure and
private exchange of patient medical information.

The HHS appointees to the Policy Committee are:

David Blumenthal, MD, MPP,
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.

Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH
Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Deven C. McGraw, JD, MPH, Director
Health Privacy Project, Center for Democracy & Technology.

An additional 13 members were appointed by the Acting Comptroller
General of the United States, and four members appointed by the Majority
and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader
of the House of Representatives. A complete list of the Policy Committee
members and information about the May 11th meeting can be found at
http://healthit.hhs.gov/. The Presidential appointments from relevant
federal agencies are expected to be announced prior to the HIT Policy
Committee's second meeting in June.

In addition, appointments were made to the HIT Standards Committee, also
a federal advisory body, which is charged with making recommendations to
the National Coordinator on standards, implementation specifications,
and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health
information. The first meeting of this committee is scheduled for
Friday, May 15, 2009.

Members appointed by HHS are:

Jonathan Perlin, MD, Chair
Healthcare Corporation of America

John Halamka, MD. Co-Chair
Harvard Medical School

Dixie Baker, PhD
Science Applications International Corporation

Anne Castro
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

Christopher Chute, MD
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Janet Corrigan, PhD
National Quality Forum

John Derr, R.Ph.
Golden Living, LLC

Linda Dillman
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

James Ferguson
Kaiser Permanente

Steven Findlay, MPH
Consumers Union

Douglas Fridsma, MD, PhD
Arizona Biomedical Collaborataive 1

C. Martin Harris, MD, MBA
Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Stanley M. Huff, MD
Intermountain Healthcare

Kevin Hutchinson
Prematics, Inc.

Elizabeth O. Johnson, RN
Tenet Health

John Klimek, R.Ph.
National Council for Prescription Drug Programs

David McCallie, Jr., MD
Cerner Corporation

Judy Murphy, RN
Aurora Health Care

J. Marc Overhage, MD, PhD
Regenstrief Institute

Gina Perez, MPA
Delaware Health Information Network

Wes Rishel
Gartner, Inc.

Sharon Terry, MA
Genetic Alliance

James Walker, MD
Geisinger Health System

Representatives from relevant federal agencies will be named separately.
For more information about these committees, meeting dates andpreliminary agendas please visit http://healthit.hhs.gov