Changes this month…. New National Coordinator at the ONCHIT

Dr. David Blumenthal stepped down as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology this month, replacing him is Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM . Dr. Mostashari is not new to the ONCHIT office, he has been working with them and the previous National Coordinator since 2009. He was the Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy when I was reviewing the big ONC HIT 2009 review at the end of last year.



Here is my quote and impression of Dr. Mostashari from that meeting back in December 2010, “says that the continuing mission of the ONC and the EHR/meaningful use implementation is to improve quality, safety, and efficiency. He went through several example of how better information, being tracked, can lead to better information, better treatments, and better outcomes. He believes that by documenting better, streamlining medical processes and communication, along with a pooling a greater breadth and depth of health care knowledge that the results will be new innovations in health care.”

It’s hard to say how things will change at ONCHIT with the change of the National Coordinator. Dr. Mostashari has not yet even posted to the Heath IT “Buzz” Blog yet as the new National Coordinator. You can be sure from the quote above and his appointment to this new position, that Dr. Mostashari will be aggressively promoting EHR adoption and use.

Speaking of the ONCHIT and the future of Federal Health IT, this Friday marks the closing of the public comments period for the Federal Health IT Strategy Plan 2011-2015. The comment period will end Friday, April 22 at 11:59pm (Eastern). If you want to know what changes have been made and planned over the last year and what the intended effect on you will be, or if you have any desire to comment about this plan, now is the time. You will notice by the dates, that this date range and set of standards coincides with the ARRA stimulus plan and payouts for the next few years. By 2015 Medicare is stating that penalties may start being involved for those who do not wish to comply or participate in the Federal EHR update. Federally Mandated EHR Program does sound so much less appealing than Federally Subsidized EHR Stimulus Program doesn’t it? No matter where you stand on EHRs or the stimulus program, you will need to make some choices and adjustments to your practices in the near future.

ONCHIT is Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and you can visit their web site at: http://healthit.hhs.gov