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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 16, 2004

Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

First National Coordinator's Report On Health Information Technology To Be Released at July 21 "Summit"

The nation’s first strategic framework report on a 10-year initiative to develop electronic health records and other uses of health information technology will be released Wednesday, July 21, at the Secretarial Summit on Health Information Technology. The summit meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Washington Convention Center. A press conference (media only) will take place at 8 a.m.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David. J. Brailer, M.D., Ph. D., will unveil the report, which will provide goals as well as action items and issues to be addressed toward achieving President Bush’s goal of electronic health records for Americans within a decade.

“The President has identified health information technology as one of the most important new technology areas for America’s future,” Secretary Thompson said. “We are committed to working closely with the private sector to bring about the enormous benefits of modern information technology for our health care system.”

Dr. Brailer was appointed by the President in May to the new position of National Coordinator to help accelerate development of health information technology. In his executive order creating the new office, the President also called for a report on a strategic plan for widespread adoption of health information technology.

“The Secretary’s Summit provides a forum where leaders from the public and private sectors can come together to provide feedback on an action plan to realize the President’s vision,” Dr. Brailer said.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will also address the Summit, and leaders of the nation’s information technology and health care sectors will take part. The heads of each HHS Operating Division involved in the initiative will also participate:

  • Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director, National Institutes of Health

  • Julie L. Gerberding, M.D., Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Carolyn Clancy, M.D., Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

  • Lester M. Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D., Acting Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration

  • Elizabeth M. Duke, Ph.D, Administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration

  • Charles G. Curie, M.A., A.C.S.W., Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

  • Charles W. Grim, D.D.S., M.H.S.A., Assistant Surgeon General, Director, Indian Health Service

Also taking part will be William Winkenwerder, Jr., M.D., M.B.A., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense; Jonathon Perlin, M.D., Acting Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs; and Ron Sanders, Associate Director, Strategic Human Resource Policy, Office of Personnel Management.

Those who will participate in reactor panels following presentation of the report, to be introduced by John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems, who will also moderate the technology session, include:

Business Companies -- Technology Innovation:

  • John H. Hammergren, Chairman & CEO, McKesson Corporation

  • Neal Patterson, Chairman & CEO, Cerner Corporation

  • Daniel T. Garrett, Vice President and Managing Partner of Global Health Solutions, Computer Sciences Corporation

  • Neil de Crescenzo, Partner & Healthcare Industry Leader, Global and Americas, IBM Business Consulting Services (BCS), IBM

  • Purchaser Employer Groups -- Financing and Shared investment:

  • Abby Block, Deputy Associate, Center for Employee & Family Support Policy, Office for Personnel Management, U.S. Federal Government

  • Arnie Milstein, M.D., Medical Director, Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH)

  • Helen Darling, President, National Business Group on Health (NBGH)

  • Andrew Webber, President & CEO, National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) - Invited

Health Plans -- Financial and Shared Investment:

  • Reed Tuckson, M.D., Senior Vice President, Consumer Health & Medical Care Advancement, United Health Group

  • Cleve Killingsworth, M.P.H., COO, Blue Shield – Blue Cross, Massachusetts

  • Scott Serota, President and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield National Association

  • George Isham, M.D., M.S., Medical Director and Chief Health Officer, HealthPartners, Inc., Minnesota

Physician Groups -- Clinical leadership:

  • J. James Rohack, M.D., Chair of the Board of Trustees, American Medical Association (AMA)

  • John Tooker, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.P., Executive Vice President & CEO, American College of Physicians (ACP)

  • Douglas E. Henley, M.D., Executive Vice President, American Academy of Family Physicians, (AAFP)

Consumer and Advocacy Groups -- Consumer Empowerment:

  • David Lansky, Ph.D., President, Foundation for Accountability (FACCT)

  • William D. Novelli, CEO & John Rother, Director, Policy & Strategy, American Association for Retired Persons, (AARP)

Foundations, Partners and Industry Trade Associations -- Private-Public Collaborative:

  • Janet Marchibroda, Chief Executive Officer, eHealth Initiative,

  • Scott Wallace, President & CEO, The National Alliance for Health Information Technology, NAHIT

  • H. Stephen Lieber, C.A.E., Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)

  • Linda Kloss, Executive Vice President and CEO, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

  • Ed Jones, Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI)

  • Barbara Rudolph, Ph.D., M.S.S.W., Director of Leaps & Measures, The LeapFrog Group

  • Carol C. Diamond, M.D., M.P.H., Managing Director, Healthcare Program, Markle Foundation

  • John Glaser, Ph.D., Vice President & CIO, HealthCare Partners System

** NOTE TO MEDIA – Press may register in advance for the conference at: http://www.hsrnet.net/nhii/registration_press.cfm

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: July 16, 2004

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