The Department of Health and Human Services is calling for nominations for the high-level advisory board that is expected to hammer out the interoperability standards needed to link the nation’s health information technology in a national network.
In a Federal Register notice Thursday, HHS announced the makeup of the 17-member American Health Information Community, which HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt will chair.
Besides Leavitt, HHS' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Public Health Service will be represented on the board. Other federal agencies on the board include the departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Commerce and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management. A senior state official also will join the group, bringing the government total to nine members.
Eight members from the private sector will be selected to represent consumers and privacy interests, purchasers of health services (generally, large employers), third-party payers (insurers), hospitals, physicians, nurses, ancillary services such as laboratories and pharmacists, and information technology vendors.
Nominations for the two-year terms are due by Aug. 5. They should be submitted by e-mail, postal mail or fax to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.