GAO appoints three new members to Health IT Policy Committee

Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Gene L. Dodaro, has announced James S. Ferguson, Carolyn Petersen and Karen L. Caulil as the newest members on the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee.  

“It’s important to have the input of key stakeholders in the development of health information technology policy,” Dodaro said. “A number of strong candidates expressed an interest in serving on the Committee, and the individuals being named today will bring highly valuable perspectives to the work of the Committee.”

James S. (Jamie) Ferguson is a Fellow of the Institute for Health Policy and Vice President of HIT Strategy and Policy at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., where he is responsible for HIT policies and standards. He has previously managed the clinical and administrative data systems, including HIT standards, for Kaiser Permanente. Ferguson serves on the Board of the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization and on the Business Technology Advisory Group of America’s Health Insurance Plans, he also previously served on the ONC HIT Standards Committee.

Carolyn Petersen is Senior Editor for Mayoclinic.org of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She is currently a member of the ethics committee of the American Medical Informatics Association. She has served as a consumer representative for groups including the Food and Drug Administration’s Anesthesiology and Respiratory Therapy Devices Panel, the National Cancer Informatics Program, and the Improving Healthcare Systems Advisory Panel of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. 

Karen L. van Caulil, PhD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Health Care Coalition, representing 2 million individuals. She is currently Chair of the Board of Governors of the National Business Coalition on Health. van Caulil is also adjunct faculty in the Department of Health Management and Informatics of the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Health and Public Affairs, and was responsible for developing UCF’s Regional Extension Center.