HITPC: New acting director, post-shutdown news

The first Health IT Policy Committee meeting following the federal government shutdown hiatus and the resignation of former Health IT National Coordinator Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, brought some introductions and news.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) new acting director Jacob Reider, MD, introduced himself as a family physician with extensive experience in health IT and a keen interest in clinical innovation, user experience and clinical decision support.

Describing himself as a “health IT nerd,” he referred to his management style as “driving less” than his predecessor but said he understands that “we need to keep our foot on the gas pedal.”

“I’m honored to be serving as acting coordinator and chair of the Health IT Policy Committee, and looking forward to working with you,” he told the committee.

Noting that ONC’s certified health IT product list (CHPL) was not updated during the shutdown, Reider announced during the meeting that the list now is up-to-date.

Also, he said the agency soon will post the test results for health IT products with the goal of shedding light on user design and creating more usable products. “We are back loading all of the test results beginning with the 2014 edition of the certification program.”

“One of ONC’s guiding principles is open and transparent, inclusive decision-making,” Reider said. “We think this kind of transparency will help vendors compete with each other in the domain of usability. We’ll get feedback on that and whether it is effective.”