Industry shares support for DeSalvo as ONC chief

Individuals and organizations across the country and industry are praising the choice of Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, as the new head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).

The Health Information Management & Information Systems Society (HIMSS) called the New Orleans health commissioner “an excellent selection” and noted her long history of leadership in bringing the benefits of health IT to Louisiana. She served as president of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, the Louisiana lead for the state’s health information exchange and regional extension center grants, and was a member of the steering committee for the Crescent City Beacon Community grant. She also advocated for expanded use of health IT by New Orleans’ primary care providers, and ensured that the city’s newest public hospital will utilize a fully-integrated health IT network.

DeSalvo “has a deep understanding of the value of informatics, as well as of the challenges and promise of interoperability,” said HIMSS Vice President Carla Smith in the release. That expertise “will be essential as she transitions to lead ONC's efforts to assist U.S. clinicians and healthcare organizations as they move into Stage 2 of Meaningful Use.”

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is "pleased to welcome" DeSalvo as the incoming national coordinator, according to a statement, and said "her accomplishments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina give her an admirable skill set needed to help guide our healthcare delivery system through challenging times."

In an email to ONC staff, Jacob Reider, MD, acting national coordinator, said 2014 “will be an incredible next chapter in ONC's history and one that we should all be looking forward to.” Reider will return to his previous role as chief medical officer of ONC when DeSalvo assumes her position on Jan. 13.

Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, who stepped down from the role in October, tweeted his support for DeSalvo: “I couldn't be happier with the choice of @KBDeSalvo- a public health star, she understands healthcare from the front-lines, is a true leader.”

DeSalvo and Mostashari have similar DNA with both coming out of city health departments, said Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MSc, assistant vice chancellor for health affairs and chief informatics officer for Vanderbilt University Health System in Nashville and incoming board of directors chair for the American Medical Informatics Association. Middleton and DeSalvo were both at Harvard University at the same time—he on the faculty and she as a graduate student in public health.

He noted her interest in technology at that time and said she has driven technology adoption very effectively in New Orleans in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

DeSalvo “has a big challenge ahead of her,” Middleton said. “The fundamental challenge she’s going to have to address is show the country and Congress that this investment in health IT is paying off. Not only adoption of the technology and that we’re using it meaningfully but demonstrating real improvements in healthcare delivery and value. That’s what the country needs critically.”

DeSalvo will begin addressing health IT challenges when she assumes the role on Jan. 13.