Muntz also will leave ONC

The exit door of the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT appears to be in good working order. Principal Deputy David Muntz, MBA, has submitted his resignation.

The news comes on the heels of the announcement last month that National Coordinator Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, will step down. Muntz, who joined ONC in January 2012, intends to return to the private sector.

Jacob Reider, MD, ONC chief medical officer, was named as the acting replacement for Mostashari, and will take over Oct. 4. Lisa Lewis was named acting replacement for Muntz.

In an email to staff, Muntz said, "It is with a great deal of gratitude and sadness I have tendered my resignation as principal deputy national coordinator for health IT. All of the ONC staff and, for that matter, all of the federal staff with whom I worked, have been more than patient and generous as I entered the world of federal public service.

“The goals and objectives of our diverse and important activities helped me understand and accept the challenges, and then embrace them,” Muntz said. “It is heartwarming and head-pleasing to have worked with all of the federal staff and to represent the providers and patients in the private and public sector who are pulling and pushing us toward a very promising future where the collective efforts will benefit the nation and the world. The people and the progress are awe inspiring. It's been a privilege to have played any role in such a truly transformative era, much less a leadership role in all the successes we have achieved both inside and outside ONC. I look forward to continuing to support HHS' vision of achieving interoperability and better engaging patients from the private sector.”

Mostashari, in his email, wrote, “David Muntz and I have been honored to work together leading this exceptional organization, and we will be departing together as well. David informed me several weeks ago of his decision to return to the private sector to work more closely on the front-lines of medicine, but I asked him to hold off on any announcement until we could complete the transition planning.”

Mostashari has served as the fourth ONC chief since April 2011 after working two years at the ONC as a deputy national coordinator, setting up multiple health IT programs—including a nationwide network of federally funded, health IT regional extension centers; Beacon Communities and workforce development—as well as launching the Meaningful Use program in collaboration with the CMS and state Medicaid agencies.

Reider joined ONC in October 2011 as a senior policy adviser and was named acting head of the ONC's newly created Office of Chief Medical Officer in April 2012, and became the permanent CMO in October 2012. Lewis, deputy national coordinator for operations, will replace Muntz as acting principal deputy. Previously, she served as the ONC's chief grants management officer.