The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) requires the Secretary to issue, through the rulemaking process, "an initial set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria" for health information technology (HIT). To help develop these standards, ARRA establishes an HIT Policy Committee and an HIT Standards Committee. The Policy Committee is tasked with recommending a "policy framework" for the development of a nationwide HIT infrastructure. This policy framework will help shape the standards ultimately developed by the HIT Standards Committee.

The Secretary of HHS, as directed by ARRA, appointed three individuals to the HIT Policy Committee today. In addition, the Secretary also appointed members of the Standards Committee. Representatives to the Standards Committee from other federal agencies will be named at a later date. The Policy Committee is scheduled to meet for the first time on May 11, 2009 and the Standards Committee will meet on May 15, 2009.

The HHS press release may be found at the following web address: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/05/20090508a.html

The three additional members of the HIT Policy Committee are:  

  1. David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P.  

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology  

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  

  1. Michael J. Klag, M.D., M.P.H.  

Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health  

  1. Deven C. McGraw, J.D., M.P.H., Director  

Health Privacy Project, Center for Democracy & Technology  

Members of the Standards Committee include:  

  • Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Chair  

Healthcare Corporation of America  

  • John Halamka, M.D., Co-Chair  

Harvard Medical School

  • Dixie Baker, Ph.D.  

Science Applications International Corporation  

  • Anne Castro  

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina  

  • Christopher Chute, M.D.  

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine  

  • Janet Corrigan, Ph.D.  

National Quality Forum  

  • John Derr, R.Ph.  

Golden Living, LLC  

  • Linda Dillman  

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.  

  • James Ferguson  

Kaiser Permanente  

  • Steven Findlay, M.P.H.  

Consumers Union  

  • Douglas Fridsma, M.D., Ph.D.  

Arizona Biomedical Collaborative  

  • C. Martin Harris, M.D., M.B.A.  

Cleveland Clinic Foundation  

  • Stanley M. Huff, M.D.  

Intermountain Healthcare  

  • Kevin Hutchinson  

Prematics, Inc.  

  • Elizabeth O. Johnson, R.N.  

Tenet Health  

  • John Klimek, R.Ph.  

National Council for Prescription Drug Programs  

  • David McCallie, Jr., M.D.  

Cerner Corporation  

  • Judy Murphy, R.N.  

Aurora Health Care  

  • J. Marc Overhage, M.D., Ph.D.  

Regenstrief Institute

  • Gina Perez, M.P.A.  

Delaware Health Information Network  

  • Wes Rishel  

Gartner, Inc.  

  • Sharon Terry, M.A.  

Genetic Alliance  

  • James Walker, M.D.  

Geisinger Health System