HHS appoints members to HIT Policy and Standards Committee

On Friday, May 8, 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced appointments to the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee and HIT Standards Committee. These federal advisory committees were established by provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that President Obama signed on February 17, 2009. Today, is the first meeting of the HIT Policy Committee, and Friday, May 15, 2009, is the first scheduled meeting of the HIT Standards Committee, both in Washington, DC. According to the press release issued by HHS, “[t]he HIT Policy Committee will make recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology [Dr. David Blumenthal] on a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide interoperable health information infrastructure, including standards for the secure and private exchange of patient medical information.”   The role of the HIT Standards Committee is to make “recommendations to the National Coordinator on standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health information.”  Lists of members of each committee can be found online at http://healthit.hhs.gov.