AHIC Successor, Inc. Announces Board of Directors

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ — AHIC Successor, Inc. today announced the appointment of its Board of Directors. The formation of its Board of Directors is an important milestone in establishing AHIC Successor as an independent public-private partnership. The new organization is being established in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as a successor to the American Health Information Community (AHIC), a federal advisory committee that will soon be dissolving. The Board of Directors will be immediately tasked with defining the strategies by which the organization will fulfill its mission to develop a unified approach in creating an effective, interoperable nationwide health information system in the United States.

“We are pleased to have the participation of such a distinguished group of individuals from both the public and private sectors who are committed to the successful integration and use of health IT in the United States,” said John Tooker, M.D., M.B.A., Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Physicians and one of the three original incorporators of AHIC Successor. “The Board’s leadership and insights from across the health care, IT, academic, and consumer communities will be invaluable as our members collaborate on the development of implementation strategies for a standards-based, interoperable health IT system that ensures confidentiality, privacy, and security for patients.”

   The 15 members of AHIC Successor Board of Directors are:    — Laura Adams, President and CEO, Rhode Island Quality Institute   — Simon Cohn, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Executive Director, Health      Information Policy, Kaiser Permanente   — Janet Corrigan, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.S.-Eng., President and CEO, National      Quality Forum   — Arthur Davidson, M.D., M.S.P.H., Director, Public Health Preparedness,      Denver Public Health Department   — Linda Dillman, Executive Vice President, Benefits and Risk Management,      Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.   — Lori Evans, M.P.H., M.P.P., Deputy Commissioner, New York State      Department of Health   — Steven Findlay, M.P.H., Health Care Analyst and Editor, Consumer      Reports Best Buy Drugs, Consumers Union   — Thomas Fritz, M.A., M.P.A., CEO, Inland Northwest Health Services   — C. Martin Harris, M.D., M.B.A. Chief Information Officer and Chairman,      Information Technology Division, Cleveland Clinic   — Kevin Hutchinson, President and CEO, Prematics, Inc.   — Charles Kennedy, M.D., M.B.A., Vice President for Health Information      Technology, WellPoint, Inc.   — Michael Lardiere, L.C.S.W., Director, Health Information Technology and      Senior Advisor, Behavioral Health, National Association of Community      Health Centers   — Stephen Ruberg, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Eli Lilly & Company   — Lisa Simpson, M.B., B.Ch., M.P.H., Professor, University of Cincinnati,      and Director, Child Policy Research Center, Cincinnati Children’s      Hospital   — Paul Tang, M.D., M.S., Vice President and Chief Medical Information      Officer, Palo Alto Medical Foundation    

In addition to the new Board members listed above, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake will serve as federal liaisons to the board. The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Robert Kolodner, M.D., will continue to coordinate federal input into the public-private process.

“In the three years since AHIC was created and began submitting recommendations to me, 52 harmonized standards for health information technology have been established,” Secretary Leavitt said. “I expect to recognize 60 additional harmonized standards by January 2009.”

“So the concept of having the public and private sectors collaborate to advance standards development is working,” Secretary Leavitt added. “A public-private partnership, such as AHIC Successor, brings the benefits of government involvement to the table without the pitfalls of a politically controlled process picking winners and losers. These leaders and this new organization will play a vital role in improving the quality of health care through the adoption of new, interoperable technology.”

The initial three signatories to the incorporation — John Glaser, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Partners HealthCare System, Inc.; Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer and President, Clinical Services, Hospital Corporation of America; and Dr. Tooker — will also participate as Board members for the first year, after which they will step down without replacement.

The current AHIC, which is scheduled to complete its work by the end of 2008, advises HHS on how to accelerate the development and adoption of health information technology.

Widespread adoption of health information technology will improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care by enabling the exchange of relevant patient information to better manage health information and care. When used with appropriate safeguards that protect confidentiality and privacy, health IT can enable comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between health care consumers, providers, and other relevant parties. Health IT enables improvements at the point of care, broader public health improvements, and more efficient and effective data collection and analysis by researchers to improve quality and affordability of care.

About AHIC Successor, Inc.

AHIC Successor, Inc. was created under a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support the nation’s efforts in developing interoperable health information technology. Through the efforts of a broad range of health IT stakeholders nationwide, AHIC Successor, Inc. was incorporated on July 17, 2008. AHIC Successor is an independent, sustainable public-private enterprise whose role is to bring together the best of the public, non-profit and private sectors into a trusted, purpose-driven organization for the creation and use of a secure interoperable nationwide health information system. For more information about AHIC Successor and background on the Board appointees, please visit http://www.ahicsuccessor.org/ .

   For media inquiries, please contact:   Jennifer Cosenza (617) 761-6750   newsroom@ahicsuccessor.org  

AHIC Successor, Inc.

CONTACT: Jennifer Cosenza of AHIC Successor, Inc., +1-617-761-6750,newsroom@ahicsuccessor.org

Web site: http://www.ahisuccessor.org/