Leavitt names advisory board members

The Department of Health and Human Services' secretary, Mike Leavitt, has announced the names of the 16 people who will serve with him on the American Health Information Community, a high-level commission that will advise government on how to make the national health information network a reality.

The commissioners represent segments of the health care industry, those who pay for care – federal agencies and corporations – and consumers. Including Leavitt, there are nine government representatives (one from a state government) and eight from the private sector.

“My aspiration is for the commission to provide stakeholders with a meaningful voice in a federal process that will ultimately shape health care for generations,” Leavitt said in a statement.

They will meet monthly for at least two years beginning Oct. 7 and recommend ways to resolve issues in the areas of privacy and security, network architecture, adoption of e-health records, standards and standards compliance.

The commission also is being asked to draw up plans for a successor organization in the private sector that would do more of the same in years to come.

In addition to Leavitt, the commission's chairman, the members named Tuesday are:

* Scott Serota, president and chief executive officer of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

* Dr. Douglas Henley, executive vice president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

* Lillee Smith Gelinas, chief nursing officer of VHA, an association of nonprofit hospitals in Irving, Texas.

* Charles Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals.

* Nancy Davenport-Ennis, CEO of the National Patient Advocate Foundation.

* Steven Reinemund, CEO and chairman of PepsiCo.

* Kevin Hutchinson, president and CEO of SureScripts, an e-prescriptions network.

* Craig Barrett, chairman of the board at Intel.

* E. Mitchell Roob, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.

* Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an HHS agency.

* Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also an HHS agency.

* Dr. Jonathan Perlin, undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

* Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs.

* Mark Warshawsky, assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy.

* Linda Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management.

* Michelle O’Neill, acting undersecretary for technology at the Commerce Department.