A Warm Farewell to Rob Kolodner

After 31 years of service, Dr. Rob Kolodner, National Health IT coordinator from 2006 until this year -- and before that a 28 year stint at the Veterans Affairs Department capped by a tour as chief health informatics officer in Veterans Health Administration -- retires from the federal nest today.

Kolodner, one of the good guys in my view, did not exactly tell me what he plans to do when he grows up -- except to say it will continue to work on electronic health records in a nonprofit kind of way.

In his farewell note, Kolodner emphasized his satisfaction with serving the country's veterans along with his belief in the value of health IT:

"I am delighted to not only to have had the honor to serve our nation's veterans for almost three decades and be able to help them in their time of need after so many of them put themselves in harm's way on our behalf, but also to have had the privilege of participating in VA-wide and nationwide activities to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient-centered health care. Hopefully, this time we will finally succeed in achieving sufficient health reform to trigger the transformations in health and care that we so desperately need in the U.S.

"Over the years, I've done my best to reinforce and contribute to the understanding that the advances we have been pursuing in health IT have not been about technology, nor even primarily about health care, but instead have been - and are still - about improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities."

I can hardly wait to find out what Kolodner plans next.