Brailer makes his senior staff official
Four who held temporary posts become permanent.
Dr. David Brailer, national coordinator for health information technology, announced yesterday the permanent senior staff members of his office in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Robert Wah, a Navy Medical Corps captain and a veteran of the Military Health System’s health IT development program, who moved from acting to permanent deputy director of the Office of National Health IT Coordinator (ONCHIT). Dr. Karen Bell, who has worked at HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and went from acting to permanent director of ONCHIT’s Office of Health IT Adoption. Dr. John Loonsk, who joined the office from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now the permanent director of ONCHIT’s Office of Interoperability and Standards. Jodi Daniel, a lawyer with extensive health care policy experience at HHS, who moved from acting to permanent director of ONCHIT’s Office of Policy and Research. Kelly Cronin, an ONCHIT employee early in 2005 who moved to the CMS director’s office and returned to lead ONCHIT’s Office of Programs and Coordination. She has also worked on Capitol Hill and in the private sector. Dana Haza, former staff director of the federal Commission on Systemic Interoperability and then acting director of the Office of Programs and Coordination. She was named acting executive director of the American Health Information Community, the high-level commission advising ONCHIT. Haza has experience in the private sector and was director of policy for Newt Gingrich at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
Most of the staff members who have held temporary posts since October 2005 now occupy them permanently.
The senior employees are: