ONC deputy national coordinator for health IT departs

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT will have a new deputy leader starting next month.

ONC announced Monday that Jon White, M.D., deputy national coordinator for health IT, will take on a new role outside of ONC as associate chief of staff of research at the Veterans Administration Salt Lake City Health Care System. White spent nearly five years at ONC, leading the agency’s interoperability priorities and the publication of federal regulations and the Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap.

Starting Aug. 19, longtime ONC leader Steve Posnack will assume the role of deputy national coordinator for health IT. Don Rucker, national coordinator for health IT, informed staff in an email that Posnack will provide vision and direction for the agency. Posnack has served 14 years with ONC, and will continue in his role as executive director of the office of technology as ONC looks for his replacement.

“Steve has become a central part of ONC’s leadership team during his 14-year tenure,” Rucker said in the email. “His unique experience and depth of knowledge will provide steady direction for our ONC team, continuity for our stakeholders, and vision for the work ahead of us.”

The deputy national coordinator for health IT role involves leading ONC programs and policies, as well as advancing the agency’s key priorities, according to ONC’s website.

Peter Ashkenaz, director of content and media for ONC, said in an email that the agency is not scheduling interviews with Posnack as he works with White to transition to the role of deputy national coordinator for health IT. Ashkenaz said Posnack will continue to work with ONC to finalize the agency’s proposed interoperability rule, as well as the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA).

The interoperability rule, created in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), aims to foster greater data sharing in healthcare. TEFCA outlines terms and conditions to support creation of a common agreement that would facilitate better health information exchange between health systems on different networks.