November 3, 1999 HIPAA Announcement:

Dr. David Brailer Named Nation’s First National Health IT Coordinator

05/20/04

President Bush appointed David J. Brailer, MD, PhD to be the nation's first National Health Information Technology Coordinator, a sub-Cabinet level post at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the appointment at a Washington D.C. summit at which more than 100 leaders in healthcare information technology (IT), healthcare information exchange and the employer, physician, health plan and patient advocate communities discussed speeding the development and implementation of electronic health records and local health information infrastructures.

Dr. Brailer is active in the activities of the eHealth Initiative and its Foundation serving as an Advisor to both the organization's Connecting Communities for Better Health program and on-line Community Learning Network and Resource Center, as well as acting as a Working Group Chair in Connecting for Health (CFH), a 100 stakeholder-strong public-private sector collaboration funded by the Markle and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations that is currently drafting an incremental roadmap for electronic connectivity and developing a set of recommendations to speed its implementation.

Dr. Brailer will be collaborating with other leaders within the Administration to bring together people from all sectors of the healthcare system, so they may jointly develop practical strategies for increasing the adoption of electronic health records and an electronic health information infrastructure.