Fridsma Resigns From ONC
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
ONC will need to replace yet another official.
Government Health IT reports the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT will lose its third official since July when current Office of the Chief Scientist head Doug Fridsma steps down later this fall. Fridsma’s departure comes on the heels of other high-profile resignations, notably Lygeia Ricciardi and chief privacy officer Joy Pritts. As is often the case with employees leaving ONC , Ricciardi and Pitts did not immediately reveal their next steps.
Fridsma, who will join the American Medical Informatics Association as president and CEO on November 1, specialized in standards, informatics, and interoperability. He was instrumental in the 2011 launch of ONC's Standards & Interoperability Framework, in which individuals from public and private sectors collaborated to facilitate health information exchange, and also helped with the rollout of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Clinical Quality Framework in March.
"Doug has been a key technical advisor to me and my predecessors on matters related to standards, research, informatics, and our work within interoperability both within the U.S. and internationally," National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo told staffers in an email posted by FierceHealthIT. "He has been a tireless advocate for the adoption and use of standards development and harmonization, a respected and articulate spokesperson for ONC, and has led our efforts to identify and promote innovative advances in health IT.
"Doug's signature accomplishment, undoubtedly, is the creation of the Standards & Interoperability Framework. Through that program, ONC has engaged the health IT community in an open and transparent process, solving critical challenges that help improve the sharing and use of electronic health information across the health care system."
“Until November when he begins his new journey at AMIA, Doug will work closely with me and our senior team to make the transition as seamless as possible for our staff and our partners. As you all know, earlier this year Erica Galvez took on a new role as Interoperability Portfolio Manager, and our work in and focus on interoperability will remain with her moving forward. In addition, Steve Posnack will continue in the role he took on several months ago as the Director of The Office of Standards and Technology,” HIT Consultant quotes DeSalvo as saying in a note to ONC staffers.
Fridsma will stay with ONC until October 31.