HIMSS Honors Policy Leaders During National Health IT Week

HIMSS recognized policy leaders from around the country for their leadership role in advancing healthcare information technology in meaningful ways. The Congressional, Federal and State Leadership Award recipients were honored at a ceremony held at the American College of Surgeons on the opening day of the HIMSS Policy Summit during the tenth annual National Health IT Week in Washington, D.C.

This year, NHIT Week includes more than 430 partners, such as government agencies, non-profit organizations, associations, corporations, educational institutions, regional extension centers, providers, and others, who have worked toward the overall cause to improve health with IT for better quality, safety, access and cost-effectiveness in healthcare.

For their contributions to advancing health IT, the award winners are:

• HIMSS Congressional Leadership Award: Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
• HIMSS Congressional Leadership Award: Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
• HIMSS Federal Leadership Award: David Bowen
• HIMSS Federal Leadership Award: Christopher Miller
• HIMSS State Legislator of the Year Award: State Representative Perry Buck (R-CO-49)

"At our tenth annual National Health IT Week, we are acknowledging the contributions these five public policy leaders have made in improving and furthering health through IT," says Carla Smith, MA, FHIMSS, CNM, executive vice president, HIMSS North America. "When we began NHIT Week a decade ago, health IT adoption rates in the US for providers were about 10 percent; hospitals were hovering around 45 percent. Since that time, we have seen adoption and implementation rates skyrocket into over 80 percent for providers and well over 90 percent for hospitals. We know these public policy leaders have been part of this accomplishment."

Senator Lamar Alexander was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected to a third term in the U.S. Senate in November 2014. In January 2015, Alexander was elected by his fellow committee members to serve as the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where he has said his top priorities are fixing No Child Left Behind, deregulating and reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, and modernizing the Food and Drug Administration so to bring more cures and medical devices to market fast and cheaper. Under Chairman Alexander's leadership, the HELP Committee has held six hearings on health IT. He has stressed the potential of electronic health records (EHRs) and health IT to improve quality, advance precision medicine, increase patient engagement and lower healthcare costs.

Senator Patty Murray has a proven track record spanning more than two decades of fighting for Washington state families in the U.S. Senate. Serving as a member of Senate Democratic leadership since 2007, Sen. Murray has established herself as a tireless and effective leader on education, transportation, budget issues, port security, healthcare, women and veteran's issues. As Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee, Sen. Murray has highlighted healthcare providers' progress in improving healthcare quality through better access to EHRs. She has outlined ways to improve the use of health IT, including making sure patients can easily access and correct their own records, ensuring patient information is secure and can effectively be shared between providers, and working toward a better, modernized electronic health record for service members and veterans.

David Bowen is Director of the Health Information Technology (HIT), Directorate for the Defense Health Agency and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Military Health System. As the Director of the Health IT Directorate, Mr. Bowen's primary focus is the consolidation, re-engineering and standardization of the HIT services in order to improve cost structure and deliver a single integrated HIT platform in support of an integrated health system. He works closely with the Army, Navy and Air Force Surgeon General to ensure that the transition to HIT Shared Service operating model is well managed. As the MHS CIO, Mr. Bowen is the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and to the Department of Defense medical leaders on all matters related to information management and information technology.

Christopher Miller has been Program Executive Officer (PEO) for the Defense Healthcare Management System (DHMS), Department of Defense, since September 2013, Mr. Miller reports directly to the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Mr. Frank Kendall, and provides oversight to the program management offices managing the Department of Defense's electronic health records modernization and interoperability goals. The program offices under his direction are the Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs Interagency Program Office (DoD/VA IPO), the Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM), and the Defense Medical Information Exchange (DMIX).

State Representative Perry Buck was appointed by Governor Owens as the Northeast Business Development Representative for the Colorado Office of Economic Development in 1999. She helped facilitate economic development in the rural communities of Northeastern Colorado. Rep. Buck has been involved in many civic organizations, including Rotary, United Way of Weld County, Weld County Partners, Senior Resource Services, Habitat for Humanity, Board of Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, Greeley Chamber of Commerce, Progressive 15 and the Weld County Republican Party.

About National Health IT Week
The tenth annual National Health IT Week is a collaborative forum and virtual awareness week that assembles key healthcare constituents dedicated to working together to elevate the necessity of advancing health through the best use of information technology. Visit www.healthitweek.org for more information.

About HIMSS
HIMSS North America, a business unit within HIMSS, positively transforms health and healthcare through the best use of information technology in the United States and Canada. As a cause-based non-profit, HIMSS North America provides thought leadership, community building, professional development, public policy, and events. HIMSS North America represents 61,000 individual members, 640 corporate members, and over 450 non-profit organizations. Thousands of volunteers work with HIMSS to improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, access, and value of healthcare through IT. Major initiatives within HIMSS North America include the HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, National Health IT Week, HIMSS Innovation Center, HIMSS Interoperability Showcases, HIMSS Health IT Value Suite, and ConCert by HIMSS.