Donald Rucker, MD, is the new national coordinator for health IT, according to recent media reports. However, the appointment — which does not require Congressional confirmation — has not been confirmed by HHS.
Here are three things to know about the state of the ONC, according to govinfosecurity.com.
1. Dr. Rucker was listed as the new national coordinator for health IT on an HHS directory listing, according to news first reported by Politico on March 31. However, HHS told govinfosecurity.com: "We are not commenting on personnel at this time." Dr. Rucker's HHS listing can no longer be viewed online.
Dr. Rucker — who is board-certified in emergency medicine, internal medicine and clinical informatics — previously served as CMO of Premise Health and Siemens Healthcare.
2. Former U.S. Rep. John Fleming, MD, R-La., recently accepted a newly-created position as the HHS assistant deputy secretary of health technology reform, which was originally announced as "HHS deputy assistant secretary for health technology." As of March 30, Dr. Fleming reported to John White, MD, acting national coordinator for health IT.
3. HHS disbanded two advisory committees — the Health IT Standards Committee and the Health IT Policy Committee — on March 30. These two committees will be replaced by a new Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, which was created under the 21st Century Cures Act. Congress, ONC and the U.S. Government Accountability Office will name members to the new committee.