HHS CIO Jose Arrieta resigned his post Aug. 14 amid controversy over new COVID-19 data reporting requirements, according to a report from Federal News Network.
Five things to know:
1. In July, the federal government mandated that hospitals report COVID-19 data to HHS instead of the CDC, sparking alarm from hospitals and public health officials. The government made the switch without warning, and several hospitals and states had to scramble to comply with the new reporting system, which requested more data than hospitals previously reported to the CDC. HHS' contracts with TeleTracking and Palantir, which power HHS Protect, are under scrutiny from Congress as well.
2. The HHS data was also less transparent, and the agency halted publicly reporting some data, although it contends the data is still available to public health officials.
3. Mr. Arrieta told Federal News Network that HHS Protect, the agency's COVID-19 data dashboard, is now fully functional and needs a few small technical issues to be addressed. He plans to spend more time with his kids, who are 5 and 8 years old, after resigning.
4. He was the agency's third CIO in two years and spent just 16 months at HHS. His departure was preceded by former Chief Product Officer Todd Simpson, who left in July. Mr. Arrieta's replacement has not been publicly named.
5. During his tenure at HHS, Mr. Arrieta upgraded the agency's network to add capacity and cut $20 million to $25 million from HHS' operating costs in addition to HHS Protect.
More articles on health IT:
Epic to consolidate 4 departments under new app services division
Texas launches investigation into COVID-19 positivity rate volatility
The most dangerous health IT trends: Insights from 8 execs