The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has named Bryan Sivak as its new chief technology officer, replacing Todd Park, who was named federal CTO by President Obama in March.
The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services has named Maryland's chief innovation officer, Bryan Sivak, as
its HHS chief technology officer.
Sivak assumes his new role following
the
appointment
of Todd Park as the federal U.S. chief technology officer by President
Obama on March 9. Park succeeded Aneesh Chopra, who is now a senior advisor on
health care technology strategy at The Advisory Board Company, a consulting
firm.
HHS announced Sivak's appointment
on Twitter on June 14. Sivak
tweeted
about his new post, saying he was "super excited to continue the
amazing work started by [Park]."
Sivak previously served as former
Maryland chief innovation officer. In that role Sivak helped create the state's
health information exchanges to connect various electronic health record (EHR)
platforms.
He also worked on issues such as
public safety, broadband access and getting citizens involved with social
media, according to
Government Health
IT.
In addition, Sivak helped set up a health
insurance exchange (HIXs) to allow citizens to shop for health plans.
The federal government calls for all states to set
up HIXs under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on which
the Supreme Court is about to issue a ruling regarding its
constitutionality.
"Bryan has done great work
in the state of Maryland," Takirra Winfield, press
secretary for Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, told eWEEK in an email. "He has left us with a blueprint for innovation by
spearheading open government projects, and working on initiatives like the
health exchange."
Sivak's background also includes a role as CTO for
Washington, D.C., and co-founder of InQuira, a knowledge management software
vendor now
owned
by Oracle.
"We are sure Bryan will make a significant
impact at the Department of Health and Human Services," Winfield added.
"Working in partnership with
Chief Technology Officer of the United States Todd Park, Bryan will ensure that
the department's innovation initiatives continue to move ahead at full
speed," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement,
according to
Government Health IT.
"We will benefit tremendously from his creativity, experience and fresh
ideas as we continue our work to harness the power of data and technology to
improve the health of the nation."
As Washington, D.C.'s CTO, Sivak
implemented an accountability portal called TrackDC, which allows citizens to
rate the performance of the district government agencies and learn about budget
and spending.
The appointment of Sivak was a
strong choice, according to Shahid Shah, CEO of IT consulting firm Netspective
Communications and author of the
Healthcare
IT Guy blog.
"Bryan is one of those individuals
who believes innovations are far more effective when they end up in practical
solutions rather than stuck in the ideation phase," Shah told
eWEEK in
an email. "He's
done a great job moving entrepreneurs, commercial firms and the government to
work together effectively and solve real problems in the state of Maryland.
HHS' problems and opportunities for solutions are bigger, and I think he'll do
a fine job there."
eWEEK caught up with
Park, Sivak's predecessor, at an
Aetna
event on March 5 to relaunch the insurance carrier's iTriage app. As CTO in HHS, Park not only helped
implement the HHS meaningful-use guidelines on EHRs but also the Health Data
Initiative, which makes data accessible by third-party apps such as iTriage.
"[Sivak]
has Todd Park's huge shoes to fill, but I think he can do it because he has a
similar approach and vision," said Shah.
Email
Print
