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Just a week after President Bush created the position of health IT czar by executive order, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson filled the post with a medical doctor who holds a doctoral degree in economics. David J. Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., will serve as national health information technology coordinator.
Brailer is charged with moving the country from paper to electronic medical records, coordinating the development of common standards so that records can be exchanged, and finding ways to encourage health-care providers to use IT technology.
He is a senior fellow at the Health Technology Center in San Francisco, where he has worked on various regional and national efforts on IT and health information exchange. Previously, he was chairman and CEO of health-care management company CareScience Inc., which provides online services and is now owned by software company Quovadx. While at CareScience, Brailer designed and oversaw the development of the health information exchange technology implemented in Californias Santa Barbara County.
Click here to go to the DHS news release.