President Obama has named Dr. B. Vindell Washington, M.D., as the new leader of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. Washington took over leadership of ONC in August from Karen DeSalvo, M.D., who has lead the ONC since 2014.
The mission of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is the administration’s health IT efforts and to provide a resource to the entire health system to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care. ONC is organizationally located within the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Washington has vowed to continue the agency’s push toward standards-based interoperable, secure health data exchange as a way of improving healthcare. But Washington accepted the job knowing the uncertainty facing him. President Obama is in his final months in the White House and his successor could make big changes, including funding cuts, at HHS and its ONC unit.
With the new job comes more than $30 billion worth of HITECH Act financial incentives for the adoption of electronic health records to move from paper to electronic documents. Creating guidelines and information security requirements are all part of President Obama’s cyber security legacy during his tenure and the ONC shares that legacy.
The role Washington is taking over is especially vital when you consider the growing threat to medical records. Hackers who have managed to steal literally millions of health and health insurance records from the government and private industry. Medical records have become more valuable than credit card information on the black market.
Before being named to the ONC Dr. Washington served as the President of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (FMOLHS) Medical Group and as the health system’s Chief Medical Information Officer.
Dr. Washington’s career includes positions as CEO of Piedmont Healthcare Management Group (PHMG) in Charlotte, North Carolina where he led the development efforts of coding and billing process technologies. He was also president and CEO of Piedmont Emergency Medicine Associates, also located in Charlotte, NC, where he led a 70 provider hospitalist medicine and emergency medicine group.
Dr. Washington received a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Virginia. He earned his Master of Science in Healthcare Management from the Harvard University School of Public Health. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
