US health IT head resigns

David Brailer, the US National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has resigned his position.

Brailer who took up the post in May 2004 has led efforts by the US federal government to introduce electronic medical records across the US.

In April, 2004, President Bush signed an executive order creating Brailer’s position and calling for most Americans to have electronic health records by 2014.

According to the Financial Times Brailer said he was leaving his job as national co-ordinator for health information technology for family reasons and because the programme “is now mature and moving in the right direction”. Dr Brailer had been commuting to Washington DC from San Francisco.

Under his two year tenure, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) has commissioned a series of initiatives aimed at getting hospitals, doctors, health plans and IT vendors to work more closely together. The agency has funded several public-private sector initiatives to prime the market and act as a catalyst for the adoption of electronic medical records.

Among the initiatives funded is the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, which will this summer begin certifying electronic health records for use in ambulatory settings. ONCHIT also funded four prototype networks to test healthcare data exchange.

Another ONCHIT initiative is the American Health Information Community, which is working on several projects designed to speed technology adoption in healthcare. AHIC is composed of 17 members from the public and private sector.

Dr Brailer told the FT that there was “no drama” about his departure and insisted that the programme was progressing better than many people had expected.