With many new gubernatorial administrations being formed across the country, observers expect quite a bit of turnover in state-level health IT coordinator positions. On Dec. 31, California’s deputy secretary for health information technology, Jonah Frohlich, announced he was leaving state government to take a position at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips as managing director in its Health Solutions consulting group.
On Jan. 13, Diana Dooley, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, announced an interim replacement. She said Linette Scott, M.D., would continue the collaborative process to develop health information exchange capacity in California that has been spearheaded by Frohlich over the past two years.
Dr. Scott will also continue to serve as the deputy director for health information and strategic planning in the California Department of Public Health, a position she has occupied since January 2008.
Dooley noted that Scott been a leader in the e-health initiative in California over the past two years, representing public health throughout the statewide process. She will lead the statewide effort until a new deputy secretary for health information technology is appointed.
