President Obama announced his intent to nominate the Director of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Dr. Karen DeSalvo, to the position of Assistant Secretary to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
If confirmed, DeSalvo would resign her position at ONC. She has served as the head of the office since Dec 2013.
The nomination comes on the heels of the HHS advancing DeSalvo to acting Assistant Secretary last fall, where she worked to coordinate the department’s response to the Ebola outbreak.
In her role as Director of the ONC, DeSalvo is credited with overseeing a critical shift in healthcare as practices began adopting electronic health records (EHRs) and meeting the requirements of the federal Meaningful Use initiative.
Prior to serving at the ONC, DeSalvo held the position of Health Commissioner for the city of New Orleans.
The Senate is expected to vote on confirmation for all new White House appointees later this year.
You can find the White House press release here https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/05/06/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts
