ONC Announces Creation of CMO Role, Office of Consumer eHealth

In a blog post by the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has announced the creation of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer and an Office of Consumer eHealth. The primary function of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer will be to infuse a clinical perspective across ONC on all activities which have clinical implications. The Office of Consumer eHealth will work on consumer engagement.

The CMO role will include work in safety, usability, clinical decision support, meaningful use policy development, and quality including metrics and measurement development. The role will report to Mostashari and will “play a key role in helping ONC satisfy its mission of improving health and health care through health IT.”

The Office of Consumer eHealth will continue the work from the Office of Policy and Planning. The expanded work through this eHealth office will include the pledge program and patient-focused challenges. “Creation of the Office of Consumer eHealth demonstrates ONC’s strong commitment to enabling patient and family engagement in health care,” Mostashari said.

The ONC will undertake a national search for both a CMO and a Director of the Office of Consumer eHealth. Postings for both positions will appear on www.usajobs.gov.