Anil K. Jain, M.D., IBM vice president and chief health informatics officer, has been appointed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to the 25-member Health Information Technology Advisory Committee as mandated by the 21st Century Cures Act.
Eight appointees of the 25-member committee are appointed by Congressional leaders, and Dr. Jain was appointed by the Senate Majority Leader. The Health IT Advisory Committee consists of experts and leaders who will provide recommendations to the Health and Human Services (HHS) National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) on a policy framework to advance an interoperable health IT infrastructure.
Dr. Jain, a practicing physician, biomedical engineer and computer scientist, will join other healthcare stakeholders like Steve Ready, CIO of Louisville, Ky.-based Norton Healthcare; biotech entrepreneur and surgeon Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D. and Steven Lane, M.D., clinical informatics director of Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health on the committee.
According to IBM officials in a press release, Dr. as a health IT leader, Dr. Jain has successfully overseen the implementation of electronic health record systems. He helped create a healthcare cloud computing platform as the co-founder of Explorys. At IBM Watson Health, Dr. Jain serves as an industry leader in infusing artificial intelligence technology into healthcare.
“I am thrilled at the opportunity to serve on this important Committee,” Jain said in a statement. “Our stakeholders such as government, industry, physicians, and our consumers need a balanced approach to accelerate value of health IT through interoperability, transparency and usability in both traditional and cognitive health IT systems needed for 21st century conditions and their cures.”
