Effective next month, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) will have a new Deputy National Coordinator, as Jon White, M.D., has left the agency to become associate chief of staff of research at the Veterans Administration (VA) Salt Lake City Health Care System.
The news was delivered on June 8 from National Coordinator Don Rucker, M.D., in an email to the ONC staff. Along with leading a research program, White will provide medical care for the country’s veterans, Rucker noted. White, a family physician, “has dedicated his career to improving health and healthcare quality through the use and sharing of electronic health information,” his ONC leadership bio states.
Starting Aug. 19, Steve Posnack, who is currently the executive director of ONC’s Office of Technology, will take over for White as Deputy National Coordinator. Posnack has been with ONC for 14 years, including nine years as part of ONC’s policy offices and five years leading ONC’s technology offices. Rucker noted that “his unique experience and depth of knowledge will provide steady direction for our ONC team, continuity for our stakeholders, and vision for the work ahead of us. Steve will continue in his role as the executive director of the Office of Technology as we recruit for his replacement.”
Currently, Posnack advises the national coordinator, leads the ONC Health IT Certification Program, and directs ONC’s standards and technology investments through the ONC Tech Lab, which organizes its work into four focus areas: pilots, standards coordination, testing and utilities, and innovation.
Posnack has helped lead the creation of the Interoperability Standards Advisory, the redesign of ONC’s Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL), the creation of the Interoperability Proving Ground, and the development of the C-CDA Scorecard.
Meanwhile, during his nearly five years at ONC, White has specifically “provided exemplary executive leadership for all ONC programs and policies and championed ONC’s key priorities of advancing interoperability and reducing provider burden. He helped lead mission-critical activities, including the publication of high priority, nationally impactful regulations, the publication of the Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap, a widely-publicized congressional report on information blocking, and ONC’s efforts in the precision medicine initiative,” Rucker said in his email.
