The Biden administration has appointed Micky Tripathi as the National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office.
Tripathi will head the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, which is tasked with coordinating efforts to implement advanced health information technology to ensure the secure exchange of health information. The ONC is currently overseeing efforts to provide Americans with easy access to their health records through their smartphones and is implementing 21st Century Cures Act provisions that promote health IT interoperability and prohibit information blocking.
Tripathi has a wealth of experience in secure health information exchange and is aware of the current interoperability issues in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining the ONC, Tripathi was most recently the chief alliance officer at the healthcare analytics and software company Arcadia, where he was responsible for developing partnerships to enhance healthcare with advanced IT technology.
Tripathi has also served as manager of the strategy and management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), CEO of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, was the founding president and CEO of the Indiana Health information Exchange, and has served on the boards of the HL7 FHIR Foundation, Datica, Sequoia Project, CommonWell Health Alliance, and the CARIN Alliance.
“I can personally attest to Micky’s industry-wide leadership on healthcare interoperability and to his vision for the value that shared, timely, and accurate data provides for improving healthcare delivery and reducing costs. No one is better suited for this absolutely critical mission,” said Sean Carroll, CEO, Arcadia.
Tripathi replaces former President Trump appointment Donald Rucker, M.D., who held the position for the previous 4 years.
The HHS has also confirmed that Robinsue Frohboese has taken on the role of Acting Director of the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, the main enforcer of HIPAA compliance. Frohboese previously served as principal deputy director of OCR and takes over from acting director March Bell, who replaced the former OCR Director Roger Severino on January 15, 2020.
Frohboese has played a key role in many civil rights initiatives and OCR’s implementation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
Prior to taking on the role of principal deputy at OCR, Frohboese worked for 17 years in the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, first as Senior Trial Attorney and subsequently as Deputy Chief.
The post Micky Tripathi and Robinsue Frohboese Head ONC and OCR at the HHS appeared first on HIPAA Journal.