ONC reiterates: DeSalvo will maintain leadership

One week after news emerged that Karen DeSalvo, MD, the head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), would become acting assistant secretary of health and join a special national Ebola response team at the request of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the ONC has revised its earlier information, stating DeSalvo would “maintain leadership” of the agency, according to a blog posting on ONC’s website.

Lisa Lewis, who will become acting national coordinator, will provide day-to-day leadership during what the ONC blog called DeSalvo’s “deployment” to the Ebola team. Meanwhile, DeSalvo will continue to work on high-level policy issues, including leading the the national interoperability roadmap and meaningful use policies and also continuing to serve as chair of the Health IT policy committee, the blog noted.  

The posting did not say when DeSalvo’s duties as acting assistant secretary of HHS might conclude or whether DeSalvo is expected to return to full-time duty as the head of the ONC later.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.