The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that it is rescinding its 2024 reorganization. (1) The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will be renamed the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ASTP/ONC), headed by the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, and will be renamed the National Coordinator for Health IT. (2) transferred three HHS-wide technology roles from the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) to ONC; (3) migrated certain cybersecurity functions from OCIO;
Today’s action restores a unified department-wide technology leadership model by returning these corporate responsibilities to the OCIO, while reinforcing ONC’s mission focus on national health IT interoperability and data fluidity.
Under this collaboration, HHS ended the Biden administration’s dual management title of Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, reinstated ONC as a single title position, and returned the roles, responsibilities, and duties of HHS Chief Technology Officer (CTO), HHS Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), and HHS Chief Data Officer (CDO) to the leadership of the HHS Chief Information Officer. This structure strengthens OCIO’s legal responsibility for enterprise IT, cybersecurity, and data operations, while allowing ONC to focus on health IT policies, standards, and certifications that support better care and lower costs.
To better integrate policy and operations, OCIO organizes corporate roles around three core functions. (1) Strategic technology leadership and innovation led by the CTO. (2) responsible and trustworthy artificial intelligence led by CAIO; (3) CDO-led enterprise data governance and analytics; These leaders will work as a unified team under the CIO to provide a secure, scalable platform and common services that support ONC’s policy activities and the Department’s mission programs.
“This structure will enable OCIO to provide an integrated cloud, cybersecurity, data, and AI backbone that all components of HHS can rely on.” said HHS Chief Information Officer Clark Miner. “By combining the CTO, CAIO, and CDO functions under one roof, we will be able to support ONC and business units with the technology capabilities they need to move faster on a shared platform, protect their systems more effectively, and innovate for patients.”
“With this collaboration, OCIO is squarely focused on delivering enterprise services that are resilient, compliant, and ready for the next generation of digital health,” Miner added. “Our close partnership with ONC means that as policies and standards evolve, the Department’s technology infrastructure will be ready to implement them safely and cost-effectively at scale.”
The ONC will continue to operate as a staff department within the HHS Secretary’s Office, and the National Coordinator will continue to report directly to the Secretary. As the use of health technology continues to expand, ONC will work with a broader range of stakeholders, including OCIO, HHS operations, health care providers, health IT developers, and patients, to advance health technology policy and regulation that enables a safe, secure, and interoperable current and future state, including leading coordination on the use of artificial intelligence in clinical care.
“Our broad mission is to ensure that technology provides secure, readily accessible, and accurate data and services to patients, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders.” said National Coordinator Dr. Thomas Keene, MD, MBA. “This sector-wide collaboration will allow ONC to further focus on standards, certification, and policy, while our close partnership with OCIO will ensure that the infrastructure and cybersecurity foundations are in place to support tomorrow’s health systems.”
“ONC and OCIO are now working closely together on how to set policy, build infrastructure, and deploy AI and data capabilities,” Dr. Keene added. “Together, we will drive toward true data fluidity across the health care system, making the right information available to the right people at the right time to improve outcomes and reduce costs for Americans.”
To learn more about ONC’s health technology efforts, visit www.healthit.gov, LinkedIn, or follow @ONC_HealthIT.
The OCIO serves as a collaborative hub for the integrated organization. 1 HHS Technology company. For more information about OCIO’s efforts, visit tech.hhs.gov or email hhs.ocio@hhs.gov.
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