Massachusetts Health Information Technology Council
From MAHealthIT
Massachusetts Health Information Technology Council
Overview:
The Massachusetts Health Information Technology Council (the HIT Council) was created by Section 4 of Chapter 305 of the Acts of 2008, which became law on August 10, 2008. This law, which also created the Massachusetts e-Health Institute (MeHI), established the HIT Council within the quasi-public state authority known as the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and charged it with advising MeHI “on the dissemination of health information technology across the Commonwealth, including the deployment of electronic health records systems in all health care provider settings that are networked through a statewide health information exchange.”
The HIT Council oversees the work of MeHI, and must approve the statewide electronic health records plans and budgets prepared by the MeHI Director. The HIT Council has nine members, four of whom are senior state officials who serve ex officio and five of whom are appointed by the Governor. Chapter 305 requires that one of the gubernatorial appointees must be an expert in health information technology, one an expert in law and health policy, and one an expert in health information privacy and security.
As of October 2009, the members of the HIT Council are as follows:
State Officials:
- Chair, JudyAnn Bigby, MD, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Jay Gonzales, Secretary of Administration and Finance, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Vacant, Executive Director of the Health Care Quality and Cost Council
- Vacant, Massachusetts Medicaid Director
Gubernatorial Appointees:
- Deborah A. Adair, Director of Health Information Services and Privacy Officer, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Meg Aranow, Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Boston Medical Center
- Karen Bell, MD, Senior Vice President of HIT Services, Masspro
- Lisa Fenichel, MPH, E-Health Consumer Advocate
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