July 2005

HHS calls for nominations to health information community

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is formally calling for nominations for the American Health Information Community (the community), a public-private collaboration that will help develop standards and achieve interoperability of health information.

The collaboration will provide a forum for public and private interests to recommend specific actions that will accelerate the widespread application and adoption of electronic health records and other health information technology. The draft charter for the community, which specifies the purpose and criteria for membership, has been posted on the HHS Web site, and the notice of the formation of the community was published in the Federal Register.

The community will be governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act and will have up to 17 voting members, including the chairperson. The Secretary of HHS will appoint the members of the community and serve as chairperson.

Members will include officials from HHS and its component agencies, as well as eight representatives from other appropriate federal agencies, state government, and eight from the private sector.

The eight members from the private sector — selected from consumer and privacy interests, purchasers, third-party payers, hospitals, physicians, nurses, ancillary services, and information technology vendors — will be appointed. Each representative should be a key decision-maker in his or her industry and should have broad support from peers and related professional organizations.

Members will serve two-year terms, and those who are not considered full-time federal employees will be paid a daily rate plus per diem.

Private sector members who serve as special government employees will be subject to financial disclosure and conflict of interest requirements. Some private sector members may serve as industry representatives and will not be special government employees.

Parties interested in being selected should send a one-page letter summarizing qualifications by Aug. 5, 2005. All nominations should be sent to one of the following destinations:

Questions about the American Health Information Community nomination process can be answered by calling 866-505-3500.

The Web address for the Community’s draft charter is http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahiccharter.pdf.

Source: Department of Health and Human Services, www.hhs.gov