Farzad Mostashari to join Brookings upon ONC exit

Since announcing his resignation as National Coordinator for Health IT nearly two months ago, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., has said he will continue to work to promote the use of technology in healthcare upon his exit from the federal stage. On Thursday, he confirmed via Twitter that he will join Brookings' Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform as a visiting fellow.

Mostashari's work at Brookings will focus on helping clinicians--particularly those at small practices--to use health IT to improve care delivery and patient results. Those efforts will include continuing to push electronic health record and health information exchange adoption, according to an announcement from Brookings.

"While clinicians have the expertise and commitment to lead needed reforms in healthcare in the United States, they are facing a challenging and rapidly changing environment today," Mark McClellan, director of the Health Care Value and Innovation Initiative at Brookings, said in a statement. "We welcome Farzad in joining our efforts to identify and implement the most promising reforms to help them improve healthcare and the health of Americans."

Mostashari had served as National Coordinator for Health IT since April 2011. Prior to that, he had served for two years as deputy national coordinator for health programs and policy under previous National Coordinator David Blumenthal. Before joining ONC, Mostashari was assistant commissioner for the New York City Health and Mental Hygiene Department's primary care information project, where he helped providers in underserved communities with EHR adoption.

Mostashari's last day at ONC will be Oct. 5--although he is currently on furlough, thanks to the government shutdown. Jacob Reider, who had been serving as director at ONC's Office of the Chief Medical Officer, transitions into his role as Acting National Coordinator for Health IT today; he will serve in that capacity as the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services searches for a permanent replacement for Mostashari.

To learn more:
- read the Brookings announcement
- here's Mostashari's tweet