Former Siemens Chief Medical Officer Donald Rucker, M.D., has been named the new national coordinator for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Rucker was among those rumored to be considered for the position. On Friday, he was listed as the national coordinator in the Department of Health and Human Services directory. He is currently an adjunct professor in the bioinformatics department at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.
A spokesperson with HHS declined to comment.
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Jacob Reider, M.D., the CEO at the Alliance for Better Healthcare, who previously served in senior-level positions at the ONC and has known Rucker for several decades, said Rucker is a “very qualified national coordinator.”
“Don is a really good guy,” Reider told FierceHealthcare. “He’s a very focused, thoughtful, experienced health IT leader. He’s got the best interest of the nation in mind in the work that he does and has always done.”
Update:
Jon White, M.D., who was serving as acting national coordinator at ONC following the resignation of Vindell Washington in January, will return to his position as deputy national coordinator.