Susannah Fox has been tapped as the next chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, replacing Bryan Sivak, who stepped down from the role in April.
Fox, in a post to HHS's IDEA Lab blog, says she was drawn by the possibilities the role offers. Fox previously served as an associate director at the Pew Research Center and briefly as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Fox cites initiatives put forth by previous HHS CTOs as reasons for taking the position. These include data liberation work by Todd Park, the first HHS CTO, and Sivak's IDEA Lab efforts. Fox also is drawn by the ability the role offers to "shine a spotlight on the role that citizens play in strengthening the health of our country," she writes.
Plans currently are underway to refresh HealthData.gov, the site designed to be a one-stop resource for health information and health datasets from the U.S. government, FierceHealthIT previously reported.
This is something Fox most likely will take an active role in. Sivak told developers in 2013 that the data on HealthData.gov must be made more useful.
The department as of late has stepped up in its efforts to advance health IT. In February, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced a two-year grant program for $28 million to advance the adoption and use of interoperable health IT tools and services to support health information exchange.
Fox adds in her post that she will post regular updates to the IDEA Lab blog.
To learn more:
- here's Fox's post