Inside CHIME: 2 CHIME Members Join Federal HIT Advisory Panel

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By Mari Savickis, VP of Federal Affairs, CHIME

The U.S. Government Accountability Office selected CHIME members Denni McColm and Denise Webb to serve two-year appointments on the new Health Information Technology Advisory Committee.

Denni McColm, CIO of Citizens Memorial Healthcare

Denni McColm, CIO of Citizens Memorial Healthcare

Their participation on the new committee, which was born out of the 21st Century Cures Act, will be instrumental in helping shape health IT policy in the post-Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) era. They will provide recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on health IT-related policies, standards, implementation specifics and certification.

McColm, CIO of Citizens Memorial Healthcare, said she sees her appointment as an opportunity to represent a community hospital. Citizens Memorial Healthcare is an integrated healthcare system that serves eight counties in Missouri and includes a Level III Trauma Center, 32 primary and specialty physician clinics, a senior health center, six long-term care facilities and other services.

“Everybody brings a different set of circumstances to the table,” McColm said. Her CIO role may be more hands-on than in other types of health systems, for instance, a perspective she can share to help operationalize provisions such as interoperability. She also hopes to clarify misunderstandings about information blocking and ensure that exchanged information is “meaningful instead of checking off a box.”

Denise Webb, CIO of Marshfield Clinic Health System and CEO of Marshfield Clinic Information Services in Wisconsin

Denise Webb, CIO of Marshfield Clinic Health System & CEO of Marshfield Clinic Information Services in Wisconsin

Webb, CIO of Marshfield Clinic Health System and CEO of Marshfield Clinic Information Services in Wisconsin, is also interested in advancing interoperability. “I have had a passion for driving interoperability nationwide for patients so that a patient’s information follows them wherever and whenever they need care,” said Webb in an email. “This should be seamless and frictionless for consumers.”

She currently represents Marshfield Clinic Health System, an integrated healthcare delivery network with a health plan in North Central and Northwestern Wisconsin, on the Creating Access to Real-time Information Now (CARIN) through Consumer-Directed Exchange Alliance Board. The CARIN Alliance is developing a trust framework and promoting technology standards for consumer-directed exchange. Marshfield Clinic Information Services has been continuously developing an EHR for providers for more than three decades.

McColm said she plans to interact with fellow CHIME members to share their insights with the committee. “The more I can network, the broader input I can offer,” she said.

The two CIOs join 13 other heath IT professionals named on Aug. 3 as committee members. The appointments range from one- to three-year terms, with the possibility of reappointments for three years. The 25-member Health Information Technology Advisory Committee also calls for appointments from the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and the speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives.

More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 18: