White House calls for governmentwide HIT task force

The White House Friday called for the creation of a government-wide task force to strengthen coordination of health IT among federal agencies that hold key roles in carrying out the administration's plans for a digital healthcare system.

The plan, described in a memo from Office of Management & Budget director Peter Orzsag and Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, sets up a way for agencies with heavy healthcare responsibilities to participate in planning health IT projects set in motion by passage of the HITECH Act last year. The memo was addressed to Defense secretary Robert Gates, Veterans Affairs secretary Gen. Erik Shinseki, Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce secretary Gary Locke, Social Security commissioner Michael Astrue and Office of Personnel Management director John Berry. It asked the secretaries to choose a senior leader from their agencies to represent them on the task force and to send HHS their choices within five days.