OSEHRA Announces First Board of Directors
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OSEHRA, the non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in electronic health record software, today named three industry leaders to its inaugural board of directors.
The Honorable James Peake, MD, Senior Vice President with CGI Group, Inc., Dr. John Halamka, MD, MS, Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Michael O’Neill, Senior Advisor with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative (VAi2) have each been appointed to OSEHRA’s board of directors. In addition, Lieutenant General (Dr.) Charles Green, Surgeon General of the U.S. Air Force, will serve as Department of Defense liaison to the OSEHRA board. Dr. Peake will serve as OSEHRA’s Chairman.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) established OSEHRA in August 2011 to accelerate electronic health record innovation, to establish open and accessible standards, and to establish a new model of federal software development and procurement. The OSEHRA community has grown to include more than 700 users, developers, service providers, and researchers. Seeded by an initial contribution of VA’s VistA electronic health record software, the community is actively engaged in the advancement of VistA-based EHRs, the support of joint EHR development between VA and the Department of Defense, and the promotion and support of EHR software and related technology throughout the health care industry.
“As we build a strong community focused on healthcare IT innovation, we look to our board of directors to reflect the needs of the community and to set priorities that drive our growth,” said OSEHRA CEO Dr. Seong Ki Mun. “The expertise and leadership provided by this inaugural board will be invaluable in both regards.”
Prior to joining CGI, Dr. Peake served as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2007 to 2009. He retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant General after a 38-year career culminating in service as Surgeon General of the Army and Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command. Dr. Peake served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Project HOPE, a non-profit international health foundation operating in more than 30 countries, and as Chief Operating Officer and Director for QTC, one of the largest private providers of government-outsourced occupational health and disability examination services in the nation.
Dr. Halamka is an internationally recognized medical informatics expert. He is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN), co-Chair of the national HIT Standards Committee, and a practicing Emergency Physician. Having long been at the intersection of medicine and technology, his work involves the support of 3,000 doctors, 18,000 faculty, and 3 million patients.
Mr. O’Neill operates the VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2), identifying and deploying new solutions to VA’s most important challenges. Prior to joining VA, he served as Senior Vice President of Digital ASIC and Communications Products at both AMI Semiconductor and ON Semiconductor and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at startup Philsar Semiconductor. Mr. O’Neill was also a General Partner with Kodiak Venture Partners and spent his early career with IBM.
General Green is the Surgeon General of the Air Force and serves as functional manager of the U.S. Air Force Medical Service. He advises the Secretary of the Air Force and Air Force Chief of Staff, as well as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs on matters pertaining to the medical aspects of the air expeditionary force and the health of Air Force people. He exercises direction, guidance and technical management of more than 42,800 people assigned to 75 medical facilities worldwide.
About OSEHRA
OSEHRA is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in electronic health record software and related technology. Founded in 2011, the organization supports an open, collaborative community of users, developers, and researchers engaged in advancing electronic health record software and related health information technology. OSEHRA hosts software repositories for applications such as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VistA electronic health record.