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Steven Posnack

Portrait of Steven Posnack

Steven Posnack serves as the Deputy National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Prior to this role he served as executive director of the Office of Technology. In this role, Mr. Posnack advises the national coordinator, leads the ONC Health IT Certification Program, and directs ONC’s standards and technology investments through the ONC Tech Lab, which organizes its work into four focus areas: pilots, standards coordination, testing and utilities, and innovation. He led the creation of the Interoperability Standards Advisory, the redesign of ONC’s Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL), created the Interoperability Proving Ground, and developed the C-CDA Scorecard.

Prior to serving as the director of the Office of Standards and Technology, Mr. Posnack led ONC’s federal policy division within the Office of Policy and Planning from 2010 to 2014. In this capacity, he led ONC’s regulatory affairs, legislative analysis, and several federal policy development and coordination activities. From 2005 to 2010, he served as a senior policy analyst within ONC’s Office of Policy and Research. In that position, he co-authored the Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework for Electronic Exchange of Individually Identifiable Health Information. He also led a cross-HHS policy team that worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as it developed its regulation for the electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS).

Mr. Posnack earned a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a Master’s degree in security informatics from Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, and a Master’s degree in health policy from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He also maintains a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certificate.

Steven Posnack's Latest Blog Posts

Highlighting a Way to Advance Interoperability and Reduce Costs for Lab Tests

Steven Posnack | November 18, 2016

Last year, Health Level Seven International (HL7) released an implementation guide that provides a standardized way to exchange the catalogs of (thousands) laboratory tests and services that a clinical laboratory can perform. We wanted to highlight the implementation guide’s potential to not only advance interoperability, but also to create cost savings and improve patient care.

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Publishing the Draft 2017 Interoperability Standards Advisory for Public Comment: The Latest Step Towards Common, Federally Recognized Standards

Steven Posnack | August 22, 2016

Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) published the draft 2017 Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) for public comment.  The ISA is a coordinated catalog of standards and implementation specifications that are available for use by the health information technology (health IT) industry to meet interoperability needs.  It is a key element of ONC’s continued implementation of the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap and directly supports the Interoperability Commitments that leading health IT developers,

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Transparency Requirements for Health IT Developers Will Help Providers Know More About Their Products

Steven Posnack | June 1, 2016

Health information technology (health IT) developers must now comply with enhanced transparency requirements associated with their products. This regulatory requirement is applicable to all health IT certified to the 2014 Edition, as well as newly issued 2015 Edition of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria. These new disclosures are designed to help purchasers and users better understand the capabilities and limitations of their health IT products.  

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Move Health Data Forward Challenge: Empowering Individuals to Authorize the Flow of their Health Data

Steven Posnack | May 9, 2016

As health IT adoption continues to grow and mobile health technology becomes more accessible, consumers are playing an even greater role in how and when their health information is exchanged or shared.  Unleashing this data is one of our top priorities here at ONC, as outlined in the Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap, which aims to improve individuals’ ability to send, receive, find, and use their health information in the near term. 

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