Source: Nextgov/FCW
The Department of Health and Human Services is restructuring its operations to more effectively prioritize the use of digital and emerging capabilities, including artificial intelligence. The department’s technology and data strategy approaches have traditionally been determined by three offices: the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; the Assistant Secretary for Administration; and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Since “opportunities in data and technology in healthcare and human services have grown significantly in recent years,” HHS determined that the tech-centric work of these offices needed to be integrated more fully into one component organization, according to a Thursday press release. HHS said that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology will be renamed the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. National Coordinator Micky Tripathi — who has been serving as acting chief artificial intelligence officer — will lead the new, consolidated office as the assistant secretary for technology policy and national coordinator for health information technology.